Hot Dish 9.6.24

By Rochelle Olson

Back home in St. Paul this Friday morning after two days in Coach Walz’s (aka Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz) traveling press pool and I’ve set a new goal for myself: I need to get rich enough to fly charter all the damn time because that is a lift unlike any other. Sure, maybe you’ve flown at the pointy end of the plane or even in those suites and lie-flat seats, but this is entirely different.

On Walz Force One, the Boeing 737-800 that the governor now uses to campaign, there are a) no middle seats b) no coach seats c) no rules other than don’t even think about wandering up to chat with the governor because there are more than two dozen U.S. Secret Service agents between you and he with multiple means to keep you in your place.

Here’s how it works: You go to the charter terminal and park your car in their lot and it’s about a 30-second walk to get inside. No trams. No traffic. You board the plane. There is a Fiji water waiting for you at your seat. You sit down and buckle up — or not — nobody is policing you. The door closes and that jet just rolls onto the runway and never stops. There is no, “We’re 17th in line for takeoff.” It’s just rock and roll. Wheels up. Repeat. No TSA. Yes, you toss your luggage on the ground and it’s sniffed by dogs, but there’s no waiting in a TSA line. You get on and off via a stairwell on the tarmac.

It’s all very pleasant and provides an all-too-brief respite from most of the 36-hour trip in which the traveling advance team yells at you to “run” or “hold” or “get back” or “get over there” or “doors are closing get in the van.” I’ve come to understand that “advance person” is a specific personality type and it’s similar to the personality type of prosecutors. It is impossible after the first stop or two to not feel like cattle. And the payoff? You will get 5 minutes of off-the-record face time with the candidate in which he is guarded. I can’t tell you what he said when he came to the back of the plane to greet me, photographer Glen Stubbe, New York Times, Washington Post and an NBC news producer and her photographer. It was off the record, but suffice to say there is nothing I’m dying to say from that conversation and if it were moderately informative, I’d be dying to tell you what was said.

I could write 3,000 words about this trip, but some of you are already rolling your eyes at the solipsism here this morning so I’ll move on for now. Stay tuned, though, more to come. Oh, the long motorcades of vice presidential candidates do not endure traffic woes nor do they stop for red lights — ever.

Here’s the story I wrote Thursday. Scroll down to see the photo Stubbe took of Walz at the last stop — arms raised onstage at the waterfront amphitheater. The first thing Stubbe said to me after the rally was how fantastic the light was. It was late afternoon and approaching the golden hour. Check out all his photos. Trailing a political candidate is a contact sport for a photographer.

Yes, it was interesting to see Walz in this life he’s been living for a month now. The means of travel notwithstanding, he’s much the same guy you see in Minnesota. (For better or worse. I am well aware that he has no shortage of detractors who dislike him for myriad reasons.) He’s in his element when he’s giving pep talks to volunteers and supporters. There’s no move he makes now that isn’t measured or overseen by a passel of federal agents and vigilant snipers on rooftops.

My favorite part of every leg of the trip MSP-Lancaster-Pittsburgh-Erie was the airport arrival. You sit tight and wait for the commandos to put on their helmets and get off the plane first. Also fun: The agents are friendly. They talk to you. Much to the chagrin of Stubbe, I at one point handed my trash from lunch to an agent who was headed to the galley. Alas, I won’t be embedded with Walz because these trips are expensive. We pay for every drop of water we drink.

So back to the regular newsletter which could be about how I went on a 36-hour campaign swing with Walz and I got no exclusive interview, meaning it’s been XXX number of days (a lot) since the governor hasn’t faced questions from the Capitol press crew. Of course there was never a quid pro quo or promise of an interview, but I do plan to show up at the Capitol next week in a shirt that reads, “I went to Pennsylvania with Tim Walz and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.” (Not entirely true because all the baked goods he buys on these trips do make their way to the back of the airplane and hooboy that Whoopie Pie was delicious and Lancaster is a charming town that I would love to revisit. Also, my hotel room had a dazzling view of the hillside “Iron City” sign, the rivers and the football stadium.)

I came away with the conclusion that Pennsylvania is leafy and gorgeous and it must be breathtaking in the fall. Yes, it’s true that I lived a four-hour drive from Pittsburgh in my mid-20s, but I never so much as spent a weekend there. Money was tight and I couldn’t afford gas for the drive let alone a hotel room for a weekend getaway.

KEY TO CONGRESS: Colleague Ryan Faircloth takes a look at the eight U.S. House matchups in Minnesota with a focus on the feistier races. Two are in the Twin Cities suburbs and exurbs. One is up north and the other down south. One involves the seat vacated by Rep. Dean Phillips in the west metro. The races will help determine which party wields the gavel next year.

DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS: Reporters Maya Rao and Yuqing Liu delve into what makes a Minnesotan now with a report laden with demographic detail. Minnesota is still three-quarters white, down from 94% when Walz moved to Mankato in 1996. (I guess he’s now a marker for many things.) Mexicans make up the largest non-white population. Immigrants are driving growth and income disparities remain.

GUS WATCH: The governor’s son Gus Walz got world famous at the Democratic National Convention, but he’s already well-known in St. Paul rec circles. David Albornoz, aquatics supervisor in St. Paul, posted about Gus after the convention. The two are close friends as Gus has been a frequent user of the rec centers, obsessed with volleyball and post-match tacos. What surprised me was that Gus was in the building more than a year ago when the sad shooting occurred in the parking lot at the Jimmy Lee Rec Center. Albornoz wrote that Gus “helped keeping everyone safe and calm, looking after the kids in the gym with us as I rushed out. I know him from sharing the excitement of a historic win and the pain of defeat, from when he shared with me his teenage struggles and having his heart broken over a breakup, and I know him from when he offered to help cleaning the office at my work.” You can read Coach David’s sweet report over on the Facebook. (I checked the veracity of these stories with the governor’s staff, BTW)

SCOUT TIME: Can’t talk Gus without mentioning Scout. The dog’s got his own bobblehead now and Thursday was the five-year anniversary of his gotcha day. Adopt, don’t shop and you might land a sweetie like Scout or Duke.

WHERE’S WALZ:

No public events scheduled.

READING LIST

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