Dem
51
GOP
49
If you are a former student of Tim Walz, from back in the days he was a teacher, there's a very good chance that you've heard from at least one reporter this week asking you to talk about your experiences. He was only tapped as Kamala Harris' running mate a few days ago, and yet there has already been a deluge of "Here's what Walz' students think of him" pieces, from at least a dozen different outlets.
And now the surprising part. Almost always, pieces like this are partly or wholly negative. "We talked to people who knew [CANDIDATE X] before they were in politics, and opinions are mixed/very critical." And so, we are kinda surprised that the Walz pieces are all... glowing. His students apparently loved, loved, loved him.
To start, as a teacher, he earns universal good marks (see what we did there?). And speaking as teachers ourselves, the comments ring true, because the described conduct of Walz' classroom is consistent with what tends to produce positive reviews. Walz favored a Socratic approach, in which he encouraged students to reach their own conclusions, rather than just passively absorb whatever it was that he had to say. One student, for example, told The Washington Post how her class, following a discussion of genocide, correctly predicted that the next one would be in Rwanda (this was, of course, many years ago).
Walz' students also have good things to say about his personality. Explained one: "He's been a ton of joy. He is just so joyful in everything that he does, but I think also standing up for what he believes to be right, stands up to bullies, sees folks that may normally not be seen by individuals and he's always been a joy to be around and just a genuine, authentic, kind, caring human being and I think I think the world of Mr. Walz." Another former student noted that Walz was involved in every activity, "from prom to sports." He also dressed up as Santa Claus for Christmas.
Walz' lefty political leanings were also on display during those years. As we have already noted, he sponsored his school's gay-straight student alliance. And one former student, Jacob Reitan, sat for an interview this week in which he described, in detail, how Walz made sure to protect him from bullies. Several years later, Walz invited Reitan to witness the signing ceremony in the Oval Office when Barack Obama signed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
We've been following politics for a long time, and we've therefore read a LOT of news coverage of elections and candidates. And we honestly can't think of someone whose debut on the national stage was greeted with this much positive coverage. There were so many "what a great teacher" stories, in fact, that many outlets had to find a specific angle so as to avoid repeating what all the other outlets were saying. For example, The Times of Israel had a piece talking about Walz' masters thesis (on the Holocaust), and how he worked to combat ignorance about the Holocaust, and to connect educators with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
We write this item, then, for two reasons. First, because it affirms our general point, made earlier this week, that Kamala Harris seems to have chosen well. If you make people feel joy, they sometimes reward you with their votes. Second, because the stories about Walz and his teaching are an awfully nice respite to the relentless negativity that tends to permeate coverage of politics.
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)