News and Insights
Reframing the debate: Tim Walz and the Democrats’ calculated move to label MAGA ‘weird’
August 7, 2024
In the wake of the most tumultuous six weeks in American politics in living memory, marked by the attempted assassination of one presidential nominee, the end of the other’s career and the emergence of a new candidate, Democrats have settled on a new message for Vice President Harris’ campaign; Republicans are weird.
Following the emergence of Kamala Harris as nominee, a new narrative began to gain momentum in the political discourse. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, now Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, is credited with being the first major party figure to brand MAGA Republicans as “just weird”.
Google Search Trends reveals that search interest in the word ‘weird’ itself increased substantially across the U.S. following Biden’s decision to step aside on July 21st. Similarly, Americans searching ‘republicans weird’ as keywords skyrocketed after Harris received Biden’s endorsement.
The main victim of this messaging is JD Vance. Walz first branded Vance as ‘weird’ on July 23, whilst speaking on Morning Joe. Since then, he has been consistently associated with the term, as borne out by data below.
Media coverage in the U.S. since May shows the effectiveness of this messaging. In the first week of the Harris campaign, nearly 5,000 media pieces featured the keywords ‘Trump,’ ‘Vance,’ and ‘Weird.’ Notably, 94 hits came from right-wing Fox News and 86 from far-right Newsmax. Of those 5,000 media hits, almost all were published post July 23.
Why now?
So why is it that such a simple, schoolyard insult has resonated so deeply? It is impossible to psychoanalyse a continent-sized nation in its entirety, but you can certainly hazard an educated guess.
A partial answer may be simple; firstly, Americans outside of fringe political bases are fatigued with the extreme polarisation which has come to dominate the now divisive and increasingly political conversations of daily life. Furthermore, there is something genuinely weird about this moment in American history that has spanned from 2015 to the present day.
The Trump Presidency was filled with countless norm-shattering moments which dominated the media daily. Most notably, during the Covid crisis where Trump lost the faith of voters during press conferences in which he suggested an eclectic mix of cures to the Covid crisis and inflamed the BLM protests.
In contrast, Biden won the 2020 race because he represented a return to normality. But a now elderly President and his team made a critical mistake in assuming that this return to order provided a mandate to seek a second term.
A transition to normal
President Biden’s campaign woes are well documented. Harris, in contrast, is now able to credibly paint herself as a youthful candidate, with the ability to coherently articulate her party’s agenda in an energetic fashion and represent the transition to a new political era. An uncomfortable development for the Trump campaign which banked on facing a candidate who could no longer do either.
Overplaying his hand
Beyond detailed analysis, there is an undeniable fact; the way Trump presents himself is odd. There are very few people, if any, in the history of America that resemble Trump in any capacity.
But, ‘weird’ also resonates because a majority of Americans do want a somewhat conventional politician who represents the broad sentiments of the electorate. If this were not true, President Biden would not have won in an era of populist revolt.
Weird resonates because so many central MAGA figures are actually highly unusual and eccentric people of questionable competency. Many of their high-profile supporters in congress are highly dysfunctional individuals.
The genius in Tim Walz’ message is also reflected in polling. 79% of voters think insulting women who don’t have children is very or somewhat weird. 76% of Americans believe banning books due to their content is weird, 74% believe monitoring pregnancies in order to prevent women seeking abortion in other states is weird.
At the heart of this message resonance is the sense that the Republican party tried to bring America drastically to the right of a moderate public sentiment. Now that Trump faces a credible opponent highlighting his deficiencies, scrutiny of his views has intensified, suggesting he may have overplayed his hand.
So why did it take Democrats nine years to find a message which hurts Trump? You can credibly argue that the professional class which dominates the Democratic Party is out of touch with the arguments that motivate everyday Americans.
Grand narratives on the preservation of democracy and rule of law may be intellectually powerful and well-grounded, but also removed from everyday discussions. Weird works because there is an unavoidable truth to it. It is weird to attempt to overthrow the government of the richest, arguably most successful country on earth because you lost. It is weird to tell people they will no longer have fundamental rights which their mothers possessed. It is weird to insult voters in your country who happen to not have children for reasons often personal and tragic.
Accusations of being weird also destabilises the superficial macho posturing of Trump, Vance and co, but stops short of ‘sinking to their level’. It is certainly useful that Tim Walz, as chief messenger, spent 24 years in the Army National Guard and coached a high school football team while he was a teacher, presenting a more positive and tangible vision of masculinity to the electorate.
In large part, Governor Tim Walz’s calculated counterpunch has given rise to a new voice and renewed dynamism amongst the Democratic Party, and a unifying message which is relatable to people who both struggle and thrive in a dynamic modern America. In doing so, he has helped re-energise a flagging Democratic presidential campaign and by way of reward, has jumped the queue to become the Democratic nominee for Vice-President.
POSTED BY: Andrew Dunne
