Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has introduced her Vice-Presidential candidate, current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
The mainstream media is generally touting Walz, noting he’s from rural Nebraska, was a longtime teacher and National Guard member, then a Congressperson, and is now in his second term as Minnesota Governor. He has been called folksy and a regular guy. As governor, he supported legalization of marijuana, free school lunches, enshrining abortion rights into state law, climate change legislation, LGBTQ+ rights, and making it easier for people leaving prison to vote again. He has also supported state labor legislation that many union members and leaders have advocated.
It’s not surprising that some see Walz as a champion of workers and victims of oppression. But his policies as governor are not exactly unique. Many states have similar policies. That’s all well and good. Yet the underlying systems of oppression and exploitation at the national and global levels endure. The Democratic Party, even when it controlled the White House and both houses of Congress, has always refused to address those underlying systems rooted in capitalism. Why should we believe that Harris and Walz will do any differently?
And Walz’s track record is not as progressive as many would like to think. He used his first veto as governor of Minnesota to stop Uber and Lyft drivers from receiving raises and job security, and he also used his influence to remove protections for nurses at the healthcare industry’s demand. He directed the vicious crackdown on the 2020 movement against police brutality in response to George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. Also in 2020, Walz approved construction of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline despite strong protests by tribal and environmental activists.
One out of 11 people in Minnesota are food insecure, including one of every seven children. About one of every six children live below the poverty line. Walz did not create these crises at the state or national or global levels. But the Democrats have never shown a way out of them nor even a willingness to address them at their root.
The Democratic Party, despite its rhetoric, is very much a party of the capitalist class. Working people need real change that addresses the root causes of their problems. Walz, Harris, and the Democratic Party will not bring that change.
