Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is widely seen as a “safe” candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, and it’s easy to see why. Vice President Kamala Harris sees the advantages of choosing a running mate who seems solid and straightforward, has a nice family and a fishing license. Mr. Walz’s relative obscurity could be an advantage, leaving Donald J. Trump little fodder for his notorious jibes. Mr. Walz is known as a tax-cutting and spending Democrat who inherited a budget surplus and spent heavily on education, environmental initiatives and social services. That’s a good image for the Democratic Party right now.
Mr. Walz has raised two children with his wife, Gwen, and presents himself as an avid family advocate. Mr. Walz has stated his desire to make Minnesota “the best state in the country for kids to grow up in,” and by some measures, he has succeeded. Minnesota has a generous child tax credit and provides free breakfast and lunch to all school children. The Twin Cities have a wonderful park system that makes it easy to enjoy the beauty of the Midwest with children.
As a Minnesota mom, I really like this. I worry about the state’s fiscal situation, but not having to pack lunches for five boys every morning has helped me a lot this past year. Last year, I dropped my kids off at school 20 minutes early and sat with them in the cafeteria while they ate, just chatting, asking them for words or hearing what was planned for the day ahead. It was a nice habit that we would never have gotten into without the free breakfast.
Mr. Walz likes to talk about Minnesota as a place where everyone can enjoy the simple pleasures: natural beauty, free public amenities, lunch with friends. In many ways, it isthat. In his eyes, it’s about decent people taking care of each other, as they did in rural Nebraska, where he spent his childhood. I suspect he likes to think of himself as someone who has taken that small-town decency and expanded it, first to a state and perhaps in the future to the entire nation. The appeal is obvious. There’s something beautiful about simply deciding, as Mr. Walz did, that hungry schoolchildren should just be fed.
However, the citizens of Minnesota do not always take care of their own people as well as they could be. This is not because Mr. Walz has been an ineffective governor. In some ways, he was tooeffective. Two concerns stand out in particular. Mr Walz has shown that he is not prepared to accept many of ourvulnerable citizens, especially the unborn and newborn. And he has been slow and reluctant to embrace the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, leaving Minnesota’s religious schools and institutions in a precarious position. “Expanding” civility in small towns can be a good thing – but not if it means allowing sprawling government programs to stifle effective local or grassroots organizations.
Mr. Walz’s stance on abortion has been clear and uncompromising throughout his political career. He wants it to be available to anyone, anytime, for any reason. Mr. Walz has cut all federal funding to crisis pregnancy centers and removed protections for infants born alive after an attempted abortion. He has gone out of his way to direct citizens to otherStates that they are welcome to come to Minnesota to end the lives of their unborn children, and indeed abortions in Minnesota have increased by nearly 40 percent in recent years. Amid a fierce national debate about the kind of legal protections we can offer the youngest Americans, Mr. Walz’s answer is unequivocal: none.
Other areas of disagreement could be cited: euthanasia, artificial reproductive technologies, and gender ideology. It is obvious that Mr. Walz neither represents a Catholic view of the human person nor shares a Catholic perspective on how human dignity should best be protected. But this is particularly worrying given his second deficit: a knee-jerk hostility toward religious institutions. Mr. Walz struggles to see private religious institutions as a wholesome part of a healthy social fabric.
He worked for years as a public school teacher and is a strong supporter of public education. As you might expect, Mr. Walz opposes school choice initiatives, preferring a one-size-fits-all approach to one that offers families choice. That’s not surprising given his background, but Mr. Walz’s opposition to religious institutions cannot be fully explained by his support of teachers unions or public education in general. He has gone out of his way to exclude religious schools from participating in a statewide program designed to help high school students earn college credits. His party in Minnesota recently championed equal rights legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on “race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability or sex — including pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.” Religion was very conspicuously left unmentioned. Religious groups in Minnesota must become vigilant, closely scrutinize new laws and be prepared to sue if their institutional autonomy is not protected.
Also troubling is that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Walz made it clear that he placed citizens’ freedom to get their hair cut, eat in restaurants and stroll through malls above their right to worship. Religious groups following the courageous leadership of Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis had to threaten civil disobedience before Mr. Walz would even engage them in a serious conversation. In the end, a compromise was reached, something Mr. WalzDespite strong opposition from religious groups, he would have been willing to do so. But it is clear that he would prefer their activities to be more strictly restricted and subject to greater state control.
Catholic social teaching tells us that this is not the best way for communities to hold together and care for each other. Churches are important. Community organizations – including religious ones – are important. Subsidiarity is important because grassroots organizations tend to have a clearer understanding of the needs of the people they serve and alsobecause it respects human freedom and dignity. We must be free to love and serve one another in accordance with our own conscience and beliefs. Some of Mr. Walz’s actions as Governor have betrayed that principle.
In many ways, Catholic life in Minnesota is wonderful. We have a rich network of parishes, institutions and Catholic schools that have served the region for nearly two centuries. Ironically, one of the bestThe most beautiful thing about Mr. Walz’s tenure as governor is that it has given the priests and prelates of this state, as well as other religious leaders, an opportunity to come together and remind us of the importance of protecting these institutions and our right to worship God. They have made me proud to be a Minnesota Catholic. However, I would prefer to see religious organizations preach the gospel and help people in need rather than fight with the state for the right to do these things.
After several years of political turbulence, many Americans are yearning for a more moderate and prudent form of government. Mr. Walz has a certain popular charm and canlike a consensus builder, but in reality he and his party have happily exploited their one-seat majority in Congress to push a divisive cultural agenda and threaten the autonomy of religious organizations that have been feeding children lunches long before Mr. Walz developed his popular program. Let’s hope Democrats appreciate the best aspects of Tim Walz’s civic vision and more fully recognize the role of grassroots organizations in achieving the goal.
