The First Signs of a ‘Too-Online’ Campaign

By Noah Rothman

Tuesday, August 06, 2024

 

It seems likely that the adrenaline that has accompanied the Democratic Party’s brush with political death is doing a lot of the work of generating enthusiasm for the party’s new presidential prospects for both Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. But one thing you can say in Walz’s favor, though, is that his demeanor is that of a happy warrior, and his attempts at humor have a natural and unrehearsed feel.

 

As a performer, Walz has skills. But his material should leave his supporters apprehensive about the Minnesota governor’s judgment.

 

For example:

Those of us who have failed to maintain a healthy relationship with the internet probably do see what the governor did there. Those who are blessedly less exposed to the sordid and defamatory calumny that passes for discourse in online forums probably don’t. You can educate yourself if you’re so inclined.

 

Therein lies the conundrum for Walz. The Harris campaign has spent Walz’s first day on the trail retailing him to voters as the “folksy” education professional who all but personifies “Midwest nice.” How then is this man, the very model of conviviality, supposed to explain the joke?

 

Maybe Walz assumes he will never have to. Perhaps he is convinced, not without evidence, that he will never be made to explain himself to anyone. If nothing else, this appeal to the sensibilities of some of America’s fringier actors on the periphery of the popular could fairly be called “weird.” It suggests, at the very least, that the Harris campaign is more interested in playing defense, prioritizing base mobilization over triangulation in the effort to broaden the coalition.

 

Worst of all, it could confirm what many suspect: that Walz’s very selection represented an effort to get right with the loudest elements of the progressive base, whose numbers pale disproportionately to the influence they wield on the internet. Perhaps the Harris campaign is a little “too online.”

 

Even casual viewers who didn’t get the joke probably smiled and laughed along with the smiling and laughing candidate on stage. This episode will pass relatively unremarked upon. But if the campaign is overly sensitive to the concerns of the progressive activist class, this won’t be its last mistake.