Tim Walz’s Camo Cap Is More Important Than You Think
Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz is making casual wear a political boon.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate has introduced an unexpected issue into our high-stakes political discourse: casual wear.
Walz’s progressive governing record and successful deployment of the term “weird” against Republican opponents were both factors in Harris’ decision. But so was his potential appeal to working class voters in the “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
That’s where Walz has a fashionable — or perhaps helpfully unfashionable — advantage: With his flannel-lined LL Bean barn coats, scuffed work boots and woodsy camo caps, Walz is one of the few male politicians who looks normal in the kind of unpretentious clothing many voters prefer to wear themselves.
Some corners of the internet are already responding to Walz’s Car Talk chic. “He might run for vice president, or he might clean the garage. It’s the weekend; anything can happen,” read one viral tweet. “BREAKING: Potential running mate Tim Walz spotted outside VP Kamala Harris’ residence ‘tweaking the lawn mower’s carburetor’ because he ‘didn’t like that darn knocking sound it was making,’” joked USA Today columnist Rex Huppke. One X user called Walz an “REI hire.”
Walz’s remarkably unremarkable look displays a rare talent that few of his contemporaries share. Despite America’s long trend of dressing down, male politicians looking to earn everyman cred via casual clothing often fumble.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/08/tim-walz-fashion-camo-cap-00173126
Discuss.
