Why Tim Walz's "mind your own damn business" message is kryptonite to the MAGA movement

What if those people who are different from you aren't part of some nefarious "Communist" conspiracy, but are just people in a free country who are [heaven forefend!] different from you?

Tim Walz was a smart choice for VP for many reasons. One that hasn’t gotten much attention yet is that he is the perfect person to deliver a message that could be kryptonite to the conspiratorial culture of the MAGA movement. Where Trump encourages his supporters to see people who are different from them along lines of race, religion, sexuality, politics, or gender as part of some evil “globalist Marxist” conspiracy that’s out to destroy them…Tim Walz, a cis het middle aged white guy from the midwest, sends the message that it’s really ok to just chill out and mind your own damn business.

Don’t think abortion is right. Fine, I will defend to the death your right to not get an abortion. But it’s none of your damn business what other people do. Don’t really understand or like all of this “transgender stuff” or drag shows or mosques being built in your town…fine, you know what, you can just choose to ignore it, like you do with a million other things that don’t float your boat but also don’t harm you. You can just choose to let people live their own damn lives however they want. It’s a free country, right? You like to think of yourself as someone who is kind of a nonconformist, right? So what the hell do you care if someone assigned male at birth now wears dresses, or if someone worships a God you don’t or doesn’t worship God at all? It’s no skin off your nose.

Where Trump gave people permission to be their worst, most hateful, terrified, and persecuting selves in regard to people who are different from them, Walz invites those same people to be their best selves and models for them (in a fun, non-judgy sort of way) what that would look like. Walz says to the target demographic of MAGA-ism "hey guys, you really don't have to debase yourself for that raving weirdo and join him in his conspiratorial bizarro-land...just step away from the screen, rekindle your love of Menards, and let people enjoy their drag shows if they want to."

But here is the sticking point for this messaging. MAGA political culture succeeds when it depicts difference as an existential threat, as part of a vast “Communist” conspiracy to destroy everything you hold dear, your religion, your traditions, your nation. If transgender people are not just other humans who have made some different choices than you have, but are rather part of an evil conspiracy that targets children in order to convert them to the dark side, then obviously you are obligated to join in the fight against it. Minding your own damn business would be irresponsible in the face of such an existential and apocalyptic threat.

But what if that threat isn’t real and is instead just a story some weirdos made up? What if your neighbor with the purple hair and “strange” makeup who makes your coffee at Starbucks isn’t actually part of some vast “globalist” conspiracy funded by George Soros, but is just your neighbor who is different from you? And what if the weirdo media and political figures who telling you lies about that barista don’t actually have your best interests in mind but are instead, like many past con men and power-hungry politicians, just feeding you a line to trick you into voting for them and/or giving them money?

I’m not so naive as to think the scales are going to fall from tens of millions of MAGA eyes and suddenly they will be able to perceive the little, ignorant, frightened man behind the orange curtain. But given that Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million the first time and 7 million the second time, it doesn’t take many defectors from the ranks of potential Trump voters to significantly undermine his chances of winning. He’s sure not doing much these days to win the votes of people who weren’t already on Team Trump.

When Trump says weird things like only he can prevent his future-tripping fantasies about WWIII or a 1929-style depression from coming true, he's just being an obviously self-aggrandizing liar like any number of past false prophets who've said “the world is ending, so follow me and give me your money.”

Con men look charming when you're ensnared in their con, but after their cover has been blown their manipulative, creepy weirdness (that once looked like charm) becomes glaringly obvious. Weirdness for weirdness's sake is fun. Weirdness in manipulative pursuit of money or power is a red flag. The difference between "innocuous fun weird" vs. "creepy manipulative con man weird" is really not that hard to discern. Fun weird makes you feel good, like a “Weird Al” video. Creepy weird makes you feel sad, vulnerable, like a victim, like someone in need of a strong man to vanquish the imagined enemies that you falsely believe beset you.

"Good weird" is empowering. Like when a goofy goober (in the best senses of the words) former history teacher who is now a Governor posts videos about quick car repair fixes you can do for a couple bucks. "Bad weird" encourages you to drink bleach or take inappropriate and potentially dangerous drugs like hydroxychloroquin to cure Covid. Both forms of weird are entertaining…but only one form can harm you.

Democratic societies that prize personal freedom should be filled with all kinds of good weirdness. But such societies will often become a target for bad, manipulative con men who'll spin out weird conspiracy theories to gain attention and power. Tim Walz is the perfect messenger to help ordinary Americans get better at perceiving the difference between “good weird” and Trump’s particularly malevolent form of “bad weird.”