The MAGA Test

By Don Varyu

August 22, 2024

Picture in you mind what you see as a typical MAGA voter. What does he look like? What does he wear? Where does he live? What does he (or did he) do for a living? What’s his marital status? What does he like to do in his free time? What does he like to watch on TV?

Now picture three other men in your mind: Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Tim Walz. Which of them most resembles your MAGA prototype?

The answer is obvious to us—and it is to MAGA world, as well. That guy is Tim Walz.

So, am I foolish enough to think that the vast majority of the hard core MAGA world is suddenly going to switch their votes away from Trump? Of course not. But that’s not the point. Because there are a lot of MAGA wives who are not quite as hard core as their husbands. And there are a lot of MAGA-adjacent men who talk the talk in their hometowns because going along is how you get along. But to benefit Kamala Harris, they don’t have to vote for her—they just have to not vote for Trump. No one looks over your shoulder at the voting booth, or when you seal your mail-in ballot at home. This factor alone could decide the election.

And the secret weapon in all this is, of course, Walz. The Democrats’ existing weakness in this election is men. The young and macho may be beyond reach; the “power” Trump projects is the power they believe they one day might have. But older men can relate to Walz on multiple levels, from football coach to hunter to outstanding dad.

Walzis the ticket to those voters and why Harris was 100% right to choose him over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. The pairing of Shapiro and Harris would have been exactly the same mistake Trump made in picking Vance. The purpose of a VP pick is not to double down on your own strengths, but to expand your appeal to voters otherwise beyond your grasp.

So, three cheers for Harris—and four for Walz. If Harris is “for the people”, Walz is clearly “of the people.” He is the factor for which Trump and the GOP have no answer.

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