MOORHEAD — Over a vacation that covered the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, there was time spent reading. One of the books: “Original Sin,” the takedown of former President Joe Biden and his closest confidants for their blindfolded, ear-muffed decision to run for a second term in 2024 despite obvious signs the octogenarian wasn’t up for a strenuous campaign nor another four years in the White House.
The facts laid out by authors Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson essentially showed that Biden selfishly believed he was the only Democrat who could beat Republican Donald Trump because he’d done it once before and those surrounding him shielded the president from public view, media interviews and bad poll numbers — Tapper and Thompson called it a “cover-up” — in spite of clear indications of cognitive and physical decline.
The world saw what Biden’s inner circle and family tried to hide when the president debated Trump in June 2024. Mouth often agape, Biden had obviously aged tremendously since his election in 2020. The firestorm that followed the debate performance led to Biden dropping out of the race — albeit three weeks later — and vice president Kamala Harris taking over the top of the ticket for a sprint to Election Day.
It was a disaster for Democrats. They lost the White House to Trump and were wiped out down-ballot. The price continues to be paid.
I thought of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz often while reading “Original Sin.”
The Democrat was coincidentally Harris’ VP running mate, but that’s not why I thought of Walz.
Nor did I think of Walz because he’s suffering from some kind of cognitive impairment. Walz is still a relatively young man, remains energetic and has all his faculties.
No, I thought of Walz because the question I kept asking myself while reading the book was: Should he stay in the race?
Next was: Is anybody around the governor courageous enough to ask him that tough question?
The last thing Minnesota needed in 2026 was a DFL gubernatorial candidate who was too stubborn, too proud and too clueless to be able to read the political room.
Walz answered the questions Monday.
He’s dropping his bid for governor and allowing a less-damaged candidate the opportunity to run.
The governor made the correct decision.
He was, frankly, going to have a tough time winning re-election.
Minnesota’s social services fraud issues became too big, they came under his watch and they were going to dominate everything from now until November. Trump was attacking Walz daily — even resorting to vile conspiracy theories tying Walz to the murder of Rep. Melissa Hortman — and the right-wing influencer gangsters had been unleashed to damage the governor and the state.
With the danger of Walz fatigue already in place — who wants the same governor for 12 years, regardless of party? — it became too much to bear.
Walz was already wildly, historically unpopular in rural Minnesota — I once had a seasoned state politician tell me he’d never seen as much pure hatred for a politician in outstate Minnesota as he saw for Walz — and his once-solid numbers in the Twin Cities suburbs had deteriorated.
A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll in mid-December showed Walz’s approval rating in the state at 48%, his worst showing as governor. Only 14% of those surveyed said he’d done enough to stop state government fraud.
Fraud wasn’t just the elephant in the room, it was a herd of elephants. With a side dish of rhinoceroses tossed in.
Republicans, including Trump, will make sure it doesn’t go away even with Walz out of the race. That’s politics. But surely a fresh face — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, perhaps? — will be able to run without Walz’s significant baggage. Minnesota still leans left, giving the DFL a fighting chance.
Trump has an even lower approval rating in Minnesota, meaning Republicans who back him without question run the risk of being dragged down.
And if the Minnesota GOP is dumb enough to choose an opponent like wacky conspiracy theorist and Trump favorite Mike Lindell, well, the DFL would be happy to take on that fight.
We’re not going to give Walz plaudits for putting the state before his own political interests. That’s not the way it works in politics. He saw the numbers, probably even worse than the ones made public last month.
He gets credit, though, for getting out of the race 11 months ahead of Election Day and giving his party a chance to keep the governor’s mansion. Walz and his team read the room, unlike other Democrats of recent vintage.
