Coach's Clinic: Tim Walz Delivers Emotional, Energetic DNC Speech

CHICAGO ― With his teenage son weeping and saying, “That’s my dad!” Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz leaned into his own life story during his remarks Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention.

Walz, the governor of Minnesota, recalled his days as a high school teacher, football coach and soldier in the Minnesota National Guard in a remarkably short speech that largely echoed what he’s said at campaign events since Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate earlier this month.

He walked onstage to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” following presentations from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former students at Mankato West High School, where Walz taught social studies and was a defensive coordinator on the football team. Many of them were clad in their old football uniforms.

Convention-goers welcomed him with signs that said “Coach Walz” and chanted “Coach, coach, coach!” The Minnesota delegation even held big cutouts of Walz’s face.

“Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your determination,” Walz said. “And most of all, thank you for your joy.”

In keeping with the evening’s focus on a progressive brand of patriotism, Walz narrated his life story ― from a childhood in Butte, Nebraska, to a teaching career in Mankato, Minnesota, and then to Congress ― as an illustration of the success of American social programs. His father’s death when he was young left the family in financial straits, but the federal government provided essential help.

“Thank God for Social Security survivor benefits,” Walz said while recounting the aftermath of his father’s death. “And thank God for the GI bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college ― and millions of other people!”

Walz recounted how,