Summary
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has criticized the Harris-Walz 2024 presidential campaign for playing it too “safe,” saying they should have held more in-person events and town halls.
In a Politico interview, Walz—known for labeling Trump and Vance as “weird”—blamed their cautious approach partly on the abbreviated 107-day campaign timeline after Harris became the nominee in August.
Using football terminology, he said Democrats were in a “prevent defense” when “we never had anything to lose, because I don’t think we were ever ahead.”
While acknowledging his share of responsibility for the loss, Walz is returning to the national spotlight and didn’t rule out a 2028 presidential run, saying, “I’m not saying no.”
I mean, he is absolutely and rightly heavily criticized for his use of drone warfare. He isn’t directly faulted for the entire Afghan and Iraq Wars, though, because they were W Bush’s baby. He was the driving force behind both, and his administration oversaw them for the first 7 years (5 for Iraq). His administration set the course for them from the start.
Eta: I also think there’s a degree to which the developments of drone warfare under Obama were bound to happen regardless who was in the White House. If McCain or Clinton had won in 2008, drone warfare would have continued on the trajectory it took IRL, perhaps even more aggressively (definitely so under McCain). Yes, Obama deserves the blame for what happened under his watch, but it’s not like the same wouldn’t have happened without him.