Walz compares football to democracy: ‘It’s about something bigger’

[Brexiter]

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz campaigned through Pennsylvania over the weekend with a stop at the preseason practice for Pennsylvania’s defending high school football state champions, the Aliquippa Quips. Walz made waves with an inspiring speech at the practice.

“I've told people and they think I'm joking about it. It was harder to win that state football championship than it was to become governor.” Walz joked. “So it's tough work. You gotta count on a lot of things. You got to do a lot of things.”

A former high-school teacher and coach himself, Walz proceeded to show why he was so beloved at Mankato West High School in Minnesota. Saying he understood how the current political climate could turn off younger voters, Walz pointed out that like football, when people organize and rely on one another, the process can be exhilarating.

“It's about something bigger than themselves. It's about setting a future goal and trying to reach it. It's about doing it with dignity and hard work. It's about doing it with humility.” Walz said. “And when you lose, you walk across the field and you shake hands with the other team, and know they played hard too. But we're all in it together to try and make it better.”

Walz’s eloquence in connecting the hard work that brought the Aliquippa Quips to the state championships to the goals of a healthy democracy is one of the reasons he was chosen as Harris’ running mate. The campaign is about reminding Americans that we are all moving forward together, and need one another more than ever to do so.


YouTube Video

I've told people and they think I'm joking about it. It was harder to win that state football championship than it was to become governor. So it's tough work. You gotta count on a lot of things. You got to do a lot of things. And in our team we ran a 44 defense. I wouldn't have wanted to go against this guy. I can tell you that there's no stopping that run.


But the kids played hard and they understood that it was something bigger than themselves. And I'll have to tell you, being out here with Vice President Harris, I know it'd be easy. Especially now. Our politics has been pretty ugly. Our politics seem pretty negative. Our politics is something that I know. What I fear most is that young people turn away from it rather than turning into it.

Politics isn't that much different than this. It's about something bigger than themselves. It's about setting a future goal and trying to reach it. It's about doing it with dignity and hard work. It's about doing it with humility. And when you lose, you walk across the field and you shake hands at the other team and know they played hard, too. But we're all in it together to try and make it better.

And things like investing in this public school and having—I can't imagine what this place looks like when it's filled with folks, and the lights are on, and the leaves are turning, and that game's in the fourth quarter, and somebody has to make that play. Somebody has to step up, and you look at each side of you and you know, ‘I trust them. I trust to make that play.’

Our country's not that different. Our neighbors want to be with you. Our neighbors want to do what's right. And the more we figure out that we're in this thing together and we have more in common than we have separated, we're going to do a heck of a lot better.

You can help turn out the vote for the election by simply chatting to your neighbors. This is a cool one! Click here to sign up for Daily Kos/Indivisible’s Neighbor2Neighbor get-out-the-vote program.