In the battle of the everyman campaign soundbites, watching Tim Walz
work on his 1979 International Harvester Scout comes across as a lot more authentic than watching Donald Trump serve fries at McDonald's.
Watching Walz get under the hood, grease rag in hand,
you know it's something he does regularly. You also get the feeling that he knows the difference between a dipstick and a dipshit, which gave him permission to call Trump/Vance rally twirl Elon Musk
for "jumping around and skipping like a dipshit" next to Donald Trump on the stage.
"Think about that," Walz said during a Harris/Walz campaign event in Madison, WI, Tuesday, adding, "That guy is literally the richest man in the world spending
millions of dollars to help Donald Trump buy an election. They're saying the quiet parts out loud now.
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"Donald Trump has already promised that he would put Elon in charge of government
regulations that would oversee the businesses that Elon runs. That's a hell of a buy. He could spend billions to make $10 billion on the back-end.
"In other words, Donald Trump in front of the
eyes of the American public, is promising corruption. That's what he's promising you."
In retrospect, Kamala Harris could not have picked a better candidate for her ticket, because unlike all
the contrived, performative shenanigans, you know he's the real deal, which gives him the authority to call Musk out for what he is.
Meanwhile, in the backlash surrounding a McDonald's
franchisee owner's decision to close shop in order to produce Trump's version of an "everyman" campaign
event, the fast-food giant's HQ has distanced itself from the stunt, but the scrutiny on big brands leaning into or out of either ticket is reaching a new height, so I wouldn't expect to see many
more stunts like that.
But I'd like to see more consumer brands promoting a message I received from Patagonia this week.
In an email subject-lined "Anxious about this election?,"
Patagonia used its outbound marketing to advocate its consumers try their hand at canvassing, and provided some FYIs and links for how to do it.
The link goes to a sign-up page for the League of Conservation Voters, which I
just signed up for, because, well, see below:
