This captures why Tim Walz is an example of the man America needs right now:
The meme-ification of Walz seems rooted in a longing for a type of masculinity that’s going extinct in America: the power of a cheerful, useful, helpful, competent, and moral man. A man who knows how to fix things himself, who can make pleasant conversation with strangers, who is polite and courteous rather than boorish and obnoxious.…
Esquire 2024-08-09
…In the MAGA view, the American man has been unjustly torn down and humiliated, and the only way to rectify this is by seeking revenge. But Walz is a living counterexample to their claims. In a time when many American men feel lonely and useless, Walz is presenting an alternative: To be loved and celebrated, you don’t need to be a billionaire…All you need to be is a good guy.
Hopefully nobody thinks I’m suggesting that Tim Walz should be at the top of the ticket—I’m just pleased to see a positive example of a genuinely good guy (regardless of any political leanings) being put in a place of prominence. We need more of that across the political spectrum.
Part of the reason this race was so uninspiring a month ago was that the closest we had to that back then was Joe Biden well past his prime.
Trump, even back in his prime, was never a positive example of a genuinely good guy. There is no time when “bombastic playboy with a fragile ego” is the example we should hold up for a model of manhood.
