Reporting in from Tim Walz Country

I'm visiting Lakeville, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. My daughter and her family live here. I'm helping babysit the grandkids while my son-in-law is out of the country.

I always look forward to visiting Minnesota. There is definitely something to the idea of "Minnesota Nice."

As I grocery shop, pick up the kids from pre-school, go to the hardware store or interact with the neighbors, I find everyone is just so darned pleasant. Nobody seems to be in a particular hurry; everyone wants to chat.

One of my Republican friends keeps sending me emails that try and paint Minnesota as a place where left-wing crazies hang out and plot their socialist schemes. I'm sorry, this just doesn't match with reality. Minnesota isn't a crazy place, not at all.

Like Tim Walz, people here seem, well, very normal.  People seem happy. It feels a bit like I'm back in 1950s America. It's nice.

So I think the rest of the country would benefit if it became more like Minnesota.

Since Tim Walz was chosen by Kamala Harris' running mate, several individuals have told me they think I look like Tim Walz. I have a set of reading glasses that make the similarities more pronounced. Form your own judgment:

I've been on the road more than normal recently. I've encountered other "Time Walz lookalikes," first in New Mexico, and now, in Minnesota.

This first guy I bumped into in a coffee shop, in Santa Fe. He agreed to let me photograph him and told me all his friends said he looked like Tim Walz:

This second guy I saw in a parking lot in Minnesota the other day. Like the first guy, he too was hearing lots of "You look like Tim Walz" comments.

I told them both we should form a club or something.

Maybe we'll be recruited by the Secret Service to serve as body doubles. Or maybe one of us will get picked to play Tim Walz on Saturday Night Live.

Anyone reading this know any other individuals who look like Tim Walz? Send a photo to editor@ournationalconversation.org. Let's Make America Normal Again!

Acknowledgment: The opinions expressed in this piece are those of the individual author.