The Ted Lasso Veep

America is ready to turn the page and feel good again.

Watching “Coach” Tim Walz laugh, encourage and speak from his heart in Philadelphia last night, one image kept popping into my head: Ted Lasso.

If you’re unfamiliar with the award-winning and immensely popular TV series, it’s about an American coach plucked from obscurity to lead a British football team. Lasso defies the naysayers and elites with his boundless cheer, folksy sayings and can-do attitude. 

Through years of experience bringing out the best in people, Lasso unites a dejected, fractious and navel-gazing team, all while infusing them with the possibility of triumph and victory. Most importantly, he gets them to believe in themselves.

And spoiler alert, he helps takes that team all the way.

The joyful campaign for all of us

After years of trauma, division and fear, America needs a Ted Lasso. And Kamala Harris understood that. She knew that the thing Democrats were most lacking was the excitement, the happiness and the dream around what is possible. That’s what fuels campaigns, donations and turnout. And it starts with changing the way people feel.

Indeed, the first thing Walz did yesterday was to thank Harris for “bringing back the joy.” It should feel good to be an American, to stand up for freedom and democracy, to look to neighbors for help instead of with suspicion, and yes to poke some fun at the MAGA fascists, even while we grind them into the dirt.

Walz brings a humility and a sense of service that is the very antithesis of Trumpism. It’s so outside of the DNA of the current MAGA leadership that they both dangerously underestimate its appeal and have no clear response to it. As Secretary Pete Buttigieg aptly noted, “The Trump campaign can't figure out what to do. Trump cannot fathom a campaign or any leaders who are not about themselves. The Harris-Walz [ticket] isn't about them, it's about you.”

Standing behind his record

Walz loves politics because of the good it can do for others. His recent accomplishments as governor of Minnesota all point in that direction: free school meals for kids, paid family and medical leave, protection of abortion rights, background checks for gun purchasers, and expansion of voting rights. These are all values and priorities he shares with Harris. 

When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether these programs and priorities mean he is, as Trump would describe him, a “big government liberal,” Walz unapologetically stood behind his record. “What a monster! Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own healthcare decisions.” A very Lasso-like response, indeed.

Walz also noted that Minnesota is a top destination for business. His state’s investments into education, job training, child care, infrastructure and broadband access make it the home of many big companies, including 3M, United Healthcare and General Mills. But it’s also the top state for independent retailers according to a B2B review study. It will be difficult for the right to portray Walz as a lefty socialist, given how business friendly his state truly is. 

A rare uniter

It takes a special kind of candidate to gain glowing endorsements from both the Squad Left and the Corporate Right of the Democratic Party, but somehow Walz has done it.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declared Harris and Walz “will govern effectively, inclusively and boldly for the American people” and “won’t back down under tight odds, either—from healthcare to school lunch.”

Meanwhile, Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) predicted that his “friend Governor Tim Walz will bring normality back to the most chaotic political environment that most of us have ever seen,” calling him “the real deal.”

I’m trying to think when these two pols agreed on anything, but I’m honestly drawing a blank.

Nice try, but no

Online, the attacks on Walz by the far right have so far proven clumsy and fallen flat. Influencers like Libs of TikTok Chaya Raichik even tried to make “Tampon Tim” happen, in reference to the horrifying fact that Walz made free tampon access a priority for girls in schools.

Professional troll Ian Miles Cheong, who I need to emphasize lives in Malaysia but somehow drives right-wing narratives here, tried it, too. Happily, Walz gave the internet the perfect way to respond.

The Trump Campaign’s attacks have already included embarrassing self-owns. A press release from campaign press secretary and Project 2025 recruiter Karoline Leavitt even sought to criticize Walz for allowing “convicted felons” in his state to vote.

Who wants to tell her?

It might also prove tough to sell Walz as a “liberal extremist” given his moderate positions while in Congress and his 24 years as an enlisted member of the Army National Guard, where he rose to the rank of Command Sergeant Major. And it will be equally tough to claim Walz is “coming for your guns” given his own love of hunting and skill as a marksman. That hasn’t stopped the Right from trying—and the Left from responding with Twitter sniper accuracy.

The winning coach with a shoulder to cry on

Walz exudes Lasso-like confidence even while building people up. Yesterday’s speech felt at times like a political locker room pep talk at halftime. He even took head-on the deep dread voters have at the prospect of 91 more days of this campaign and flipped it around to power Democrats going forward.

“We’ve got 91 days. My God, that’s easy! We’ll sleep when we’re dead!” declared Coach Walz as the crowd roared.

Like Lasso, Walz has been consistently underestimated, even while winning a congressional seat in a deeply Republican, rural southern Minnesota district. A proven ability to bridge the stubborn urban-rural divide—something a coastal elite like Harris or even Josh Shapiro could never do—might also give all Americans hope for a less divisive future.

Speaking of Shapiro, I had two thoughts as I listened to his thunderous, eloquent speech, given just before the main event.

First, it’s clear Shapiro is a powerhouse in his own right, and that he will help win over voters in the center, especially in his home state of Pennsylvania. He’s also a deadly striker, much like the one Lasso’s AFC Richmond brought in for a time to try and shake things up and lead them to league victory. Shapiro was the guy the Trump campaign was most afraid of for this very reason.

Which brings me to my second thought. The Harris campaign is operating on joyous vibes and a firm belief in themselves, even as the clear underdogs coming in. Shapiro was not the right fit for those values and that sentiment. His persona is too big, his own path too clear, for him to be a pure team player. He could not comfortably stand behind Harris and support her the way Walz so naturally can.

Walz, like Lasso, leads by example. In the TV show, AFC Richmond had a closeted gay team member named Colin. It was through Lasso’s fostering of a supportive, low judgment environment that Colin felt free to be his true self, making the whole team stronger and more unified. By no small coincidence, as Harris recounted in her pitch-perfect introduction of Walz yesterday, when students in Walz’s high school formed their first Gay Straight Alliance there, back when being gay was far less accepted, Coach Walz stepped up to be its first faculty advisor. He knew how symbolically important it was for a popular football coach and straight, married teacher to have those kids’ backs.

As with Lasso, you get the sense immediately that Walz is an excellent listener. He can be there just to bear witness to your pain or grief, or he can offer advice if that’s what you really need. He’s also had his own challenges, including years of trying through IVF to create a family, and ultimately naming his first daughter Hope. He overcame a drinking problem that landed him a DUI decades ago, and he’s been sober ever since. Talk about relatable and personal. You don’t just want to have a (root) beer with Walz. You want to pour your heart out to him and then let him give you a hug.

A VP pick speaks volumes about the values of a presidential candidate. Trump picked JD Vance who, like him, doesn’t stand for anything but himself. Harris picked Walz, and all we can do is smile ear to ear as he helps lead the team to victory.