IS THIS A PICTURE OF TIM WALZ?
By Michael B. Brodkorb | June 17, 2008
https://web.archive.org/web/20090724222229/https://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/06/17/is-this-a-picture-of-tim-walz/
For the record, I believe the picture above (man holding “Veterans for Kerry” sign) is of Tim Walz in 2004, years before he was elected to Congress. I showed this picture to six people – four Republicans and two Democrats. Everybody thought it was Walz, except for one of the Democrats who thought it could be Walz.
I will have a tough time getting Congressman Walz’s staff to confirm if this is Walz, so I thought I would post the picture and let you voice your opinion. Again, I believe it is Walz. I will explain the story behind this picture later tonight on Minnesota Democrats Exposed.
UPDATE: I was organizing some old pictures last week and I found this picture in my files. This picture was taken by me on August 4, 2004.
I was working for the Republican Party of Minnesota and I was driving with a family member to President Bush’s rally in Mankato. This picture is from a series I took of protesters on the road to the leading to the event. I believe this is a picture of Walz protesting President Bush’s visit to Mankato in 2004.
Walz has frequently told a story about how he and two students were kicked out of President Bush’s event because one the students had a Kerry for President sticker on their wallet. Nick Coleman of the Star Tribune wrote an column about the alleged incident. From the column:
“After riding a Bush bus to the quarry, Walz and the kids got off to go through the metal detectors and have their IDs checked. Bush officials took the kids aside and thoroughly inspected them. When one was discovered to have a Kerry sticker on his wallet, they were ordered back onto the bus.
Walz objected, and he was asked to leave, too. ‘You’re not welcome,’ a Bush guy said. ‘Get back on the bus.’
Walz said he had a right to see the president.
So you support the president? a Bush guy asked. I didn’t say that, said Walz. Then you’re an opponent? I didn’t say that, either, said Walz, thinking it was nobody’s business.
‘If you don’t get on that bus,’ the guy said, ‘you’ll be detained by the Secret Service for interfering with a presidential event.’
‘I don’t want to get arrested,’ Walz said. ‘My wife will get mad because I’m supposed to pick up our daughter [Hope, 3] and make dinner. Do you really want to arrest someone who just got back from overseas, because he wants to see the president?’
The Bush guys backed down. They said they’d do him a favor if he behaved himself. He ignored the insult. They said the Secret Service was watching him. They let him in.” Source: Star Tribune, August 13, 2004
Notice how Coleman’s column never mentioned that Walz likely protested outside President Bush’s event? But wait, the best part of the article is yet to come:
“Walz listened. And made up his mind. On Wednesday, he was named Blue Earth County manager of the Kerry campaign. In case you have forgotten how America works, that does not make him disloyal. And no one can say he is not informed.
Unlike many people, Tim Walz has gotten to see the president.” Source: Star Tribune, August 13, 2004
So Walz pretends to Coleman that he was an undecided voter, when in reality Walz was likely protesting at President Bush’s event with a sign that read “Veterans for Kerry.”
Finally, there is some confusion over whether Walz was kicked out of the event, or if he was allowed to stay. An article from the Rochester Post-Bulletin in 2006 states that Walz “and two students were removed”:
“Walz noted that President Bush remembered the Mankato rally in 2004 where he and two students were removed due to a John Kerry sticker on one of the students’ wallets. ‘That was kind of fun,’ Walz said of the president’s comment. Walz credits that event as one of the most important in his decision to run for office.” Source: Rochester Post-Bulletin, November 15, 2006
Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information on this developing story.