Voters want ‘progressive’ policies, tbh. Walz shows they aren’t scary.

The moment that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – every American’s new Midwestern dad – as her running mate, MAGA began hollering: PROGRESSIVE!
It’s a word the right wields as a political slur, but the 60-year-old Walz, a military veteran and former Minnesota high school teacher and football coach, seems like the kind of person who knows bunk when he sees it.
The belief that progressive ideas are somehow outside the mainstream is simply false. Polling has shown that when you present American voters with specific progressive policies, with no politician’s name attached, those policies are broadly supported.
A Data for Progress poll from March found: 78% of likely voters support taxing billionaires to increase Social Security benefits; 77% support rental and mortgage assistance for families; 75% support investing in clean energy technology; 73% support a public option that would let people buy into government-run health care; and 71% support capping child care expenses at 7% of a family’s yearly income.
These attitudes aren’t new. Going back to 2019, a CNBC poll found 75% support for government funding for child care, 60% support for raising the minimum wage, and 57% support for free state or public college tuition.
Here’s another example. Republicans demonized the Affordable Care Act and declared it the dawn of socialist tyranny ‒ and then people found out about what it actually does, and now it has an overall 60% favorability rating.
Maybe, just maybe, progressive policies are good, and people like them because they generally involve making life better and more fair for people.
As governor, Walz made Minnesota one of the first states to protect abortion rights after Roe v. Wade was struck down; started a state-run program that gives families paid sick, medical and family leave; and signed a bill providing universal free school meals.
The popular two-term governor is wholly unapologetic of his liberal record, telling CNN: “My kids are gonna eat here, and you’re gonna have a chance to go to college, and you’re going to have an opportunity to live where we’re working on reducing carbon commission.
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“Oh, and by the way, you’re going to have personal incomes that are higher, and you’re going to have health insurance. So, if that’s what they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label.” 
WalletHub recently ranked Minnesota the best state in the country for health care. In June, the London-based Institute for Quality of Life named Minneapolis the happiest city in America. Last month, CNBC rated Minnesota the sixth-best state in the country for business.
So something appears to be working in the scary progressive hellscape Walz has created.
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Or, as GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump put it in a fundraising scare-email Tuesday, Walz as vice president will “unleash HELL ON EARTH.” 
For too long, Democrats have struggled to fend off the negatives Republicans managed to attach to the “progressive” label. But with Walz as Harris’ VP pick, they have a communicator who will help folks see through the fearmongering rhetoric.
As he was introduced to the nation Tuesday evening at a rally with Harris in Philadelphia, Walz talked about reproductive rights with Midwestern earnestness: “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule ‒ mind your own damn business.”
He delivered daggers to convicted felon Trump with a cheerful dad-joke vibe: “Violent crime was up under Trump. That’s not even counting the crimes he committed.”
The newly minted vice presidential candidate served in the Army National Guard for 24 years, posts videos talking about quick-and-easy car repairs and, in one viral photo, looks like the happiest man on earth while holding a piglet at the Minnesota State Fair. 
Good luck making this guy out to be a radical leftist monster. Walz is an avatar for regular Americans, people who just want to live their lives, see everyone get a fair shake and get along with their neighbors, even if they don’t agree on everything.
As such, he’s a perfect example of what those progressive policies are all about. They’re about trying to help people, trying to make the world a slightly better place for everyone.
That’s not scary. And neither is Tim Walz.
He’s the Midwestern dad we didn’t know we needed.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk