On Tuesday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris called Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and invited him to be her running mate. Walz — who, according to a video shared by the campaign, answered the call wearing a camouflage hat (cue copycat merchandise), black T-shirt, khakis, and white running shoes that some might call “dad sneakers” — happily accepted the invitation. An announcement was made … and then came the jokes.
“Tim Walz is so prepared for fatherhood that he will balance the household.”
“Tim Walz says, ‘Uh oh, now there’s trouble’ when he sees another father he knows.”
“When Walz has to run back inside to get his keys, he definitely says: ‘Without them I wouldn’t have made it very far.'”
And then there are the headlines. “The masculinity check light is on. Tim Walz should check it out,” says a Washington Post column, noting that the memes about Walz “take on more biographical than caricatural overtones.” According to The Atlantic, “dad is on the ballot.” The paper says that Walz “exudes a familiar, affable energy — the kind that suggests the governor could easily teach you how to change a tire or hang some shelves in your living room. In other words, Walz is extremely father-coded.” The New York Times, meanwhile, marveled at “the political appeal of the aggressively normal dad.”
In the words of one supporter and Vanity Fair, Walz, 60, has “the energy of a great father.” That makes sense – he Is, a father, after all. The first word in his official X-biography is “Dad.” And based on footage of him teasing his 23-year-old daughter Hope about being a vegetarian or playing the role of a clumsy boomer in a PSA about hands-free driving, he is Is have a penchant for dad jokes.
But most politicians – including the two Walz and Harris are running against – are fathers. What is it that makes so many people – whether they want to vote for him in November or not – fixate on his fatherly charisma? What does that say about him – and about us?
Tim Walz says 10,000%: “GUESS ITS FREE” if an item is not scanned in the store
– That Gay Dad (@ThatGayDad13) 8 August 2024
Understanding archetypes
“The human brain is lazy and uses all sorts of shortcuts, metaphors and archetypes to categorize and quickly process information,” media psychologist Pamela Rutledge tells Yahoo Life. Archetypes can help voters understand and identify with a candidate: “the everyman,” “the statesman,” “the underdog,” “the maverick,” and so on. These archetypes have cultural meaning, and we make judgments about someone who presents that image based on our experiences and perceptions.
Drew Westen, professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology and Psychiatry at Emory University and author of The political brain: The role of emotions in deciding the fate of the nation, cites Sigmund Freud’s insights into transference, the tendency of people to unconsciously project traits or feelings onto others. “You would expect most politicians to show some kind of transference,” Westen says, and much of this may be influenced by their particular archetype. We might see them as a friend we’d like to go for a beer with, or a strict teacher we rebelled against, or, in Walz’s case, a father figure.
But “just because someone has children doesn’t mean they adopt the archetype of a father,” Rutledge notes.
Why is Walz so dad-coded?
Westen sees Walz’s “Big Dad energy” as an organic part of his personality, rather than a calculated political move (though that’s not to say it won’t become a central part of the Harris-Walz campaign’s messaging to appeal to voters). His Midwestern background, as a former teacher and coach and, yes, as a real father who speaks at length about his two children, all play a role. Westen adds, “That ability to talk to you like a normal human being makes him much more approachable, and that makes him much more fatherly.” (Though he wasn’t necessarily fatherly, former President Ronald Reagan had a similar approachability, according to Westen.)
Walz “radiates the father archetype in a Howard Cunningham (who Beautiful days “A father archetype brings with it authority, wisdom and order, and Walz capitalizes on our collective longing for the good father.”
But Walz is not your papa
Amid the discourse on “Big Dad energy,” it is good to recognize that at the end of the day, we collectively project these characteristics and intimacies onto politicians that we do not Really know. Treating Walz – or any other candidate – like a parent you never had is an example of a parasocial relationship, Rutledge says.
“Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships in which a person has a strong sense of connection, intimacy, or familiarity with a celebrity, or in this case, a politician,” she explains. “The media creates many circumstances that feel like face-to-face contact, which over time reinforces the feeling that a voter ‘knows’ the politician. Even though it’s a one-sided relationship, voters will gradually feel that the politician knows and understands them. We see this in the way (former President Donald) Trump’s supporters talk about Trump, benefiting from years of media exposure.”
There are undeniable benefits to being perceived as a sitcom-esque good dad. That perceived warmth and approachability, says Rutledge, can foster parasocial relationships. It’s also humanizing, especially at a time when politics has caused divisions.
Yet not everyone finds that father charisma to be a strength. Much of it may also depend on the parenting style we grew up with, Westen says. The late psychologist Diana Baumrind found that there are three parenting styles: authoritarian (strict, possibly abusive, demands obedience); permissive (lean-back, wants to be friends with the kids rather than enforce rules); and authoritative (rule-based but also reasonable—the style Walz is associated with). There’s plenty of research, Westen adds, suggesting that the type of parenting determines what qualities you look for in a leader. For example, someone raised by a controlling parent might be attracted to someone they perceive as having an authoritarian leadership style—someone who rules with an iron fist rather than, say, taking away the car keys.
Ultimately, experts say, people will vote for who they think is the best leader – not the best father. But if you need to get your tire pressure checked … we know one.
