'Never Walz' booth draws crowds as state fair political scene turns
attention to Minnesota’s governor.

'Walz has yet to make an appearance at the Great Minnesota Get-Together,
but the running mate of Kamala Harris is a top conversation topic among
critics and supporters at the fair.

<https://alphanews.org/never-walz-booth-draws-crowds-as-state-fair-political-scene-turns-attention-to-minnesotas-governor/>

'The sound of a gameshow-like spinning wheel was almost as constant as
the smell of fried foods on a stick along a stretch of Underwood Street
on a mostly sunny Wednesday afternoon. A line of about five dozen people
snaked its way down the boulevard stretching southward to Ye Old Mill at
Carnes Avenue.

“You landed on Covid snitch line!” a volunteer from behind the “NEVER
WALZ” booth shouted to a throng of onlookers who either cheered, jeered
or were indifferent.

“You just missed ‘Stolen valor!'” someone yelled from a crowd that had
gathered.

The wheel spinning participants, a pair of young women, politely
received their “Never Walz” fans, affixed them atop the large pouch of
their backpacks and jaunted away.

They were two of about 5,000 or so visitors who stop by booth daily,
said Jesse Smith, a staff member for Action for Liberty.

The conservative grassroots organization has provided an intentionally
provocative presence at the Great Minnesota Get-Together the last
handful of years. The location of its booth has changed on occasion, but
regardless of where it pops up from one year to the next, Action for
Liberty’s political critiques of DFL policies and politicians tend to
draw crowds.

Especially this time around, as one of the organization’s most regular
targets for their criticism, Gov. Tim Walz, is now a running mate to
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

“We had to be nimble this time around,” said Erik Mortensen, a former
Republican legislator from Shakopee and president of Action for Liberty,
as he described the planning for the annual booth which tends to draw
many fans, along with a solid handful of foes.

Pivoting from one political topic to the next in time for the fair
Earlier this year, the organization was planning to run again with its
“Dump Biden”-themed booth that it said was a success during the 2023
Minnesota State Fair. But those plans changed abruptly mid-July when
former President Donald Trump was shot by a would-be assassin during a
political rally in Pennsylvania. Mortensen said the organization quickly
planned to pivot its theme for the booth to “Never Surrender,” a tribute
to Trump’s spirit and survival. They designed and ordered custom
t-shirts with that now indelible image of Trump with a raised fist as he
was being rushed off stage by Secret Service, just seconds after shots
rang out. But those plans changed again when on Aug. 6, Harris, a newly
christened Democratic successor to Biden, announced she had tapped Walz
to be her running mate.

The location of the “Never Walz” booth is about 40 paces south of where
Walz had pitched his own political booth the prior two years at the
fair. While the two-term Democratic governor has been noticeably absent
from the fairgrounds as he campaigns with Harris across the country, his
presence is still felt.

Volunteers with Action for Liberty congratulate a participant who won
the grand prize at the “Never Walz” wheel spin last Friday afternoon.
(Hank Long/Alpha News)
“We knew [Walz being picked to run with Harris] was going to be the
political topic of the fair,” Mortensen said, wearing a red hat with the
phrase “Walz Lies” emblazoned on the front. “There are so many people
who come to visit us fired up to vote for Trump. And now that Walz is on
the ballot they’re even more determined to get Trump back in the White
House. They know how terrible he’s been for Minnesota.”

The booth has become such a popular attraction that it has had to
carefully ration the number of “Never Walz” fans it hands out each day
to visitors who spin the wheel that features eight of the issues Smith
said voters are most critical of Walz: “Tax increases, Burning
Minneapolis, Mask Mandate, Tampons in Boys’ Bathrooms, Small Businesses
Crushed, Child Trans Surgeries, Stolen Valor and Covid Snitch Line.”
When it’s all said and done the booth will have distributed more than
20,000 fans to fairgoers, Smith said.

Political party booths bustling
At the DFL Party booth just two blocks away at Dan Patch Avenue and
Cooper Street, the mood was equally energetic and the crowd similar in
number. A few dozen visitors took their time glancing at a wall adorned
with no less than 30 politically-charged t-shirts on sale, some with
simple phrases like, “Kamala” and “Team Harris-Walz,” and others like
“OMG GOP WTF” and “Land of 10,000 Rights.”

Along the plaza in front of the DFL booth, staff for the progressive
political action committee “Alliance for a Better Minnesota” had camped
out to get people to register for their mailing list in exchange for
fans that featured a quote from former U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone on one
side, and the organization’s logo on the other.

Alliance for a Better Minnesota volunteers camped out in front of the
DFL Party booth last week with clipboards in hand and fans to give away,
emblazoned with a quote from the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone. (Hank
Long/Alpha News)
The Republican Party of Minnesota booth also was bustling with activity,
including visitors who chatted with two candidates for Congress, Tad
Jude and Joe Teirab. Both said that visitors seemed to be more informed
than ever on the political issues and candidates.

“It’s all about inflation, public safety and accountability for
government spending,” said Jude, a former judge, legislator and county
commissioner running as a Republican for Minnesota’s Third Congressional
District. “We are seeing these big government programs that are just a
complete failure, they’re not managed well. It’s a concern for people
who live in [CD3], and it’s the topics people I’ve met at the fair want
to discuss.”

For Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and military veteran who’s
challenging incumbent Angie Craig in the Second Congressional District,
all the talk among fairgoers is centered on inflation.

“They are telling me they can’t afford groceries, car bills, the cost of
energy,” Teirab said. “Sadly, the Biden-Harris economy is at fault for
it, and Angie Craig has been a lockstep vote for that.”

But voters aren’t neglecting state issues, said state Sen. Mark Koran,
who’s become a regular fixture at the fair, both at the Minnesota Senate
booth in the Education Building, and at the Republican Party booth along
Carnes Avenue.

Joe Teirab and Tad Jude visited with fairgoers at the Republican Party
of Minnesota’s booth last week. Teirab and Jude are both running for
Congress in suburban districts in the Twin Cities. (Hank Long/Alpha
News)
“It’s fascinating, because with the elevation of Walz to the
presidential race, people are just now starting to learn about all the
spending, all the extreme legislation that the DFL passed and Walz
signed the last two years,” Koran said, as he took time out from being
filmed interacting with fairgoers by a crew from CNN he said was working
on a story about politics at the Minnesota State Fair. “We speak out on
a lot of these bad ideas from the Democrats, and people think they are
just Republican talking points. And then they learn that Democrats
passed them into law.”

No shortage of Walz crop art
Even away from more obvious destinations for state fair political
fodder, you couldn’t escape the “Walz effect.” In the Agriculture
Building, a line of onlookers admired a heavy dose of Walz and
Harris-themed crop art installations adorned on the walls among several
non-political works of art.

Even those who visited the Crop Art Exhibition couldn’t get away from
politics, as several of the entries on display featured creative
messages of support for Tim Walz and/or Kamala Harris. A handful were
made by political activists affiliated with the progressive Alliance for
a Better Minnesota. (Hank Long/Alpha News)
A staff member inside the Crop Art Exhibit told Alpha News that a few
hundred people visit the exhibit every hour throughout the busiest hours
of the fair. Viewers of the several Walz tributes that were on display
pointed out their favorites, including one image of Walz, constructed
with 14 different varieties of seeds, with the quote, “They’re just
weird.”

'

On 2024-08-31, John Smyth <smythlejon2@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 'Never Walz' booth draws crowds as state fair political scene turns
> attention to Minnesota’s governor.
>
> 'Walz has yet to make an appearance at the Great Minnesota Get-Together,
> but the running mate of Kamala Harris is a top conversation topic among
> critics and supporters at the fair.
>
><https://alphanews.org/never-walz-booth-draws-crowds-as-state-fair-political-scene-turns-attention-to-minnesotas-governor/>
>
>
> 'The sound of a gameshow-like spinning wheel was almost as constant as
> the smell of fried foods on a stick along a stretch of Underwood Street
> on a mostly sunny Wednesday afternoon. A line of about five dozen people
> snaked its way down the boulevard stretching southward to Ye Old Mill at
> Carnes Avenue.
>
> “You landed on Covid snitch line!” a volunteer from behind the “NEVER
> WALZ” booth shouted to a throng of onlookers who either cheered, jeered
> or were indifferent.
>
> “You just missed ‘Stolen valor!'” someone yelled from a crowd that had
> gathered.
>
> The wheel spinning participants, a pair of young women, politely
> received their “Never Walz” fans, affixed them atop the large pouch of
> their backpacks and jaunted away.
>
> They were two of about 5,000 or so visitors who stop by booth daily,
> said Jesse Smith, a staff member for Action for Liberty.
>
> The conservative grassroots organization has provided an intentionally
> provocative presence at the Great Minnesota Get-Together the last
> handful of years. The location of its booth has changed on occasion, but
> regardless of where it pops up from one year to the next, Action for
> Liberty’s political critiques of DFL policies and politicians tend to
> draw crowds.
>
> Especially this time around, as one of the organization’s most regular
> targets for their criticism, Gov. Tim Walz, is now a running mate to
> Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
>
> “We had to be nimble this time around,” said Erik Mortensen, a former
> Republican legislator from Shakopee and president of Action for Liberty,
> as he described the planning for the annual booth which tends to draw
> many fans, along with a solid handful of foes.
>
> Pivoting from one political topic to the next in time for the fair
> Earlier this year, the organization was planning to run again with its
> “Dump Biden”-themed booth that it said was a success during the 2023
> Minnesota State Fair. But those plans changed abruptly mid-July when
> former President Donald Trump was shot by a would-be assassin during a
> political rally in Pennsylvania. Mortensen said the organization quickly
> planned to pivot its theme for the booth to “Never Surrender,” a tribute
> to Trump’s spirit and survival. They designed and ordered custom
> t-shirts with that now indelible image of Trump with a raised fist as he
> was being rushed off stage by Secret Service, just seconds after shots
> rang out. But those plans changed again when on Aug. 6, Harris, a newly
> christened Democratic successor to Biden, announced she had tapped Walz
> to be her running mate.
>
> The location of the “Never Walz” booth is about 40 paces south of where
> Walz had pitched his own political booth the prior two years at the
> fair. While the two-term Democratic governor has been noticeably absent
> from the fairgrounds as he campaigns with Harris across the country, his
> presence is still felt.
>
>
> Volunteers with Action for Liberty congratulate a participant who won
> the grand prize at the “Never Walz” wheel spin last Friday afternoon.
> (Hank Long/Alpha News)
> “We knew [Walz being picked to run with Harris] was going to be the
> political topic of the fair,” Mortensen said, wearing a red hat with the
> phrase “Walz Lies” emblazoned on the front. “There are so many people
> who come to visit us fired up to vote for Trump. And now that Walz is on
> the ballot they’re even more determined to get Trump back in the White
> House. They know how terrible he’s been for Minnesota.”
>
> The booth has become such a popular attraction that it has had to
> carefully ration the number of “Never Walz” fans it hands out each day
> to visitors who spin the wheel that features eight of the issues Smith
> said voters are most critical of Walz: “Tax increases, Burning
> Minneapolis, Mask Mandate, Tampons in Boys’ Bathrooms, Small Businesses
> Crushed, Child Trans Surgeries, Stolen Valor and Covid Snitch Line.”
> When it’s all said and done the booth will have distributed more than
> 20,000 fans to fairgoers, Smith said.
>
> Political party booths bustling
> At the DFL Party booth just two blocks away at Dan Patch Avenue and
> Cooper Street, the mood was equally energetic and the crowd similar in
> number. A few dozen visitors took their time glancing at a wall adorned
> with no less than 30 politically-charged t-shirts on sale, some with
> simple phrases like, “Kamala” and “Team Harris-Walz,” and others like
> “OMG GOP WTF” and “Land of 10,000 Rights.”
>
> Along the plaza in front of the DFL booth, staff for the progressive
> political action committee “Alliance for a Better Minnesota” had camped
> out to get people to register for their mailing list in exchange for
> fans that featured a quote from former U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone on one
> side, and the organization’s logo on the other.
>
>
> Alliance for a Better Minnesota volunteers camped out in front of the
> DFL Party booth last week with clipboards in hand and fans to give away,
> emblazoned with a quote from the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone. (Hank
> Long/Alpha News)
> The Republican Party of Minnesota booth also was bustling with activity,
> including visitors who chatted with two candidates for Congress, Tad
> Jude and Joe Teirab. Both said that visitors seemed to be more informed
> than ever on the political issues and candidates.
>
> “It’s all about inflation, public safety and accountability for
> government spending,” said Jude, a former judge, legislator and county
> commissioner running as a Republican for Minnesota’s Third Congressional
> District. “We are seeing these big government programs that are just a
> complete failure, they’re not managed well. It’s a concern for people
> who live in [CD3], and it’s the topics people I’ve met at the fair want
> to discuss.”
>
> For Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and military veteran who’s
> challenging incumbent Angie Craig in the Second Congressional District,
> all the talk among fairgoers is centered on inflation.
>
> “They are telling me they can’t afford groceries, car bills, the cost of
> energy,” Teirab said. “Sadly, the Biden-Harris economy is at fault for
> it, and Angie Craig has been a lockstep vote for that.”
>
> But voters aren’t neglecting state issues, said state Sen. Mark Koran,
> who’s become a regular fixture at the fair, both at the Minnesota Senate
> booth in the Education Building, and at the Republican Party booth along
> Carnes Avenue.
>
>
> Joe Teirab and Tad Jude visited with fairgoers at the Republican Party
> of Minnesota’s booth last week. Teirab and Jude are both running for
> Congress in suburban districts in the Twin Cities. (Hank Long/Alpha
> News)
> “It’s fascinating, because with the elevation of Walz to the
> presidential race, people are just now starting to learn about all the
> spending, all the extreme legislation that the DFL passed and Walz
> signed the last two years,” Koran said, as he took time out from being
> filmed interacting with fairgoers by a crew from CNN he said was working
> on a story about politics at the Minnesota State Fair. “We speak out on
> a lot of these bad ideas from the Democrats, and people think they are
> just Republican talking points. And then they learn that Democrats
> passed them into law.”
>
> No shortage of Walz crop art
> Even away from more obvious destinations for state fair political
> fodder, you couldn’t escape the “Walz effect.” In the Agriculture
> Building, a line of onlookers admired a heavy dose of Walz and
> Harris-themed crop art installations adorned on the walls among several
> non-political works of art.
>
>
> Even those who visited the Crop Art Exhibition couldn’t get away from
> politics, as several of the entries on display featured creative
> messages of support for Tim Walz and/or Kamala Harris. A handful were
> made by political activists affiliated with the progressive Alliance for
> a Better Minnesota. (Hank Long/Alpha News)
> A staff member inside the Crop Art Exhibit told Alpha News that a few
> hundred people visit the exhibit every hour throughout the busiest hours
> of the fair. Viewers of the several Walz tributes that were on display
> pointed out their favorites, including one image of Walz, constructed
> with 14 different varieties of seeds, with the quote, “They’re just
> weird.”
>
> '
That's hilarious!
I'll bet it's a money maker as well.