Trouble in paradise

When people are having tremendous success in any vocation, it's easy to get along and be unified. But the true character of those same individuals is typically revealed when adversity hits. 

Along those lines, reports of a rift between Minnesota's top figures in the state's Executive Branch shouldn't be all that surprising. 

Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan haven’t been seen together publicly in seven weeks and the two aren’t communicating or meeting privately, a rift that coincided with his return from the national campaign, according to multiple sources close to the governor’s office.

The first public indication that something was amiss came just three days after the election. That afternoon, Walz gave his homecoming speech to staff, commissioners and invited DFL guests at Eagan High School. Flanagan wasn’t there and sources with knowledge of the situation said she wasn’t invited.

Instead, First Lady Gwen Walz introduced the governor with a short speech, a task that routinely fell to Flanagan for official government events. Then in his remarks, Walz thanked his wife, family and staff. He did not mention Flanagan by name or title, even though she had spent weeks enthusiastically campaigning for the national ticket led by Vice President Kamala Harris and helped run the state while he was gone.

I kinda had a feeling something like this was gonna happen. Well, nothing on the Walz-Flanagan relationship per se, but rather how the thin-skinned Walz can get rather snippy if things don't go his way. The fact he and his party no longer have cart blanche to do whatever they desire in Minnesota means the fawning and adulation from national progs goes away. Add to that the fact that over the final weeks of the presidential campaign that many Dems started to question Harris's pick of Walz as her running mate, he suddenly has gone from the dorky guy at the cool kids' table to just a regular ol' weirdo. 

In the end, Walz not going to D.C. as the new Vice President likely upset the applecart of a lot of far left Minnesota progs. Specifically, they were psyched to run a victory lap over prevailing in an area they cherish: Intersectionality. 

To some in DFL circles, the bonus of a Harris-Walz victory would have been the ascension of Flanagan as Minnesota’s first female governor joined by Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, as the first Black lieutenant governor. Flanagan also would have been the nation’s first female Native American governor.

At this point, can we even rule out the possibility of Flanagan challenging Walz in a DFL primary should he decide to seek a third term? As a radio talk show host, I say inject this storyline directly into my veins. 

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