We’ve linked to coverage of Tim Walz’s camouflage-heavy aesthetic before, but I’m pleased to see that Politico recently devoted a guest column to it. Derek Guy (also known as the menswear guy on Twitter) wrote the piece right after the Harris-Walz camouflage baseball caps sold out within minutes. Basically, Guy’s argument is that Walz’s average-Joe style is a huge plus for the Harris-Walz campaign and, even more than that, it works because this is just who he is authentically. He’s a hunter, he’s a fisherman, he knows his way around an engine and he probably keeps jumper cables in his trunk. He is a midwest dad archetype. Some highlights from Politico:

Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate has introduced an unexpected issue into our high-stakes political discourse: casual wear. Walz’s progressive governing record and successful deployment of the term “weird” against Republican opponents were both factors in Harris’ decision. But so was his potential appeal to working class voters in the “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

That’s where Walz has a fashionable — or perhaps helpfully unfashionable — advantage: With his flannel-lined LL Bean barn coats, scuffed work boots and woodsy camo caps, Walz is one of the few male politicians who looks normal in the kind of unpretentious clothing many voters prefer to wear themselves.

Walz’s remarkably unremarkable look displays a rare talent that few of his contemporaries share. Despite America’s long trend of dressing down, male politicians looking to earn everyman cred via casual clothing often fumble.

At a Harris rally held just a few days after Walz popularized the now viral “weird” charge against Republicans during a Morning Joe interview last month, the governor showed up in a pair of Carhartt work pants, rugged work shoes and a camouflage cap decorated with the U.S. Special Forces crest (“De Oppresso Liber,” or “To Free the Oppressed”). While touring Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, with President Joe Biden, he wore a tan canvas, corduroy-collared LL Bean barn coat with blue jeans and a ball cap that read “Minnesota Grown.” At Democratic Party retreats, he sports quarter-neck zip fleeces under what appears to be a buffalo-plaid Filson Mackinaw Cruiser, a classic among Midwestern hunters and outdoorsmen.

When the Harris campaign rolled out a video shortly after the VP announcement — showing Harris and Walz engaged in an obviously orchestrated phone call — Harris was shown wearing a navy suit while Walz was dressed in a black t-shirt, tan chinos, camo cap and white sneakers. The choice to put Walz in casual wear, and introduce woodsman camo campaign merch shortly after the announcement, suggests the Harris team is keenly aware of how clothing impacts the governor’s blue-collar brand.

But beyond branding, Walz’s avuncular outfits are visually successful because they are culturally coherent — teaming workwear with workwear, rather than mixing suit jackets with jeans, as DeSantis was wont to do. They also rely on classics from American heritage labels, such as LL Bean’s barn coat, Carhartt’s utility pants, Filson’s Mackinaw and Red Wing’s work boots. But most of all, they possess a quality that style writers have spent generations trying to dissect: authenticity. Walz grew up in small town Nebraska, where his high school graduating class included about 25 students. He earned his bachelor’s degree from a small public state college before going on to serve in the Army National Guard and then working at Mankato West High School, where he taught geography and coached football. His hunting get-ups don’t look contrived because he’s an actual hunter.

[From Politico]

Yes, that’s exactly why it works – it is authentic and it comes across that way too. Walz’s clothes are clean but well-worn, as if he’s had most of those pieces for years (if not decades). His hats always look like he picked them up from the back of his pickup truck. Even the choice for VP Harris to call Walz “coach” in her speeches reflects an awareness of what it is that Walz brings to the ticket. She’s not saying “Governor Walz” or even “Tim.” She’s calling him “Coach Walz” and there’s already campaign placards with a “coach” theme. She’s going to send him to Wisconsin and Michigan in full camo with a whistle, I swear to God.

Photos courtesy of Walz’s IG.