As a former Congressman and sitting Governor, Tim Walz already knows what it’s like to be put under the microscope. However, to become the Vice President, a heartbeat away from the Presidency, is an entirely different world. Professional political operatives for the Republican Party and others are looking through financial records, votes, previous statements, videos, and everything in between. It’s already hard to go on social media without seeing commentary about Walz’s lack of financial investments and property or his response time to the rioting in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.
On the flip side, the same applies to Democrat operatives who are doing the same work in order to prepare Walz for the inevitability of a negative headline. If a campaign team and a candidate already know what the opposition will try to dig up, that means they have time to prepare a response well beforehand. Being caught unaware of a critical issue could very well be the end of a campaign and political career.
Every time a candidate runs for elected office, they are entering into a world where every proverbial skeleton in their closet is just moments away from becoming a national headline. Beyond these skeletons is what the candidate has actually done, which may include 20+ years of voting history or only a few campaign rallies. Every time you see a political ad on TV or a campaign handout left on your door you are likely to see a lot of claims about someone running for office with a variety of citations. It is the goal of opposition researchers to delve into candidates and uncover what they have done, what they support, what they’ve invested in, and what skeletons they have.
When a video surfaces showing a candidate speaking to farmers and promising to protect them from excessive regulations while in another video saying the exact opposite to a group of environmentalist activists, you can thank an opposition researcher.
When you find out a candidate who claims to be “tough on China” but it’s discovered they’re profiting off of investments in Chinese tech companies being accused of spying on Americans, you can thank an opposition researcher.
Who is an oppo researcher?
Opposition researchers appear in all shapes and sizes and political ideologies. Some are sitting in expensive office buildings overlooking the Capitol Building in Washington, DC while others may be sitting in their home office in an apartment building in St. Paul, Minnesota. Some only research Democrats and some only research Republicans, while some act as watchdogs and call out inconsistencies no matter party affiliation.
Why is oppo research important?
Our elected officials by the pure intent of running for office must accept a limited expectation for privacy. When your position requires an educated electorate to know everything about you, you can’t very well hide your thoughts, your history, or your financial investments.
Opposition research is more than looking for skeletons, it is also about driving the conversation. The big question that will be brought up time and time again in political “war rooms” between now and November is “Do people care about this?” In my experience in both opposition research and in campaigning, I often used a triangle as a visual explainer to first-time staffers, interns, and volunteers. Imagine a food pyramid where the only divider is between the top and the entire rest of the triangle. The political staffers, the think tank employees, and the young college students with aspirations for elected office are at that top. These are the folks who open their email every morning to dozens of political newsletters that they go through before breakfast. Those, like myself, who just can’t take their eyes off of the constant chaos of an election cycle and its intricacies.
When it’s discovered that, as I mentioned before, a candidate has financial investments in a Chinese tech company, those at the top of the triangle may have a knee-jerk reaction to think it’s important. However, to the rest of the triangle, to the average voters, do they care? Will finding out a politician is investing in an ethically gray company or fund actually make anyone not vote for them? Unlikely. When a video is played where a candidate takes a mocking tone at being asked about a divisive issue like gun control or abortion, will that make anyone not vote for them? Far more likely.
In that vein, here are a few issues around Walz’s candidacy that voters both right and left-leaning may care about and either drive them to the polls or away.
- Lack of a hardline Pro-Palestine or Pro-Israel stance
- Previous support of energy/environmental issues like the Keystone XL Pipeline
- Immigration positions like signing legislation that opened up availability for free college tuition and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in Minnesota
- Substantial tax increases during a year where the Minnesota state budget possessed a nearly $18 billion surplus
- Regulations implemented on agricultural industries during his Governorship
- Claims being made about Walz’s military career
- Walz’s response to rioting in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd
While left-leaning Pro-Palestine and environmentalists advocates may be turned away because of Walz’s positions around Palestine or the Keystone XL Pipeline they may comparatively be enthused by his immigration stances. Similarly, will those very points in Minnesota play very differently in other battleground states?
Additionally, for those same opposition researchers playing defensively for their own candidate being able to not only identify issues that may be targeted but also prepare responses to claims that may lack context or are fabricated. For example, Walz’s retirement from his military career has been a point of contention on whether or not anything questionable actually occurred. However, the claim has already been thrown out into the national conversation and it has become the goal of opposition researchers on both sides of the aisle to question the validity of the claims.
It is the role of opposition researchers to find possible issues and identify them as something the entire pyramid is interested in. This requires a deep understanding of the civic side of politics as well as understanding the general populace.
All eyes on November
Tim Walz is heading into the limelight as a potential future Vice President of the United States. He, like his counterpart J.D Vance, is being put deep under the microscope by allies and opposition alike with the goal of finding what plays well and what will hurt their candidacy across the country. With party conventions over and state primary elections coming to an end, we’re heading into a dead heat straight to November. As the average voter becomes inundated with TV, radio, digital, and mail advertisements it will be up to the opposition researchers to uncover every unturned stone until every voter no matter their place on the triangle will have what they need to make an educated decision on who will be President and whether Tim Walz or J.D. Vance will be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
-Alex Saunders, Account Executive
