Dear Coach Walz,
Please take our Nebraska jokes with good humor and as a sign of respect. Colorado actually loves Nebraska. We rooted for your native state when Nebraska battled to keep slavery away. We love our northeast neighbor and all we have in common.
In the late 1970s, our Colorado College men’s basketball team would drive through the snow to play Nebraska small colleges. In the 45 years since, I’ve never spent a vacation day or night in Nebraska. That all changed when Vice President Kamala Harris picked you as her running mate.
I’ve taken two separate trips to and through Nebraska in honor of you, sir. And they’ve been thrilling, full of new sights, sounds and food.
Thank you, neighbor, for your service. People who help children are the best. You trained young people for most of your 24 years in the Army.
You’ve been a tireless public servant for your constituents in Minnesota for two decades now. You’ve not enriched yourself. You’ve raised a loving family.
When Gus Walz, age 17, stood and pointed with pride at you, yelling, “That’s my Dad!” it made my heart explode. If I ever need to have a good cry, I replay that precious, unrehearsed moment between a loving son and father.
You’ve brilliantly embraced Harris’ natural happiness and made joy the central theme of your Harris-Walz campaign. Shyamala Harris was a magnificent mother to Kamala, but Kamala did not have a big brother, and she was estranged from her father.
You fill those roles right away — for Kamala and those of us who miss our Dad and big brother. Kamala is plenty tough and doesn’t need a defender, but we can all use an ally in the trenches. And bullies don’t have a chance against a tough Army sergeant with a championship defensive coordinator football mentality.
We loved it when you called MAGA weird and told us not to be afraid. I was thrilled when Harris selected you. Those darling videos you made with your daughter, Hope, also convinced me. So did your Ezra Klein interview and by my digging into your biography.
Right after you were selected on Aug. 5, I suddenly craved a road trip to your native Nebraska and perhaps Minnesota. As you delivered your opening stemwinder in Philadelphia on Aug. 6, I arrived at Fort Cody in North Platte, honking my horn when you explained Minnesota’s Golden Rule of “mind your own damn business.” Colorado and Nebraska share claims to Buffalo Bill Cody.
The next day, on my bike, I explored the extraordinary downtown in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while listening to your Harris-Walz rally in Detroit. By nightfall, I’d found lodging and dinner in Luverne, Minnesota, before driving home the next day. My first Walz Tour was fun but incomplete.
There was more to see — and eat. Listening to your exhilarating Aug. 17 Omaha rally. I realized my failure to eat at Runza. I had neither seen the Niobrara River nor this mysterious art exhibit called Carhenge.
I learned of your decade-long adventures on the Denver side of Nebraska. Even the time zone in Alliance and Chadron is Rocky Mountain. I took my second Nebraska trip this week. Carhenge was a blast, but the Niobrara River looked too tiny for a raft. That may require a future trip to your teenage hometown of Valentine.
This week’s Walz Tour included three Runza stops. Your beloved restaurant has expanded to Colorado to cement the Nebraska-Colorado connection further. The Longmont Runza was my first stop as I headed to Alliance.
The Cheese Runza was bland by Colorado standards. The only available condiment packages were for ketchup and mayonnaise. I asked if they had Tabasco, and the clerk looked at me funny. She kindly handed me some Southwest Sauce that tasted like mayo mixed with ketchup.
My next Runza was in your old hometown of Alliance. I got some fine Frings and a medium Mint Deluxe Shake before watching high school football practice nearby. I teed off first on Tuesday morning at Alliance’s Sky View Golf Course. I bet you played there often.
It was 54 miles from Alliance to Chadron for my Runza lunch. I took full advantage of the 75-cent hamburger deal on August Tuesdays. Runza crinkle fries and a soda were part of the package. I consumed Diet Mountain Dew with several refills in honor of you and Shady Vance.
Your alma mater, Chadron State College, has long been a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference school. When you taught at Alliance High School, you and your wife, Gwen, practically lived in a Denver suburb with our TV and radio stations on your airwaves. I bet you like the Broncos!
I bought tons of Eagles merchandise at the Chadron State bookstore before heading north to explore Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument. Next, I went to Mount Rushmore and Rapid City. Tell Kamala there is room for her face next to Abe’s.
No Colorado politician has made it as far as you. Please remember that the prairies of Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska run right up to the Front Range of Colorado. All your neighbors are counting on you. We appreciate you and your Nebraska roots.
Your neighbor,
Craig
Craig Silverman is a former Denver chief deputy DA. Craig is columnist at large for The Colorado Sun and an active Colorado trial lawyer with Craig Silverman Law, LLC.
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