US vice presidential candidate Tim Walz plays Crazy Taxi on Twitch

by

As a lifelong gamer and political enthusiast, I can’t help but be genuinely impressed by Tim Walz’s unorthodox yet brilliant approach to engaging with young voters. This man is not just a politician; he’s a politician who knows how to have fun and connect on a level that resonates with the digital generation.

In an unexpected move, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz chose to collaborate with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the gaming platform Twitch for a couple of games of Crazy Taxi this past week, offering a unique approach to captivating young voters.

A Crazy Taxi ride through the streets

When logging into the Twitch stream, people assumed it would be a standard political campaign discussion, but Walz had something different in mind. After a game of Madden NFL 25 with Ocasio-Cortez, he decided to play his hidden favorite: Sega’s Crazy Taxi. Walz explained that he didn’t want to end the session without demonstrating this game to her and confessed his ignorance about using Xbox controllers – yet he persisted. It turned out that his driving skills were quite impressive for a politician, to say the least.

Brought back a Dreamcast classic.

— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) October 27, 2024

In a humorous and self-effacing twist, as the character Axel, Walz navigated swiftly through the digital metropolis, he couldn’t help but make a playful remark. He inquired if his driving style was intended as an ironic critique of New York City, following Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s lighthearted question about whether he drove similarly in reality. Indeed, such a politician with wit and self-deprecation is not a common sight for many Americans.

It appeared that Walz found the Twitch venture refreshing. He boasted to Ocasio-Cortez that there’s actually a character based on him in the game due to a recent modification. While navigating through traffic congestion, he suggested that he favors Crazy Taxi over Grand Theft Auto, finding the latter too violent. For Ocasio-Cortez, even the streets of Crazy Taxi seemed chaotic enough. (In this version, I tried to maintain the original meaning while making it more natural and easy to read.)

Walz and Ocasio-Cortez aren’t newcomers to using Twitch among American politicians; in fact, not long ago, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders made an appearance on a live stream alongside Pokimane.

Read More

2024-10-28 14:39