Ode to Joy
- Mike Dickey
- Aug 8, 2024
- 2 min read
"Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power."
It's been a gloomy political season in this country, feeling like the climax of an extended nightmare that began in November of 2016, or maybe if you were paying attention in 1994 with the Contract With America. Or maybe with Nixon's infamous "southern strategy" in '68. Regardless, we've seen years of messaging that appeals to our nation's darker side, to racism and fear and religious bigotry, culminating in the MAGA phenomenon that has torn families and communities apart with its dark message that some sinister elite is coming for your guns or your kids.
The spectacle has been fascinating to witness, but in the same way as a train derailment or a wildfire. Not good for the soul, not at all.
So this past Tuesday may have marked a significant turning point in an otherwise dark election year. P and I finally got around last night to watching the entire Philadelphia rally on Tuesday night, at which Kamala Harris introduced her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. You can do the same here:
At sixty I've watched my share of political theater, most of it formulaic and not particularly compelling. But this one was different, in that the message was upbeat, and the mood was joy.
Realizing that it's not enough to rally folks by being against something, each talked about what they championed, Harris in the style of a trial lawyer persuading a jury, and Walz as the folksy ex-football coach that he actually is. The hour watching the two of them on stage flew by, and P and I were buoyed by the notion that maybe, just maybe, the dystopian nightmare of a country run by Trump and his cronies could be avoided. Maybe there would be no need for that golden visa after all.
Of course, as easy as it might be to see this as a manichean battle between good and evil, it's not so simple as that. The Dems have their flakes, like The Squad, although those folks seem to be losing their reelection primary battles as the looniest of the Rs just get stronger. But the Harris team seems to have hit on something here, that optimism has stood as a fundamental characteristic of this country from the outset, and that retail politics requires that people feel good about how their vote will affect their lives and their future. Is hope a stronger motivator than fear? I reckon we'll find out on election day.
Meanwhile, the other side just can't help themselves. Apparently J.D. Vance assailed Harris and Walz in Wisconsin when both arrived on Air Force Two for a rally, walking over and announcing that would be his plane in a few months.
And, of course, a Trump-Vance campaign spokesman commented, "The smell alone on that plane must be crazy." Because, you know, black people. Amiright?
Disgusting. Simply disgusting.
But maybe after November they'll crawl back under the rock from which they emerged, and this MAGA contagion will finally ebb. We can only hope.
Comments