The Politics of Joy

Kamala Harris brings a new happiness, a new enthusiasm to the presidential campaign trail.

As readers of this newsletter know - and as the many new subscribers who have joined over the past few weeks will discover - I only write about once a week and it has always been focused on policy, both current and past. I have not talked much about politics, even though it has been a central focus of my work in Washington.

But I can’t help it. I am so enthusiastic about Democrats choosing Kamala Harris that I have to restrain myself. She is just killing it on the campaign trail. No doubt, Joe Biden will go down in history as one of our greatest presidents, but he was a terrible candidate. He wisely and graciously stepped down to allow Harris to ascend.

This political earthquake is overshadowing everything else. The assassination attempt is a fading memory. The Republican bizarre, cultish convention feels like ages ago. Many predict that Harris’ rise will overshadow Bibi Netanyahu’s speech to Congress - once a must-see event and now boycotted by many, including my state’s Senator Chris van Hollen who said what many feel: “I don’t want to be part of a political prop in this act of deception, because he’s not the great guardian of the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

Harris has had an immediate impact in the 72 hours (yes, only 72 hours!) since Biden stepped down. Democrats are excited and energized. Donations have poured in, with the majority (62 percent) coming from first time donors. The campaign broke records, raising $81 million from 1.2 million donors in the first 24 hours, the most raised in that period in the history of presidential politics - and $126 million as of Tuesday morning. That is more than either Trump or Biden raised in all of June.

An overwhelming majority of Democratic convention delegates pledged their support, securing her the nomination by Tuesday morning. Over 3,500 flocked to her first campaign event that day, the biggest crowd of the presidential campaign. Endorsements are pouring in from political leaders, celebrities, labor unions and advocacy groups. Instant polls show her leading Trump nationally and in key swing states. The Harris campaign released a detailed memo Wednesday morning showing how Harris polls much better than Trump among the 7 percent of voters who remain undecided, the majority of whom are Black, Latino and young.

There are many reasons for this but one of them is the way Kamala Harris talks. She gives a fabulous speech. She is a great interview. You want to watch her. She radiates positivity. Her remarks to the campaign staff in Wilmington were warm, genuine and inspiring. Her speech in Milwaukee was rousing and riveting. Senator Tammy Baldwin, who declined to appear with President Biden in Wisconsin two weeks ago, not only introduced her at the rally but flew into Milwaukee with her on Air Force Two.

It is not just her personal attributes and calm confidence, it is not just that she embodies what the voters have been telling us they want: someone younger, someone different, someone who represents the future not the past. It is the way she talks about the issues.

One of my close friends says that he has always felt that campaigns are about explaining how tomorrow will be better than today. Harris does that in a very authentic, personal way. Biden did it by describing a list of policies.

Here is how Harris described her agenda in Wisconsin yesterday:

This campaign is also about two different visions for our nation: one where we are focused on the future, the other focused on the past. 

We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead — (applause); a future where no child has to grow up in poverty — (applause); where every worker has the freedom to join a union — (applause); where every person has affordable health care — (applause) — affordable childcare — (applause) — and paid family leave.  (Applause.)  We believe in a future where every senior can retire with dignity.  (Applause.)

So, all of this is to say: Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.  (Applause.)  Because here’s the thing we all here, Wisconsin, know: When our middle class is strong, American is strong.  (Applause.)

Here is how Joe Biden presented the exact same agenda in his Detroit speech twelve days ago:

And here’s how we’re going to do it.  We’re going to stand up for women in America.  (Applause.)  We’re going to protect contraception.  We’re going to protect IVF, and we’re going to — going to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.  (Applause.)  I mean it. 

We’re going to protect the right to vote.  And we’re going to fight for Medicare and Social Security, not cut it like the other guy wants to do.  (Applause.)

And I’m going — I promise you I’m going to keep lowering the cost of prescription drugs in America.  (Applause.)  We’re going to keep expanding health care.  (Applause.)

We’re going to protect our children.  We’re going to get weapons of war off the street.  (Applause.)  We’re going to ban assault weapons. 

Both present a popular social and economic justice agenda, but Biden presents it from a politician’s point of view and Harris presents it from the point of view of someone living with these policies. She talks about the ways each policy change will impact people’s lives. She presents it as a matter of individual rights and personal freedom.

Most importantly, she presents a contrast between the failed policies of the past and the brighter future that awaits. In Wisconsin, the crowd erupted in a chant that is certain to feature in all her future events. It could be one of the summary statements of her campaign: We are not going back to Trump’s dystopia.

America has tried these failed economic policies before, but we are not going back.  (Applause.)  We are not going back.  We’re not going back. 

AUDIENCE:  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back! We’re not going back!  We’re not going back! 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We’re not going back. 

And I’ll tell you why we’re not going back: because ours is a fight for the future.  (Applause.)  And it is a fight for freedom.  (Applause.)

Generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom.  And now, Wisconsin, the baton is in our hands.  (Applause.)

We who believe in the sacred freedom to vote — (applause) — will make sure every American has the ability to cast their ballot and have it counted.  (Applause.)

We who believe that every person in our nation should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence — (applause) — will finally pass red flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault weapons ban.  (Applause.)

And we who believe in reproductive freedom — (applause) — will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.  (Applause.)

And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.  (Applause.)

So, Wisconsin, ultimately, in this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? 

And here’s the beauty of this moment: We each have the power to answer that question.  The power is with the people.  (Applause.)  We each have the power to answer that question.

This is powerful. This is motivating. This is just a small part of what Harris is doing to this campaign. There are 100 days to go, but the past three days have been the most dramatic beginning to a presidential campaign I have ever seen. They match the enthusiasm for Barack Obama in 2008 but with one big difference. Obama had a good portion of his party still resentful over his defeat of Hillary Clinton. There are no such divisions in the Democratic Party today. The transition from Biden to Harris has been seamless. The party is united.

More importantly, we are seeing the mobilization of vast numbers of citizens outside the party apparatus. Tens of thousands of black women on a Zoom call organizing and raising money on Sunday. Tens of thousands of black men on a similar call on Monday. Millions of young people generating internet memes and organizing through dozens of groups. Forty-eight thousand new voters registered in the 48 hours after Biden withdrew.

Trump always represented a minority of voters, but they were highly motivated, skillfully organized. Harris represents the views of the majority of Americans. They just needed someone who could articulate their desires and present a compelling vision of the future they want.

It appears that Harris is the leader they have been waiting for.