MILWAUKEE – When Kamala Harris took the stage tonight at the Democratic National Convention, delegates saw first the Harris campaign “joy” we’ve been hearing so much about. It sounds hokey, but it’s real. And it’s the kind of reaction that a candidate can’t buy, bottle or barter for. Sometimes, it just happens, and that’s where Democrats, improbably, find themselves right now.
A month ago, with President Joe Biden as their presumptive nominee, joy was the last emotion Democrats seemed to be experiencing. More often, especially after Republicans’ wildly successful convention last month, the feelings in the Democratic mindset seemed closer to despair and dread.
But with the aging Biden now replaced with Harris, the doom and gloom inside the party has been replaced by a palpable feeling of relief and even hope. It’s as much for the candidate that the once-awkward Harris has suddenly become — energetic, optimistic and forceful — as for the notion that Democrats could have a chance to win this thing. The fact that they could also elect the first Black woman to the White House only intensifies it all.
“I would have voted for Joe Biden if he was dead. It could have been a ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ situation,” said Eileen Cahill, the chair of Planned Parenthood Wisconsin. “But the fact that it’s Kamala — even my daughter said she wishes she was 18 so that she could vote for her. That was not happening with Biden.”
I spoke to Cahill as she and her daughter waited for Harris to take the stage in Milwaukee earlier this week. They were two of the 15,000 who came out to see her speak in the same Fiserv Forum where former President Donald Trump accepted the GOP nomination a month ago.
The lines of supporters, mostly women, began to form outside the arena eight hours before Harris was due to speak. Once inside, they danced to a soundtrack playing Taylor Swift and Shania Twain songs over the loudspeaker. The place felt more like a dance party than a political rally.
The Democrats’ T-shirts told the stories of why they were there. “1973″ logos were a reference to the year Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, until it was struck down by a conservative Supreme Court majority, including three Trump appointees, in 2022. The “, La” pins were a reference to Trump’s penchant for mispronouncing Harris’ first name, as was the “Try ‘Madame President’ ” sweatshirt, which was also a nod to the historic first Harris would represent.
The crowd cheered so loudly when she took the stage that my ears began to ring. It had the feeling of Barack Obama’s rallies in 2008, but without the element of disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters. The rally attendees were as happy with Harris on stage as Trump’s devoted supporters are when he descends from “Trump Force One.”
But instead of just pumping up her followers with her speech, Harris included an obvious effort to reach out to the Republicans and independents she’ll need to win in battleground states, especially Wisconsin and Georgia.
The Georgia Democratic delegation heard the same message when she was on stage tonight, when topics that used to be the sole domain of GOP conventions — faith, freedom and patriotism — were front and center, literally, as they waved American flags provided by the campaign and sang along to “Born in the USA.”
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
“In this election, we each face a question. And that question is: What kind of country do we want to live in?” Harris asked the roaring audience in Chicago. “Do we want to live in a country of chaos and fear and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law?”
She called her campaign “people-powered” and “a new way forward for a future for freedom, opportunity, of optimism and faith.”
For Americans exhausted by the anger and divisions in politics right now, which are most of the people I talk to on a daily basis, the offer that Harris is putting on the table may be attractive.
Along with the tone that she set in Milwaukee and will surely repeat as she accepts the Democratic nomination, Harris also set out a number of economic policy positions Americans will have to kick the tires on.
On Thursday, she promised to cap the cost of prescription medication for all Americans; bring down the cost of groceries by making sure markets are competitive and fair; build millions of new homes; and give a $6,000 tax credit to families during the first year of their child’s life. That all sounds expensive — so it’s worth seeing how she’d pay for it.
But two additional issues brought the audience to its feet — abortion rights and gun safety. Harris promised to sign a bill to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade. And she said Americans deserve the freedom to be safe from gun violence.
Harris did not say then exactly what that policy would look like, but she didn’t have to. Because somebody somewhere in the Harris campaign knows (and it may be the candidate herself) that elections are not really won or lost on the ins and outs of policy positions. Campaigns are about the way a candidate makes voters feel.
After years of anxiety, Democrats now have a candidate who makes them feel happy. And that’s enough to now give Donald Trump a real run for his money.
”I smell victory,“ said state Sen. Nan Orrock, as she waited for Harris to accept the nomination Thursday.
Sitting alongside Orrock was Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, 81, the first Black woman to be a Senate leader in Georgia. How did she feel about Harris as the nominee?
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this,” she said.
