If the header image didn’t make it obvious enough, I am Getting Political again. You have been warned.
On Saturday night, July 20th, I was about as down as I’ve been in years. I just couldn’t believe this country was about to elect Donald Trump president again, but I couldn’t see any way it wouldn’t happen unless something major changed. And this change did not appear to be coming.
And a video Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released the day before made it sound like the Democrats were screwed no matter what we tried to do next. She said the wealthy donors who wanted Biden out also wanted Harris out, and I figured the optics of shoving aside the Black VP to install two white candidates on the ticket would deal the death blow to any hopes of a strong Democratic turnout in November.
Okay, self, I thought. Snap out of it. You’ve got a book coming out. Let’s just try to enjoy these last few Trump-free months before we all have to return to the hell we thought we escaped.
I might also have thought Man, why do I have to be a Democrat? Why do my personal ideals have to align with the party that couldn’t manage a fart at a chili-eating contest? This sucks.
That was Saturday. I already talked about what happened on Sunday.
But a few days later, the change in the country’s mood has been so profound I’m still pinching myself to be sure it’s real. How did we go so fast from Game Over to Game On?
So far, Democrats are rallying around Kamala Harris like she’s the second coming of Barack Obama. Because it kind of feels that way. She’s young (compared to who she’s up against, at least), vibrant, positive, and inspirational. I don’t think AOC was necessarily wrong in what she said about wealthy donors wanting Harris gone, but I strongly suspect Nancy Pelosi, the person who finally convinced Biden he simply couldn’t win, may have also talked some sense into these people.
And Joe Biden has swung from being portrayed as a doddering, confused old egomaniac to a selfless hero who voluntarily walked away from power because it was the best thing for his country. I think Biden’s fundamentally a good man who’s been a good President, and it’s heartening to see his reputation restored.
And the best part of this has been watching the Trump campaign absolutely flounder and stomp their feet about how unfair this all is. Waiting until after the Republican National Convention for Biden to announce his withdrawal was absolute genius; Republicans wasted time and money attacking a candidate who is now gone, and Trump’s VP pick looks worse and more clueless by the day. Good, strategic decisions? In my Democratic party? Yes please, and more of this, thank you.
All of a sudden, Trump looks like the doddering, confused old egomaniac. (Which he is.) So far, the attacks his campaign has manufactured against Harris are weak racist crap that didn’t work against Obama and won’t work against Harris either. Or they’re so appallingly sexist (Harris has no real stake in the country because she’s a childless cat lady who doesn’t have biological children!) that even generally nonpolitical celebrities like Jennifer Aniston are pissed off enough to speak out against them.
As for the attempts to slut-shame Harris, get real. Trump has children by three different women, one of whom he knocked up while he was still married to someone else. If you’re supporting a serial adulterer, sex offender, and Epstein crony for President, you don’t get to clutch your pearls about Kamala Harris’s sex life.
At this point, I suspect all the people who helped Trump run an unsettlingly effective campaign in 2016 are either in prison or long gone from his circles. Good.
Now, I don’t mean to be overconfident. A lot could happen between now and November. Look at everything that’s happened since that dreadful debate, which wasn’t even a full month ago as of this writing. But at least a Trump victory, while still quite possible, no longer feels like a foregone conclusion. And if the Democrats lose in November, I’m at least happy they tried to change course instead of employing their usual “Our ship’s heading right for an iceberg? Eh, I’m sure it’ll all work out” approach.
In conclusion: Please register to vote if you haven’t already.