There's no question this 2024 edition of the Democratic National Convention is vastly different than just about any previous political convention put on by either party. It almost defies description in political terms. I've been trying to put my finger on exactly what it is that has made this so different, which has, on several occasions over the past three nights, brought me to tears, and which has been, in every single moment, so vastly different than the Republican convention, built around the personality and campaign of Trump.
And last night, I think I finally figured it out. The word is "authentic."
We are watching real people, who have had real struggles in their life and political careers, and who have had real success, earned by determination and hard work, put everything on display by showing us who they really are, not who they want us to think that they are. It's on display everywhere.
There's been an incredible amount of talk about setting aside those things that tend to divide us when it comes to loving and caring about our neighbors, more than I've ever heard or seen in all of the time I spent growing up in an Evangelical church, and these people aren't just talking about it and wearing it on their sleeve. These people have the goods to back it up.
The candidates who are at the top of this ticket came from where we came from. They're not some image crafted by prosperity they didn't achieve on their own and by the politics of duplicity and dishonesty because the real politician isn't someone who can relate to his own constituents. They lived life where most of us have lived it. I worked in a fast food restaurant most of the time I was in college, because my parents were covering tuition that my scholarships didn't quite cover, and that paid my car expenses, insurance and helped me have some savings. I grew up in a small town where the football season was the highlight of the year, and where I had several teachers, including "that one," who were role models and encouragers. I became a high school social studies teacher.
Who better to understand politics, American history, culture, geography and economics?
This Has Been Real
The kind of enthusiasm that has come out of this convention cannot be faked. I think there's good reason for this.
When the news came, almost a week after election day in 2020, that Joe Biden had won, and had been elected President, and Trump was out, the country was so relieved, people emerged from homes and businesses, and started celebrating. I was sitting on a love seat in my living room, and I cried. The nightmare was over. I had no idea what we were about to be put through, as some of the most unpatriotic, un-American activity we've ever seen was yet to be experienced, and when that ended with Joe Biden's inauguration, I cried again.
The debate ramped up anxiety once again. And raising the possibility that this orange scourge could wind up in the White House again, this time with a vengeance, prepared to overturn the Constitution and create a dictatorship, was the darkness, as Pete Buttigieg labelled it, that hung over the United States as the election approached.
So what we're seeing in the Democratic National Convention, is genuine relief. That's not to be critical to President Biden, who had the power to make this decision in his hands, and who did the right thing. So did all the Democrats whose names were mentioned as possibilities for a brokered convention by simply agreeing with Biden's endorsement and stepping out, not to campaign for themselves or complain about the way it was done, but in support of Harris. The unity we are seeing can't be faked. The Republicans, by contrast, don't have it, tried to fake it at their convention and it didn't work.
And along with having a candidate for President who is a person of character and conviction, who worked her way up to the success that she set for herself as a goal, and a candidate for Vice-President who is able to relate to just about every other American in this country, and who is what my parents would have called, "down to earth," we have a platform that has been crafted to make government work to meet the needs of the people.
Motivation
There have been so many moments during this convention, which I have watched from my love seat in the living room though I would have loved to have been there in the building, which I pass almost every day on the way to work, that have brought me to tears, that have given me hope, and that have been joyous, as one of the most frequently used words this week have characterized. I'm as working class as they come, with a small savings account, no pension, and dependent on social security for support when I retire. I've lived paycheck to paycheck most of my life. I've never asked for a hand out from the government, and have reluctantly taken the hand up as I get older and I need it.
I'm not 100% aligned with every single position taken by this party. And on some of the things on which I am aligned, I have my own idea regarding how to go about implementing them. That's politics. What I'm on board with is the direction they are going and how that will help make our constitutional democracy more secure and less susceptible to overthrow. And I am on board with the candidates they have selected for office.
I had thought, especially during all the chaos that was happening following the debate, that it might have been a better idea for the President to have made this decision a year ago, so that the party had time to go through a contested primary and come up with a candidate, but I don't think so now. I think the President did the right thing, when he finally became convinced that things might not go as well as hoped, and avoided the chaos of a brokered convention by endorsing Harris. And she could not have made a better pick for the VP candidacy than Tim Walz.
I'm motivated not only to vote for this ticket, but to work for it and help it get elected. I have the ability to serve in a battleground state close to home and I'm going to do it. And I'm a pretty ordinary American if you look at who I am. If I'm this motivated, a lot of other Americans might be motivated as well. I believe we are going to win, and we're going to get control of both houses, and the big fight will be pushing to make people do their job and certify the votes.
Centered on American Values
Loving your neighbor, taking the side of the disadvantaged and downtrodden, living life with and making joy contagious, are core values. I would say to my Evangelical friends that it should be an embarrassment to them for these things to be so visible in the convention of a political party that most of them condemn because some of their positions support everyone's rights, and so invisible in their churches, and in the political party they claim is going to "make America great again."
Pete Buttigieg said that the word which best describes what the other party is promoting is "darkness." He's right. That's visible from simple observation of virtually every word and phrase that comes out of their two candidates mouth. Their response, especially to the events of this week, is not to come back on the issues, but to be critical, call names, express rage and get upset that no one is crowding into their rallies, or stuffing their bank accounts.
I'd add the description, "morally bankrupt." The criticisms of Gus Walz on social media, after his teary-eyed tribute to his Dad on the podium is evidence of the fact that these people do not have a shred of decency, morality or humanity. Like Trump's well-publicized mockery of a disabled reporter during his first campaign, this is inexcusable, cruel and is a sign that these people should not be entrusted with any leadership anywhere in this country. I don't care what the issues are, this is inexcusable, wrong and disqualifying to Trump.
Good luck with that.
It may be too much in the way of sounding like a cliche, but I think the Democrats seem to be working toward making America decent again. And they've taken a big step forward in making America joyful again.
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