This is not the blog I was ready to publish, but it is the blog I want to publish, indeed, need to.
That’s because I feel excited about Joe Biden choosing Kamala Harris as his running-mate far beyond anything I had anticipated. What is more, I am excited about how excited others are about it.
It’s been fun to read Facebook comments, twitter feeds, and listen to so many interviews of people who cannot contain their excitement. Joy Reid of
MSNBC was absolutely giddy yesterday when the news broke.
What a great day for America, historic in its substance and symbolism, both of which have lifted the spirits of everyone who cares about this country.
We needed that.
Before yesterday Michelle Obama had let the cat out of the bag for many people when she said in her podcast that she was suffering from what she called “low-grade depression,” rooted, in “the pandemic, race relations following the wake of George Floyd’s death, and the turmoil of the current presidential administration.”
I don’t know what “low-grade depression” is exactly, but intuitively I know what she wasfelt talking about. I think all of us do.
It came up last weekend in a discussion among members of a zoom group I participate in on Sunday mornings. Most of them said they feel like Michelle said she felt, like there is a darkness hanging over the nation that feels very depressing.
I think this is how most anti-Trump Americans have been feeling lately, wishing the election was now and we could get this thing over with.
And then yesterday happened.
Our collective emotional low didn’t evaporate, but it was lifted more than a little when the news of Biden’s choice broke. It felt as if the sun had broken through dark clouds.
Instantly everything about the election changed. We went from being determined to vote against Donald Trump to being excited about voting FOR a Biden-Harris ticket. And for good reason.
Beyond the abject corruption and sheer incompetence of the Trump administration, a Trump-Pence ticket points backward to a day now gone that Republicans want to bring back.
A Biden-Harris ticket points to the future, affirming what our nation can still become under new leadership that will unite us, holding up an image of the best in us, and leading us to do what needs to be done to reclaim the respect in the world we have lost.
I don’t remember when I have witnessed this level of enthusiasm for a Democratic ticket this soon
But here’s the thing. It is only the beginning.
As good as this moment feels, and it feels very, very good, imagine how we are going to feel when Joe Biden is elected President and Kamala Harris is elected Vice-President.
In the words of an old hymn, “what a day of rejoicing that will be.”
Our feet are not going to touch the ground for a while when we experience the exhilaration that moment will bring.
I think about this election all the time, but not once have I anticipated the sheer joy of what I felt yesterday, what I feel today, and what we are all celebrating as a new day in our and for our country has dawned.
Oh, my goodness, as I think about it, I realize now that what happened yesterday was the beginning of Democrats actually making America great again.
How sweet it is!
Biden/Harris the future trump/pence the past; well said Jan. A likely side benefit Adam Schiff will be the replacement for now VP Harris
Or perhaps Katie Porter???
Hi Jan,
For a long time, I’d been thinking in terms of Elizabeth Warren as Mr Biden’s running mate, but as the months rolled by Ms Warren had the irritating tendency to come up with ‘plans’ for this, that and the other. Since my family has a naval background, I thought through this matter differently.
If you were made Captain of the (Royal/ US) Navy’s latest destroyer, who would you appoint as #2 in charge, with overall responsibility for making sure that the ship works? Trump thinks he can make great play with some rows that Ms Harris has had with Biden in the past, but as I see it, it’s better to appoint someone you’ve had differences with than just another ‘yes’ man/ woman.
It’s a good thing just to see things from another person’s point of view from time to time. From what I’ve seen and heard, Trump’s tendency to appoint people who tell him just what he wants to hear is, I believe his greatest and fatal weakness.
Hi Nigel. What you say about Trump is very true, but that weakness stems from deep emotional insecurity that drives him to stir up trouble on a daily basis. One good thing about Biden not selecting Warren is that Democrats would lose her Senate seat if they win because Massachusetts has a Republican governor who would get to appoint her temporary replacement. We need her to stay in the Senate. What is more, the enthusiasm for Harris here is incredible. I think she has just put Biden over the top and in November most Americans will vote Trump out with a landslide defeat.
So, perhaps Warren can have Mitch Mc Connell’s job, come January. In the interim, Mitch Mc Connell can do everyone a big favour. On the day after the poll, he can be Brutus, and tell Caesar Trump that he’s lost the confidence of his following, and that it’s time to go – Now! Under your constitution’s 25th amendment, I believe, Nancy Pelosi could head a caretaker administration.
Here, here. I share your excitement.
Thanks, Wilbur, for sharing one of yours with the nation.
Jan,
It is historic and shows our increasing move to accept ours who do not look like “me.” Amen!
Cheerz!
Thanks, Gene.
Jan, throughout America’s low-grade depression of the last four years (some of us gravitated to “high-grade”), you have been a voice of optimism to us all, even when you were at your lowest level because of our despicable president. I want to add my excitement to this coalition of additional hope due to the announcement of Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate. It was the final stroke to finally bring some unity to the Democratic party that was lacking just one year ago. And when victorious in November, they actually have the ability to create a more united America for our future. As you know, John Kasich (former Republican Governor of Ohio) will be a featured speaker at the Democratic Convention next week. Some republicans are now supporting Biden and now Harris. Biden and Harris produce a ticket that is “representative” of the American people, not representative of the immoral, self-aggrandization, and ineffective leadership of the republican party. As Biden has stated, and historian Jon Meacham presents in one of his recent books, this election is all about “The Soul of America”.
Also, there are at least three other reasons that Kamilla Harris should bring us hope. As a backdrop to these reasons, in today’s Arizona Republic, columnist E. J. Montini, released an article referring to Mike Pence’s “Ignore the Adultery” tour that Pence made to Phoenix this past week. He stated: “In the 1990s, when Vice President Mike Pence was a radio talk show host in Indiana, he’d argue that religious faith and moral character were essential to leadership.
Of course, this was before he sold his soul to a serial adulterer who has gleefully violated just about all of the other commandments as well. Pence was in Phoenix this week to drum up support for the ‘philanderer in chief’ in the upcoming election, helping to launch what is being called a ‘Latter- day Saints for Trump’ coalition.”
So, the first reason that Harris brings more hope is that in the next two and a half months, she will literally “prosecute” Trump in the media, and will do so very effectively from the point of view of a woman. She will also expose and “prosecute” Bill Barr as the most corrupt Attorney General in decades and help restore integrity to the Department of Justice.
Secondly, she will expose the religious and spiritual fraud that Mike Pence has become. Pence will not be able to hold a candle to her and she will surgically expose his true character and ineffective leadership.
And third, she campaigned hard in the south, particularly in South Carolina, where James Clyburn was a significant factor in Biden’s resurgence. The south will be her primary focus, not just to get more black voters to vote, but her influence and effectiveness will help Democrats take back the senate by hopefully winning important Senate elections in South Carolina and Georgia; not to mention the possibility of unseating Mitch McConnell in Kentucky and hopefully bringing the state of Texas to the Democratic landslide.
So, count me guilty of maybe excessive optimism at this point. But, I have already scheduled the moving van to arrive at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in early January to disperse and dispense with the most significant attack on American democracy that I have seen in my lifetime. The only thing that could stop this from happening is Republican corruption and fraud in the upcoming election. A landslide victory is needed to overcome this possibility.
Jan, thank you for this post that clearly signals new hope for the vast majority of the American people.
John Hamerski
John, your comment adds to the hope I have about this election. I love what you said about having scheduled the moving van for the WH already. Wouldn’t it a marvelous statement is Americans across the country did the same time. I don’t know how that would work, but I love the idea. As an aside, Wally put me on to E.J. Montini years ago. When Wally died I wrote Montini an email and told him Wally was a great fan and that he had encouraged me to read his columns. He actually replied. A good man as well as a good journalist.