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On the morning of July 21^st, 2024, the United States of America appeared to be suffering from a political manifestation of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome

The most notable symptoms were feelings of malaise; fatigue, poor concentration, discouragement, and general depression about our national life. 

Later that day, things began to change, and by the next morning most of the symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, and depression had were diminishing significantly.

Spirits were lifted, and a smile began to form across the face of the country. Over the next week all the symptoms were completely gone.

It was a miracle, or so it seemed. After all, there is no known cure for chronic fatigue syndrome. What happened exactly is not clear, but it was obvious that as a people we felt better than we had in a long time, years, it seemed.

Before President Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race and then threw his full support behind Kamala Harris, I think chronic fatigue syndrome is a perfect way to describe how the American people were feeling politically.

Then, everything changed when he said he wasn’t running. There was a spontaneous burst of political energy no one saw coming? What made the difference?

Actually, the answer isn’t complicated. It was the fact that the nation no longer had to choose between two old white men for president as a re-run of the previous election. (Yes, as a Biden supporter I have to admit the truth – he is old.)

At the time I believed Joe Biden was still capable of serving a second term (and deserved it), but too many people didn’t. And too many believed Donald Trump was both unfit to be president and a genuine threat to our democracy.

That was the dilemma Americans faced, stuck with two candidates, one in whom the nation had lost confidence, the other whom the nation feared as a threat to our democracy.

Worse, more and more people who hated the thought of another Trump presidency were beginning to believe it was all but inevitable.

Then Joe Biden unexpectedly opened the door and let in some fresh air and people began to breathe again, and Kamala Harris immediately tapped into that fresh air and it lifted everyone’s spirit. 

She was able to do that for several reasons. Among them were these.

One, by her genuine affection for Joe Biden, and his for her. We all could see that they weren’t just running mates, they had become “mates,” to use an Australian term for genuine friends. People saw that friendship in politics was still possible as it once was and they liked it.

Two, in contrast to something Hillary couldn’t do, Kamala has turned being a woman into an asset by the fact that in every way she stands in marked contrast to two old men running against each other again.

Rather than seeing two men 20 years her senior, the public sees a 60 year-old woman of a different generation who talks about the future instead of re-hashing the past.

In addition, compared to the one old man still in the race, her appearance, her character, her personal charm, her professional competence, and her natural genuineness diminish Trump without her trying to do so.  

Moreover, she makes people feel good about themselves, and about the country. She comes across as positive, unafraid of the future, and young enough to bear the stress and strain of the presidency.

Three, she is a person of color whose very being offers the majority of Americans yet another chance to prove they don’t want to go back to past racism Trump keeps trying to exploit, that they can once again judge a presidential candidate based on the content of her character instead of the color of her skin.

Kamala Harris represents yet another step America can take in realizing the dream Dr. King so eloquently described 56 years ago this month, and most voters want to take it.

In short, because of being who she is, a mature and incredibly competent woman of color, most Americans see Kamala Harris as precisely the candidate our nation needs at this moment in history to take us into the future.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s morning in America again, but the horizon of a new day is certainly getting brighter, something we haven’t seen for a long time.

And it is for sure that we, the people, are not going back to July 21^st when we were suffering from a political version of chronic fatigue syndrome, going back to all the reasons we were in such a state and to which Donald Trump was a major contributor.

We’re not going back because the truth is, most Americans are not like Trump, don’t like Trump, and now have an alternative to him who is capable, confident, contagiously joyful, and can be trusted to preserve and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, including Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans.

That is why I am counting the days until November 6 when he will face being under house arrest at Mar-A-Largo to serve out his jail sentence for 34 counts of fraud that should have disqualified him from running for president again in the first place.