It figures that my birthday break would bring big news: There’s just something about the second half of July.
On July 21, President Joe Biden went George Washington on everyone and announced that he would put patriotism and party before personhood and renounce the nomination for a second term, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
Perhaps the most surprising thing in an announcement that was devoutly desired and yet still shocking was the way people rallied around Harris, who raised $200 million in her first week on the campaign trail.
People want change, political consultant James Carville, an architect of the Bill Clinton presidency, told both “Firing Line’s” Margaret Hoover and Katie Couric. And Harris — the first woman vice president and first vice president of color — embodies that. It’s not just the person. It’s the meeting of a person and a moment. Harris’ prosecutorial background also fits a moment when people yearn for someone who may govern from the middle — tough on crime and yet pro civil rights, reproductive rights and the environment.
Of course, the Republicans can attack Harris’ prosecutorial record in California, her handling — or lack of handling — of the border, her discombobulated 2020 presidential campaign. I myself have noted that she has been described as a disorganized, denigrating manager, and I have doubted her ability to beat former President Donald J. Trump.
However, the times have positioned Harris as the change agent. Trump is no longer that. He’s just the agent of chaos, and his decision to double down on MAGA with Sen. J.D. Vance, a real Trump mini me, gives him no leeway with the independents he needs to win. Particularly after Vance went nuclear on single, childless “cat ladies,” saying they have less or no vested interest in this country and should be paying more taxes, the Repubs have got to be having a bit of buyers’ remorse. I mean, why would they be crying foul over Biden making his announcement after their convention?
For the record, single, childless people do pay more tax, because they have fewer deductions and no child tax credits, plus they can’t file jointly. And what about all the free child care and caretaking they provide as aunts and uncles? What about all the times they have to take on more work, because a coworker with a child has a crisis? Society works as a whole, with childless people — some of whom might not be childless by choice — complementing those with children.
But I understand the Republicans’ frustration. After their convention and the assassination attempt on Trump, they had the momentum. The Biden-to-Harris gambit has changed the narrative and thus the conversation. To beat a persuasive idea you need a more persuasive idea. The spinmeister has been spun as Trump’s apocalypse-now message looks so 2016.
Of course, this is not going to easy for Harris. The Republicans will throw every racist, sexist, elitist and other “ist” thing at her. But then, she also has to play to an undereducated populace. And dumbing down, heretofore the Republicans’ strength, can be tricky. It did not work for NBC with Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson serving as color commentators with host Mike Tirico for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday, July 26. It’s not just that Clarkson was way over her head in discussing (or not discussing) French culture. There was nothing said about the use of Claude Debussy’s music or how soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel, singing “La Marseillaise” dressed in the red, white and blue palette of the tricolore, embodied the spirit of Marianne, the figure of French liberty, or how Celine Dion echoed Edith Piaf. Manning was no better in his arena of sport, going on a riff on basketball when he saw the Serbian boat, never mentioning that Serbia’s most prominent athlete is tennis’ Novak Djokovic.
And speaking of tennis, what were Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams doing in the torch relay? It’s nice to include athletes from other countries, but it also suggests a lack of famous athletes in your own country.
There’s nothing wrong with pop culture and focusing on the most marketable people to appeal to the common denominator. (The “Minions” spot was laugh-out-loud funny.) But there’s more to culture than just pop culture. In order to really “stick the landing,” Harris is going to have to build the broad coalition that the Democrats constructed for the gold in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2020. And that means she’s going to have to find a way to combine high and low culture, as “Scranton Joe” Biden did. After all, we may want to have a beer with our presidents. But we also want them to belong at “The Kennedy Center Honors.”
Blending the aspirational with the down-to-earth, Biden has been a good president. When I remember him, I’ll think of the night of Nov. 4, 2020, when the outcome of the presidential election looked favorable but still hung in the balance, and he recalled that as a child his grandfather always told him to “keep the faith,” and his grandmother would add, “no, Joey, spread it.”
Smart woman. Biden has kept the faith. And now it’s up to us to get behind another smart woman and spread it.