The president we need

74 days to make it happen

Friends,

Tonight belongs to Kamala Harris.

I’ve been in or around politics for 60 years, and I don’t remember feeling as elated about a presidential nominee as I do now — not just because she’d be the first woman president of the United States, not just because she’s a person of color, and not just because she’ll advance a new and more robust progressivism in Washington (which I believe she will).

I’m elated because she elicits an energy, enthusiasm, and ebullience that America desperately needs.

I’m also amazed at how quickly it happened. She took the reins a bit over four weeks ago and immediately opened a floodgate of excitement I didn’t see coming.

It was only five weeks ago that Democratic leaders, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stressed the need for an open process to choose the party’s nominee if Biden stepped aside, to avoid the appearance of party bosses quickly crowning Kamala.

Harris paid no attention, barreling ahead and sewing up the nomination. It proved the right decision.

Her choices — of vice president, of the rollout of her campaign, of the staging of the convention, of campaign staff — have been superb.

What’s also become clear is that she’s the perfect foil for Trump.

In every way, she’s his antithesis. She was a prosecutor; he’s a convicted felon also indicted for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. She’s kept her ideals; he’s kept his cynicism. She wants an inclusive America; he wants an exclusive one. She uses the power of joy and hope in politics; he uses the power of fear and revenge.

We have spent so many years trapped inside the despicable world of Trump — his lies, narcissism, bigotry, and contempt for democracy — that the converse to him is exhilarating, and the increasing possibility of her victory is liberating.

We have learned that Trump cannot be beaten at his own game. He cannot be out-threatened. He cannot be shouted down. He is beyond shame or guilt. He emits lies at such volume and repetition they cannot be corrected.

The only way to beat him is by playing an entirely different game — a game that draws on qualities that are the opposite of his, that appeals to those aspects of the American character diametrically opposed to his.

Lincoln spoke of the better angels of our nature. Those better angels are still there but have lain dormant since 2016. Biden tried reviving them, but he didn’t have the energy or stamina to pull it off. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz do.

She will make a great president. Walz will make a great vice president.

It’s wonderful to feel excited again, isn’t it? Now, let’s make this happen.