Democrats in array
Do me a favor, brothers and sisters. Next time you hear Tim Walz speak, listen carefully to his voice. Pay particular attention to the low, gruffer registers. Am I crazy or, just below the surface, does he sound uncannily like the actor Gene Hackman from about thirty or forty years ago? Hackman in “Crimson Tide,” or earlier still, “Mississippi Burning”?
Kamala Harris, on the other hand, reminds me of my late aunt Polly. Aunt Polly was one of those people who always enjoyed everything she did. When I was a little boy of nine or ten we would spend hours cracking jokes. She always had laughter in her voice. Above all, I liked her. I don’t know Gene Hackman, of course, but I think I would like him too.
It occurred to me just the other day how much I like these people, Kamala and Tim. When I think about politicians I don’t ordinarily think in those terms. But I have begun to lately, and it’s a great feeling. It reminds me that, in the final analysis, the people who are leading us really can be good. They don’t only have to be effective, it’s also nice if they’re good, decent, likeable human beings.
I also like Joe Biden. I believe he was the greatest, most effective President of my lifetime, and one of the best in history. But he isn’t only merely a good person, he was a man of penetrating insight. He saw clearly something that I did not. The press had it in for him. They were not going to let him be reelected President of the United States no matter how good and decent and kind and effective he was. So he stepped aside for the good of you and me. And I truly love him for that.
It also occurred to me that I am getting tired of hate. I am tired of Republicans and their endless stream of hate. Hate, hate, hate. I’m tired of their endless stream of playground name calling. Hate and calling people names has become so much a common element of the background noise of Republican rhetoric that, after a while, you almost cease to notice it. But it’s always there, ever present in the curled, nasty, snarling lip of disdain.
I think most Americans are tired of it too. And I think the attraction of good, competent, smiling, decent people has made an impressive difference. It’s like sunshine after years of dreary rain. Joe Biden is a good man, but he was also old and it was starting to show. We were in a constant state of tension about it. It got on our nerves. Watching him speak was like watching a great athlete who is a little past his prime. We wanted him to do well, but we were constantly worried he would not. We were in disarray about it. We truly were Democrats in disarray. Can it be said we are now in “array”? Yes, I think we can.
I think we’ve hit upon a winning combination, an irresistible formula. We are unified by goodness. Republicans can stay up all night working on it but it’s the one thing they can never manufacture. They don’t know how to do it. They don’t know what it is.
They know what hate is, of course. They’re the greatest manufacturers and exporters of hate since Germany of the 1930s. But they just can’t get the hang of goodness. They just don’t know how to love.
We are unified again. And I think the irresistible appeal of that unity won’t just win us the White House, it will win us the House and Senate as well. It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? We are Democrats in array. Yeah, it feels good. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.