I can’t remember the last time I was this excited
I’m sometimes labeled an optimist, and occasionally labeled a pessimist, but I’d like to think that I just call it like I see it. The facts are always there, and I do my best to interpret them accurately. So when I say that I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about the political landscape, I mean it.
Right now we’re seeing something that I don’t recall in my political lifetime. Sure, there was this level of momentum for Obama in 2008. But that was a slow gradual build, and by the time it began to crescendo, it almost felt like it had always been inevitable. And yes, there was this level of joy when Biden was declared the winner in 2020. But that was a happy ending, not a beginning.
This Kamala Harris movement has all the momentum of the Obama campaign, and all the joy of Biden’s victory, yet it’s only existed for a week and it’s still getting started. This is one of those overnight success stories that was actually years in the making if you think about how Biden picked Kamala and mentored her and set her up as his natural successor, but it feels like it’s come out of nowhere and gone from zero to sixty overnight.
I was hesitant about the prospect of Biden stepping aside, even though I knew he’d endorse Kamala and I knew she’d end up the nominee, because it was just such a tricky proposition. It felt like jumping out of an airplane and trying to land on another airplane. Yet it worked. We’ve stuck the landing. Biden has managed to transfer his entire movement and base to someone who can run faster and more enthusiastically than he can, and is making the base bigger by the hour. Biden has handled this brilliantly. Kamala, who long knew this could theoretically happen but nonetheless had it dropped in her lap on a moment’s notice, has handled this equally brilliantly.
What may be even more important is that all of you are handling it brilliantly. No one is saying “Biden was my guy, I’m not getting behind Kamala.” No one is saying “It shouldn’t have been Kamala, it should have been someone else.” And while everyone has their first choice for who Kamala’s running mate should be, it’s clear that everyone is going to immediately get behind whoever she ends up picking.
This is just masterful time. I always like to say that you can fight and win or you can fret and lose. As of now everyone is in a mood to fight and win. And that’s not “optimism.” It’s just practicality. If you’re talking about how you’re going to win, that becomes contagious and makes other people want to be a part of your movement. If you’re focused on winning, it motivates you to put in the kind of effort required to get over the hump and win.
Remember, the media may try to turn negative on Kamala at some point in these next hundred days. And Trump is already trying to demotivate you by making it sound like he somehow has this election in the bag. But so far you’re all doing a wonderful job of ignoring any nonsense and focusing on the task at hand. Kamala keeps talking about how she wants volunteers. Go be one. Put it all on the line these next hundred days. You’ll spend the rest of your life being glad you did. Now let’s go win this!
