A Kamala Harris victory will save the world. Literally. The possibility of a Donald Trump dictatorship, along with his admirers, will fade away. America’s despair will turn into enthusiasm. This could be a lesson for us Bulgarians as well.
The United States is undergoing a kind of reincarnation with Kamala Harris’ campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Instead of despondency and a ghastly wait for a liberated Donald Trump to win reelection, there can be sensed an unprecedented rush of optimism and enthusiasm. During the Harris campaign’s first 10 days, the Democrats saw an unprecedented surge of 300,000 campaign volunteers while simultaneously raising $2 million, mostly from small donations. The polls are upside down — while Joe Biden’s support lagged 5%-6% behind Trump’s, currently Harris is ahead of Trump by the same margin. A strong Democratic victory is likely, a victory as big as the one Barack Obama had in 2008.
What Happened? How? Is It Important?
Before Biden dropped out, American politics appeared depleted, worn-out, directionless. The electoral process felt unresponsive; it offered a choice between two men, one 81, the other 78, one increasingly frail, the other increasingly violent. Having sensed the whiff of meaninglessness around politics, those surrounding Trump promised a Latin American dictatorship. Trump himself intimated that once he was elected, his supporters would not have to vote again. Because there would be no more elections.
Enter Harris and the quiet desperation turned 180 degrees. In mere seconds, there was excitement and enthusiasm for politics itself.
An American reporter described traveling on a bus full of young people when the radio broadcast that Biden was dropping out and endorsing Harris. The bus exploded in applause and shouts of joy. According to the polls, this excitement is currently extending beyond the Democratic Party to the entire country.
Hopelessness becomes joy precisely when hope is possible. Not just hope, but hope embodied in a politician who exudes calm and normalcy after years of politics that seemingly encouraged hysterics, vulgarity and hate. Harris has begun to win over Americans, not only with her smile; she has also impressed with calls for unity and progress, a welcome respite after years of division and a feeling that the country was heading in the wrong direction.
A Harris victory would save the world in the most literal sense. The likelihood of a Trump dictatorship and the success of his admirers will begin to dissipate. America will not close itself off and stew in the sauce of its worst hatred and insecurity. The Harris turnaround holds lessons for everyone, including us Bulgarians.
Here, much like in the United States, politics is an arena for hate, division, personal vendettas, and ugliness. Here, much like in the United States until recently, the political system seems broken, at once unable to produce a meaningful majority and teetering at the edge of some kind of dictatorship. Here, much like in the United States until recently, our leaders look worn out, outdated, and outgunned. And too many of them simply look like they are completely out of love.
On the democratic side of Bulgarian politics, the overall picture resembles what U.S. Democrats faced with Biden at the helm. In short, hopelessness, sadness, depression, and unresponsiveness. What people need is not a never-ending search for meaningful representation through myriad and exotic party majority-forming coalitions, but either an outright majority or a meaningful second-place finish. It is imperative that hundreds of thousands of constituents join the political process to give the future a chance and replace the current gurgling around petty initiatives, that mean nothing to ordinary people, with something better.
No. 1 Priority: Hope
If it becomes clear that members of a political system in a democratic republic aim to fight in the court of public opinion instead of pursuing unseemly tricks and schemes, several things become apparent. First, there is a daily conversation with the public, a discussion of meaningful issues. Second, the need for sidelining current leaders becomes apparent even if they are only half as old as Biden but look just as old and feeble. Thus, such leaders must be replaced with the Bulgarian equivalent of Harris. This recipe will produce a most important conclusion, and, third, it will create hope and its sister, joy.
The politics of despair is the specialty of extreme authoritarians, populists, and other disagreeable hacks. The politics of democracy is the politics of hope. If you look at a leader and see that they offer no hope, that means they are either they do not believe in democracy, or that they are not a politician. Such leaders have no business in politics.
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