We have a winner here.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/07/we-have-winner-here.html

Back in 2020, the Democratic party provided its nominee with one of the strongest "benches" from which to choose a Vice-President that I can remember in a long, long time. I thought then that Senator Harris, along with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, would have been excellent nominees, and that we might be successful with an all-woman ticket. It didn't turn out that way, but when President Biden chose her as his Vice-President, I remember posting on social media, much to the dismay of some of my friends, that this could well make her America's first female President.

That possibility has moved much closer to being reality over the past few days. I have been around for a while, and I have never seen the Democratic party fall into such confusion and chaos as I saw the past three weeks. We have a knack for this kind of thing, don't we?

I have also never seen it get its act together, clear up the confusion and chaos, and pull itself back together, uniting behind a candidate, in such a short period of time. This all happened Sunday, and now it's Tuesday. There are already polls out showing Harris leading Trump, she has already secured more than enough delegate support to win the nomination, which she will have before the convention, the process for vetting the next VP nominee is already underway.

There was some concern that the ugliness of the politics of the past three weeks, associated with the donor class and its apparent manipulation of the party's nomination process, might continue on into a fight over who they wanted to be the nominee as opposed to who the party's grassroots members wanted. That cleared up really quickly. I'm not happy with donors who want to control processes because of the influence of their money, as opposed to those of us who volunteer, work on behalf of the party, and contribute, even though it is a small amount, but it is a sacrifice. And I'm in favor of solid legislation that puts everyone on an equal playing field. But we seem to be past that now.

[delisen]

1. Think we will have to address the big donor issue in the future. nt

[lees1975]

2. Stand out. Someone has to.

But, with Vice President Harris as the nominee, I think our odds of winning go way up. I think the potential voters were already out there, but the Vice President has already brought a level of energy to this campaign that we had not seen before now. Turnout wins elections. The Democratic base is energized like it hasn't been since before the mid-term elections.

One of my favorite books recently is On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder, Levin Professor of History at Yale University. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

Kamala Harris broke the spell of the status quo. Others are following. We have a winner here.

Signal Press, July 23, 2024.