By Why were all these Democrats smiling? Why weren’t they holding signs calling for the mass deportation of immigrants and chanting about building a wall?
Kamala Harris surprises on night one of DNC: ‘We are moving forward’
Vice President and Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris gave a surprise address on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention.
CHICAGO — Something is amiss at the Democratic National Convention.
I was told by a highly reputable source ‒ Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ‒ that America is “literally … a third-world nation” and that the city I call home is, as he recently put it on social media, “A WAR ZONE.” I was told that we are a nation in decline and that everyone is miserable.
Yet as I rode to the convention site at the United Center with a perfectly happy and affable ride-share driver, along smooth-running highways, with the city’s beautiful skyline glinting in the late-summer sun, I saw nary a hellscape. There were no ruins of war. I was decidedly not shot.
DNC attendees seemed downright joyful ‒ that’s suspicious
But as I entered the arena, there was an inescapable and highly suspicious level of optimism.
“I really think that everything here is about positivity,” said Monica McCoy, a convention-goer from Atlanta, pointing toward a large “For Our Future” sign. “As you see on the signs, everything is very future oriented. It think we’re all here very excited and very inspired.”
That seemed strange. I was told specifically in the GOP platform approved at last month’s Republican National Convention that “we are a Nation in SERIOUS DECLINE. Our future, our identity, and our very way of life are under threat like never before.”
So why were all these Democrats smiling? Why weren’t they holding signs calling for the mass deportation of immigrants and chanting about building a wall?
The DNC couldn’t possibly meet the seriousness of the RNC
Before the convention started, Fox News talking person Laura Ingraham posted on social media: “The ‘rock concert,’ ‘vibey’ DNC is in lieu of a convention where the main players are capable and confident enough to discuss the salient issues. They will entertain you, but you pay for it with lower living standards.”
OK, sure. There’s no way Democrats will be able to match the salient-issue-addressing nature of the RNC, where Trump-loving delegates wore maxi pads on their ears and watched Hulk Hogan rip off his shirt while Rudy Giuliani stumbled over some chairs and Kid Rock yelled things.
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But you’d think, given all the patriotic catastrophizing Trump has done, the Democrats at this convention could at least be a little mopey.
A ‘message of joy’? What are these Democrats up to?
Tara Aschenbrener, a Florida Democrat, told me why she and others are so stubbornly unfazed by Trump’s dour messaging: “It’s not resonating.”
She continued, refusing to look at all dismayed or morose: “I think the message of joy, you can kind of feel it and see it.”
What the heck?
Don’t these people realize that, according to Trump and the broader messaging at the RNC, America totally sucks right now?
Harris-Walz ticket has Democrats energized and optimistic
Andrew Ashiofu of Seattle, chair of the Washington Stonewall Democrats, gave a simple explanation of the “joy vs. anger” juxtaposition between the DNC and the RNC:
“You cannot find the diversity like this in the Republican Party. We have immigrants, we have Black people, we have LGBTQ+ people, we have our trans community, we have everyone from all around the world. This is what you call representation, because American democracy is all about representation.”
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Well, sure, when you put it that way it kind of sounds cheerier than a predominantly white crowd of Republicans waving “MASS DEPORTATION NOW!” signs at a former one-term president who tried to overturn a free-and-fair election and has since become a convicted felon.
I looked everywhere at the DNC for communism ‒ no dice
But what about the communism? What about the socialism and Marxism and all the labels Trump uses against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz?
I walked every inch of the United Center and didn’t see a single hammer or sickle. They are clearly cloaking their communism/socialism/Marxism/whatever-ism to make Trump look weird, old and paranoid.
After all, what kind of socialist would charge people $6.50 for a chocolate chip cookie, $7 for a Diet Pepsi and $35 for a Harris-Walz T-shirt? THOSE THINGS SHOULD ALL BE FREE AND EVENLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE CONVENTION ATTENDEES!!
Trump’s message of a nation in decline just isn’t working
I asked Aileen Pettinger of Michigan, a retired firefighter and chair of the Saginaw County Democratic Party, why she thinks Trump is leaning into things like labeling Harris a communist.
“It shows me he’s grasping at straws,” she said. “He’s desperate.”
And how does she feel about the Democrats’ chances this election?
“I feel like good will overcome,” she said, smiling in a manner completely at odds with the Republican belief that our nation is about to fall, that our economy is about to collapse and that our families are about to be murdered by roving bands of immigrant gang members.
Democrats’ future-forward message at DNC is antidote to Trump
As I left the United Center and rode past the not-burning buildings of Chicago, reluctantly un-murdered, I couldn’t wait to get home and rinse off the positivity.
It was clear those Democrats are up to something, with their optimism and belief in America and visions for improving people’s lives.
Either that or Trump is a fearmongering nonsense sprinkler who will gladly badmouth his own country if it helps him win.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
