Harris has ushered in a new ‘F’ word for Democrats: Fun
Kamala Harris’ unbridled laugh. Tim Walz’s “these guys are just weird” comment. Making fun of JD Vance and his “childless cat ladies.”
Democrats haven’t had this much fun during a campaign season since presidential hopeful Bill Clinton busted out his saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show” and performed an ambitious version of “Heartbreak Hotel.”
Social media is rife with happy memes of Harris dancing and chatting about coconut trees. Her recently announced vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Walz, is already inspiring reams of big-dad-energy jokes. And all Vance has to do is show up to rouse laughter.
It’s a stunning change of pace for the Party of Perpetual Hand-Wringing, a cautious body that usually approaches elections with the seriousness of a bomb squad dismantling an explosive device. One wrong move and — boom! — we’re Gilead, the police state in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Best to stay cautious and somber.
Beyoncé gives Vice President Kamala Harris her blessing to use her song ‘Freedom,’ an explosive expression of empowerment, at campaign events.
But Harris’ sudden candidacy has interrupted a doom loop that’s plagued the left since Al Gore lost to George W. Bush, making Gore the first candidate since 1888 to win the popular vote but lose in the electoral college. Donald Trump did not win the popular vote in 2016 either, yet still made it to the White House. The uphill climb to victory has given Democrats little to smile about, until now.
The buoyancy and, dare we say, joy generated by Harris and Walz’s shiny new candidacy feels unprecedented, even when compared with Barack Obama’s 2008 juggernaut campaign and its message of hope.
The vice president actually used the F-word — fun — on a call with Barack and Michelle when the Obamas reached out to Harris to announce they were endorsing her for the Democratic nomination following President Biden’s decision to step out of the race. Harris beamed during the call, and said that she, her husband, Doug Emhoff, and the Obamas would “have some fun” on the campaign trail. “You’re a happy warrior,” the former president said of Harris, to which the former first lady added: “And the country needs a happy warrior.”
Harris’ battle skills are another reason blue states are feeling a little less blue. When she says she’ll fight for them, it’s believable.
She’s put felons behind bars in her role as a prosecutor. As a district attorney, she was celebrated and criticized for a conviction rate in San Francisco that jumped from 52% to 67%.
And as a senator representing California, she nearly melted Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg with her tough questions about privacy concerns. And last week, former President Trump posted that he was backing out of a scheduled presidential debate hosted by ABC News. He proposed moving it to MAGA-friendly Fox News, which under no circumstances means he’s afraid of her.
Walz and his no-nonsense humor present another unique threat to the Republican ticket. The former schoolteacher and football coach’s well-timed comments calling the former president and his running mate simply “weird” have shattered the pervasive illusion of Trump as a powerful villain.
Former President Trump tried to weaponize Vice President Kamala Harris’ mixed-race background. His ploy backfired.
When Trump went on a bizarre ramble at the Republican National Convention last month about a fictional serial killer, “the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” Walz tweeted: “Say it with me: Weird.” And Tuesday, at a rally in Philadelphia where Harris and Walz appeared together for the first time as running mates, Walz threw some more shade toward his opponent. I “can’t wait to debate,” he said of GOP vice presidential nominee Vance, adding: “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
On “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Harris explained her laugh and made clear she had no plans to tone it down. “I have my mother’s laugh,” she said. “And I grew up around a bunch of women ... who laughed from the belly. They laughed. They would sit around the kitchen ... drinking their coffee, telling big stories with big laughs.”
Harris, Walz emphasize ‘freedom’ and ‘joy,’ and press attacks on Trump, Vance in raucous first rally
In Philadelphia, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz make a lively first joint appearance as the Democratic Party’s nominees for president and vice president.
Walz, before he was tapped by Harris as her running mate, observed on “Inside with Jen Psaki” that “Donald Trump tries to mock Vice President Harris for laughing. And I made the point: You never see this guy laugh. You never see him do these normal things.”
Scowling one’s way to the center of the media churn doesn’t seem to be working as well as it once did. Trump’s superpower of grabbing all the attention all the time is waning, and he’s a losing currency in the attention economy while Harris’ worth skyrockets.
This all could change overnight, of course, as elections often do. But we’ve witnessed something remarkable over the last few weeks: a sense of joy in a time when it seemed out of reach.
MAGA operatives have tried to use Harris’ laugh and lightheartedness against her. It’s proof she’s not fit for the job, they say, but it seems to be that very exuberance that’s cut through the noise of an otherwise nasty election year.
“I call her ‘Laughing Kamala,’” Trump told a crowd at a campaign rally in Michigan a few weeks ago. “Ever watch her laugh? She’s crazy. You know, you can tell a lot by a laugh.”
Yes we can.
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