21 Days
The past three weeks have been among the most consequential in American history.
Never before have we seen an incumbent president willingly cede power in an election year and have his successor take the torch and run with it. Never before have we seen a groundswell of support from Democratic voters regarding donations, volunteering, and rally attendance. And never before have we seen a major party candidate become so unraveled that he simply has no idea how to present himself or his party to the American people.
Joe Biden could have won in November. But it would have been an uphill battle. The astroturfed pro-Palestine movement would have actively worked against him. The media would have done him no favors. Every small stumble or mispronunciation would have been blown out of proportion. Each and every poll would be more and more skewed against Joe Biden and Democrats. More backbenchers would have called for President Biden to pass the torch. All this going on while the cognitively declining Donald Trump receives a free pass to become more and more unhinged on the campaign trail.
Like many of you, I was deeply angered by the way in which Joe Biden was pushed out by his party. The sheer betrayal of people I had come to admire can not and will not be forgotten. But while there will be a time for reckoning in 2025 and beyond the fact of the matter is that now we have seen the party coalesce around a ticket in a way that we have never seen before. While there was undeniable energy for Barack Obama in 2008, what's happening now is its own unique animal. As we saw in France and the United Kingdom, we are seeing a realignment of mainstream American politics, with several factions coming together against a common enemy. While there were Republicans against Trump when Joe Biden was the nominee, they didn't feel emboldened to step forward and share their stories at a public rally like Mesa Mayor John Giles recently did. The American people understand the assignment and that assignment is to do everything in our power to prevent a second Donald Trump term that would implement American fascism throughout his administration.
Over the past three weeks, the groundwork for that assignment has been laid. There have been multiple calls from consistent groups to organize on behalf of Kamala Harris. Starting with Black women, there have been calls for Black men, Latinos, White dudes, seniors, AAPI, LGTBQIA+, and others to organize on behalf of Kamala Harris and now Tim Walz. Over $500 million has been raised, a number that is unprecedented in modern American history. The campaign signed up 170,000 volunteers during its first week and that number continues to grow by the minute. Key endorsements are coming in from traditional powerhouses such as the Las Vegas Culinary Union to the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization that chose to publicly endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in the organization's history. While individual endorsements are not seen as critical, the Harris/Walz campaign has strategically rolled these out, starting with over two dozen Republicans openly endorsing the Democratic ticket. At a time when every vote matters, every endorsement matters just as much. With recent swing state polls turning in Harris' favor including a tightening of the race in North Carolina, all of a sudden we have the type of race that Republicans didn't believe was possible a mere 21 days ago.
All of this has thrown Donald Trump for a loop.
Because Donald Trump cannot fathom not running against Joe Biden. His tiny brain does not compute the fact that he might now lose to a Black woman, someone whom he views as inherently inferior. The fact that Trump has been documented calling Harris a "bitch" should be the least surprising news ever when we all know he wants to call her even more offensive names. How she's drawing massive crowds when Donald and JV Vance are now playing second fiddle is a huge blow to his ego. Harris has been the presumptive nominee for 21 days and the fact that the Trump/Vance campaign still doesn't know how to attack her is telling. For over 3 Trump and his cabal of criminals planned on attacking "Sleepy Joe." They knew the media would willingly assist them. They knew the skewed polls would drive a sense of gloom and doom from startled Democrats. All the while Trump could hold his red-state rallies playing his greatest hits all while offering nothing new at all to the American people.
But now, Trump is scared.
He'll never admit it, but he screwed the pooch in bringing on JD Vance, someone whose repulsiveness was appealing to Trump personally but who is grossly out of touch with the American people. Vance was a perfect patsy in the Mike Pence role but now given the fact that he has to take on someone energetic and compassionate like Tim Walz, the Vance selection is quickly rising to Sarah Palin levels of incompetence. With "Apartheid Clyde" Elon Musk now backtracking on his $45 million monthly pledge, Trump is losing out on one of his most needed supporters. That combined with the fact that Vladimir Putin willingly worked with the Biden-Harris administration on a prisoner exchange that Trump so desperately wanted to happen under his watch is another sign that even Trump's closest "friends" are now turning on him. Despite Trump's growing use of authoritarian language on the campaign trail, it seems as if even his most sanguine sycophants are having a hard time keeping his spirits up when so much is working against him with under 90 days left until the election. Yesterday's lie about the Harris/Walz airport crowd size only furthers just how deranged Donald Trump has become.
Right now, there is joy. Joy from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on the campaign trail. Joy from donors and volunteers. Joy from all of those who are seeing the media struggle to comprehend these miraculous Democrats in Array. These past three weeks have completely turned the tide in what has become the most consequential election in any of our lifetimes. Democrats have the momentum and with the convention set to take place next week, they will continue to dominate the headlines for the next two weeks. There is much work to be done over the next 12 weeks but for the time being, let's all take a moment to reflect on just how earth-shattering these last 3 weeks have been. It truly has been unlike anything we've seen in our lifetimes and the summer of 2024 will go down in the history books as a time when the forces of good in America all came together to once again thwart the emerging fascist movement in this country.
May we live in interesting times, indeed.
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