As Democrats rediscover their joy, Donald Trump chooses anger again in North Carolina | Opinion
In the month since President Joe Biden suspended his reelection campaign, November’s election has become a battle of two warring emotions: that of joy, and that of anger.
That’s become particularly clear this week as Democrats gather in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, an event that has proven to be more jubilant than anyone might have expected if Biden had remained the nominee.
But with Vice President Kamala Harris taking his place at the top of the ticket, the energy is different. The party feels younger, more optimistic.
It’s a marked contrast from Donald Trump and Republicans, whose divisiveness and fearmongering was on full display Wednesday in North Carolina at an appearance in Asheboro.
Trump’s speech, which was billed as an address about “national security issues,” carried an ominous tone that at times felt downright apocalyptic. The former president warned that a Harris victory in November could lead to destruction, ruin, danger and even World War III.
For example:
“The world is on fire and Kamala and Biden have marched us to the brink of World War III.”
“We’re in grave danger of a war, a third world war … Bad things are gonna start to happen, they’re already starting.”
“If Comrade Kamala wins this November, World War III is virtually guaranteed to happen. Everything she touches she destroys.”
“Comrade Kamala” is Trump’s new name for Harris, even as his allies have been imploring him to swap personal attacks for policy on the campaign trail.
“I’ve been looking for a name, you know my names, they’ve all worked, they’ve all been very successful,” Trump said. “... I call people names. I call Crazy Nancy Pelosi ‘crazy’ because she is, she’s nuts.”
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Democrats are suddenly optimistic and enthusiastic about their electoral future. Even the roll call vote, a typically dull affair, carried a palpable energy. Each state and territory cast its votes to the tune of a song that had meaning to the state, a ritual so enjoyable that it inspired viewers to compile Spotify playlists rounding up each state’s selection. (North Carolina’s votes were delivered with Petey Pablo’s “Raise Up” playing in the background, as state party chair Anderson Clayton shouted, “We represent a new South!”)
“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” former First Lady Michelle Obama said in her speech Tuesday night.
“We’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading all across this country we love, a familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long,” she continued. “You know what I’m talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope.”
That hope might be the worthiest foe to the politics of fear and hate that Trump has become known for. Trump has achieved his political success by making Americans feel like they’re living in a society on the brink of collapse, and turning that fear into anger directed toward the government and their neighbors. He stayed true to form in North Carolina on Wednesday, making baseless claims about immigration and crime to convince his audience that America is facing a dire threat.
“[Immigrants] are coming out of jails and prisons and mental institutions and insane asylums,” Trump said. “We have hundreds and probably thousands of terrorists in our country.”
And: “They take all of their gang members, their killers, their murderers and they put them in the United States.”
Of course, that’s not to say that Democrats haven’t taken the time to eviscerate Donald Trump on the convention stage. They have, and cleverly so. But for the first time in a long time they’ve found a way to make an election about something bigger than anti-Trump anger and panic. That sentiment is still there, and it certainly isn’t going away, but it’s intertwined with optimism and — finally — hope. And as effective as Trump’s fiery rhetoric might be, at least among his supporters, this newfound positivity might prove to be even more potent.
