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Trump’s Republicans are no longer the “Grand Old Party” – they have a gloomy view of the USA. Kamala Harris’ strategy is quite different, says James Warren Davis.
Hardly anyone can analyze the USA, its politics and the upcoming presidential election better than he can: the American political scientist James W. Davis. He is a proven expert in US politics and international relations and has been teaching in German-speaking countries for decades. He regularly writes for IPPEN.MEDIA about the situation in the USA and the upcoming presidential election.
Although the distance between Milwaukee and Chicago, the host cities of the Republican and Democratic Party conventions, is only 90 miles, the messages and energy emanating from these two paragons of political theater could not have been further apart.
The Republicans are now “the party of Trump”: No room for the American dream
There was a cult of personality among Milwaukee Republicans. The party once known as the GOP (Grand Old Party) is now referred to by its loyal members as “the party of Trump.” The focus is on the former president and his long list of grievances. If you believe that what you read in the country’s top newspapers is “fake news,” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, that the Justice Department is being used and abused for political vendettas to investigate Trump and his allies, and that Democrats tricked Trump by getting him to spend heavily on a campaign against Joe Biden, only to nominate Kamala Harris, then the modern Republican Party has room for you.
If you reject social diversity, believe that other countries send their criminals and mentally ill to the United States, or that immigrants “poison the blood of Americans,” then this Republican Party has a place for you. On the other hand, Trump’s party is not a welcoming place for people who adhere to the ideal of the American dream. No, the opposite is the case!
Trump and Co. paint a bleak picture of the USA: They want to turn back the clock – but how far?
Attendees at the Republican National Convention, starting with the candidate himself, painted a grim picture of America, and their prescription for fixing the ills they complained about is even grimmer. When Donald Trump looks at America today, he sees a country in which white men can no longer expect to retain the privileged position they were once granted at birth. He sees an America in which young people are demanding changes to the way we power our economy and our homes, grow our food, and organize our workplaces.
► James W. Davis, US-American, is one of the most renowned experts on US politics and international relations.
► He studied International Relations at Michigan State University, received his doctorate in political science from Columbia University in 1995 and completed his habilitation at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munichwhere he taught until 2005.
► Since 2005 he has been Professor of International Relations and Director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of St. Gallen.
►Davis is the author of several books and has received numerous scientific awardsincluding visiting professorships and fellowships at renowned institutions.
He sees an America in which men can marry men and women can marry women, and many people choose to remain single. He sees an America in which people with physical or mental disabilities are integrated into everyday life and not locked away – out of sight and out of mind.
All of this is so different from the America he grew up in. Different from the America of his private golf clubs and the secluded luxury of Mar-a-Lago. It is an America that he and his followers despise, even those who will never have the money to join one of his clubs or the social standing to earn an invitation to one of his Palm Beach parties. To return to the imaginary good times of an earlier era, this dark and exclusionary party of Donald Trump simply wants to turn back the clock. But how far?
Old standard bearers stay away from Trump’s party convention – the situation is quite different for the Democrats
The 1950s, when racial segregation was legal? The 1960s, when political violence claimed the lives of two Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr.? The 1970s, when Richard Nixon left the White House in disgrace and the economy was plagued by low growth and high inflation? Or maybe they mean the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president?
But Ronald Reagan was an optimist who always said that America’s best years were still ahead of it! No, Donald Trump’s party is not Ronald Reagan’s Grand Old Party! That explains why none of the party’s former standard-bearers were seen in Milwaukee. Not George W. Bush, not Mitt Romney.
Quite the opposite of Chicago! The convention began on Monday with a stirring speech by 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton, who received eight million more votes than Trump but failed to win the electoral college. She recalled the cracks her historic campaign had torn in the “last glass ceiling” for women in America and said that she could see through the shattered glass into the near future of a Kamala Harris president.
Michelle Obama counters Trump – and Harris’ colleague Walz dispels all doubts
On Tuesday, the Obamas took the stage. Michelle delivered one of the most memorable speeches of the entire convention. Referring to Trump’s recent claim that immigrants are taking away “black jobs” and his remark that Kamala Harris had only recently “turned black,” the former first lady asked, “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for right now could be one of those black jobs?”
Former Presidents Barack Obama and, the following evening, Bill Clinton also spoke in favor of the election of Kamala Harris. Harris is not running for herself, they told the delegates, she is doing it to serve “you.”
Joy is the keyword: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at a campaign event. © Ross D. Franklin/picture alliance/dpa/AP
If there were any doubts about Harris’ choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as his vice presidential candidate, the former schoolteacher and football coach dispelled them with a brilliant, clear speech on Thursday. Walz compared the Trump party’s efforts to ban books on socially controversial topics from school libraries to Minnesota’s free breakfast and lunch program for students, proudly declaring, “While other states banned books from their schools, we banned hunger from our schools.”
In moving words, he recounted how he and his wife struggled to have a child through in vitro fertilization and how they eventually named their baby daughter “Hope.” The former coach rallied the crowd as he once did with his football players in the locker room, showing that real men can play for a team with a female captain. Like other speakers, including influential talk show host Oprah Winfrey, he emphasized themes of individual freedom, an America where everyone has a seat at the table and a role to play, and the joy that Kamala Harris has brought to the campaign.
Trump and Harris before the US election – the difference could not be greater
That word, joy, captures the mood that awaited the candidate when she finally took the stage Thursday to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for the highest office in the land. In his failed campaign, President Biden has focused on reminding party faithful of their solemn duty to defeat Donald Trump and thereby save democracy. But by the time Harris took the stage, the Democratic Party had returned to its centuries-old identity of optimism and hope.
Pictures of a career: Kamala Harris seeks presidential office in the USA
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Kamala Harris seized on the joy and optimism she received to promise Americans a “new way forward.” Like fellow Californian Ronald Reagan before her, she reminded everyone of America’s promise: “Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love and the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege in the world: the privilege and pride of being an American.”
The contrast could not have been more stark. Where Donald Trump sees darkness, Harris ignited light. Instead of anger, she sparked joy. Can sparking joy also lead to victory? We will know in ten weeks.
