DNC Night Two

The Return of the Obama’s

Michelle Obama delivered perhaps the best speech of the campaign season and Barack Obama took to the stage to usher in hope and change. Lurking in the background is the inadequacy of their politics and how ultimately it helped deliver Donald Trump.

Barack Obama came to power on the back of what could have been a movement. Its wings were clipped and its leader capitulated, but the enthusiasm for “hope” and “change” was genuine. That very same feeling is palpable since Kamala Harris took over and Obama commented as much.

Obama’s election represented the end of the Bush-era, decades in the making. It represented the end of a generation of leadership (which was soon ushered back in, but for the moment at least). Kamala Harris represents the same thing. Suddenly an election pitting two geriatrics against one another as the Baby Boomer generation clings on to political relevancy pits a representative of a younger generation, Obama’s generation, against the forces of the past.

Barack Obama was smart to harken back to that. It was probably the most helpful thing he could do for Kamala Harris. The hope and enthusiasm are real. So too, however, are the pitfalls that eventually gutted the enthusiasm for Obama. Neoliberal politics that is unresponsive at best to the movement lurk in the background.

For her part Kamala Harris has always been somewhat mercurial and plays her cards close to her chest. There are moments where she is very clearly just another Democrat, signing off on the party power structure and its goals. There are moments where she seems to feel the left is going to win and she wants to be on the right side sooner rather than later. Both seem rooted in opportunism and lack of principle, but the later gives the left an opening.

It’s unclear whether Kamala Harris will match Obama’s electoral success. If she does, it’s unclear how she’ll govern. Obama’s speech was an effective piece of political theater, but also a warning. The enthusiasm that brought him to office was murdered in the crib and Kamala Harris should be careful not to take the exact same route. At least, if she actually wants to transform the country and achieve the legacy that comes with such a feat. But who knows.

Bernie Sanders asks Kamala to Deliver

Bernie Sanders took the stage at the DNC and delivered typical Bernie Sanders fare. A bold progressive policy vision, dripping with the sense that it is very much possible, necessary, and not at all pie in the sky. It felt like it could have been 2016 or 2020 coming off the back of a primary where those same talking points were repeated ad infinitum.

It would be easy to mistake Bernie Sanders for a one trick pony, which many often have. However, he was doing exactly with his DNC speech what he did so often with his stump speech. He was throwing down the gauntlet, drawing the line in the sand, telling people what he thinks is possible and therefore what their expectations should be. He was asking Kamala Harris what kind of president she will be. He was telling her the kind of president she can be. And he was letting the American people know that choice is up to her.

Bernie Sanders challenged Kamala to be a genuinely progressive force. It’s possible, she’s not committed to anything and that cuts both ways. But Bernie Sanders made it clear what his expectations are and what the expectations of the movement should be.