“One change can change the world.”—Anonymous
If there was ever an example of how one person provided the potential to change the course of events, it happened when President Biden stepped aside and Kamala Harris and Tim Walz became the new Democratic ticket.
Prior to July 21, the country was facing a repeat of 2016. Then, those candidates, Clinton and Trump, left a lot of voters uninspired–they didn’t like either one. Fast- forward to the 2024 election; based on polling trends over an extended period of time, again, neither candidate appealed to a large group of voters—but for very different reasons. Biden was seen as old and fragile and Trump was just more of the same, but worse. Back in 2016, more voters stayed home than voted for either candidate. History could well have repeated itself in 2024; the lack of enthusiasm for the same-old, same-old, was palpable this time too. Pundits even coined the term ‘double haters’ for voters unhappy with both candidates.
But that was before July 21. Suddenly, there was a different “old demented guy” and voters quickly perceived this change on the Democratic ticket was going to transform the election. But the old guy proceeded as if nothing had changed. Trump had designed his campaign to run against Biden but he was incapable of adapting to the change, a condition not uncommon for someone of advanced age. Trump even predicted, in a grammatical massacre of the English language, that Biden was going to take over the Democratic convention demanding to be reinstated on the ticket. (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts). Talk about wishful thinking! We watched 78 year old Trump become more of what he is—unhinged. Another example was Trump’s news conference on August 8. Three days later, a group of editors and reporters from NPR published a fact-check of Trump’s ramblings and found “at least 162 misstatements, exaggerations, and outright lies, all within a period of 64 minutes” (http://www.npr.org-2024/08/11). This, from a candidate hoping to be president and leader of the free world.
Meanwhile, Democrats woke (what a great word!) to a new world. The concept of “double haters” was reduced to the singular. It became clear from Harris’s first rally in Philadelphia, that the one missing element that was desperately needed, had become an unexpected reality: enthusiasm. And that joy and excitement led to momentum and hope—and that’s what motivates voters to volunteer, to contribute time, energy, money and, most important of all, their vote.
The contrast between the tickets is obvious. It’s the hard truth vs. the Big Lie. It’s a positive view of our future vs. a return to elements of our inglorious past. It’s the view that women have a right to control their own body, and their life choices will not be dictated to by anyone. It’s intelligence and years of public service vs. a person with a fourth grade vocabulary and no background in public service until he ran for president. It’s the view that all Americans are worthy of freedom to live the lives they choose regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, religion, (or lack thereof) vs. an America for wealthy, Christian, white males. It’s an America based on freedom—freedom to choose what books to read and what lives to live unencumbered by decrees of a restrictive government. It’s the freedom to join a union vs. firing workers choosing to organize. It’s an obligation to our allies vs. an America Only policy. It’s the constitutional concept of equal branches of government vs. power consolidated in the Executive branch. It’s an acknowledgment of the importance of maintaining the separation of church and state vs. Christian nationalism. It’s about respect for those with whom you disagree vs. bullying and retribution. It’s about recognizing and addressing the dangers of climate change vs. erasing these words from laws and regulations and the English language. It’s about an economy that raises everyone, not just the rich and powerful. It’s about not taking money from public education to fund private and religious schools through a voucher system. It’s about raising the cap on contributions to social security so that the rich pay their fair share. And it’s about a former prosecutor, a State Attorney General, Senator and Vice President vs. a convicted felon.
And more. So much more.
If you’re on the Trump train, you might want to take a look at the light at the end of the tunnel. The conductor is guided by only one thing: his ego. And, yes, he has a weird engineer. This train is off the rails and destined to crash. The Harris/Walz train is headed in a different direction; the light at the end of this tunnel is full of hope and joy and enthusiasm. It’s the light of freedom and a government committed to that goal for every American. Time to change to the Harris-Walz train. You will get where you want to go—for yourself, your family, your community, and the future of America.
Villager Marsha Shearer is author of “Life after Trump: Seeking a More Perfect Union” which is available at amazon.com/dp/B099ZRSWBM
