DNC Denouement
Today starts two gatherings of great interest to many Americans. In Flushing Meadow we have the start of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, and in Chicago we have the start of the four days of the Democratic National Convention. I first went to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in 1977, the last year it was played at The West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills. That was a small, but grand venue with grass courts in the style of old world tennis championships. I then attended the first year of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament at the new National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, renamed in 2006 as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, in honor of King, who was considered a groundbreaking champion for both gender and sexual preference rights. It seems only fitting that while Americans celebrate a woman who stood for activism on gender and gay rights in New York City, other Americans will be celebrating the rise of another woman, this one not standing specifically for gay rights (though she is a fervent advocate for them), but rather representing a multi-racial generation of Americans who very much define our country in this day and age. King was an activist for the top issues of her day and Harris is a leader for the Middle Class of America as we seek to rebalance our social fabric to correct the dislocations which have occurred and been exacerbated over the past forty years.
I no longer go to tennis tournaments and don’t even bother watching them much on TV the way some do. I’ve never been to a national political convention and while I never used to bother watching them much over the years (They always seemed like such hoopla to me), I watched a lot of the RNC last month and I will likely watch a lot of the DNC this week. There is nothing more interesting going on in the world at this moment, not the Ukrainian incursions into Russia, not the Gaza ceasefire talks while Hezbollah and Iran stand ready to pounce or at least threaten Israel, because they are all less important to my and our future than the outcome of the U.S. presidential election on November 5th. The U.S. and its posture, representing a mere one 4% of the world’s population, but 25.22% of global GDP, and about 90% of the societal influence, overshadow the world in 2024. Take a moment and think about that. In 1945, after more or less conquering the world, the U.S. represented 28% of global GDP and now, 80 years later, we are still almost as dominant despite lending ample aid to others including our Axis counterparts to rebuild their economies. That represents as much sustained economic dominance as the world has perhaps ever seen. And yet, we find ourselves at an inflection point over the future of our society that could not be more stark and it all hinges on the outcome of that one day in early November.
They say that this is the most consequential DNC since 1968 when our country was equally torn apart by societal divides, many of which have reemerged or just stayed with us for all of those 56 years. We are still struggling with the rights of the marginalized minorities in our society like Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, LGBTQ people and women. While Donald Trump cannot help himself but to spend his podium time telling his crowds that he is better looking than Kamala Harris and trying to get a handle on a dog derogatory and catchy nickname for her, Harris is spending her energy on describing the America she wants to create and reinforce for the broadest swath of its people. The big issues for the election, and therefore for the convention are (in no particular order) abortion rights, voter suppression, the economy, the border (a.k.a. immigration), health care, taxes, the Supreme Court, global trade and foreign policy. We see the Republicans wanting to focus on the border and the economy, one because it continues to be an unresolved public policy issue in America and the other because people seem to have lost their feel for the empirical improvements that have occurred during the Biden term. The Democrats know that abortion rights and health care are winning issues with the opposition staking out indefensible ground on both. We will hear plenty on all of these issues over the next four days.
In the early few weeks of the Harris campaign, while she was scrambling to put her team in place, including selecting her running mate, the Republicans were hitting her for lacking specific and clearly stated policy goals for them to shoot at. Now that she has done that and while Trump continues to sidestep most of his policy visions (namely Project 2025 and Agenda 47), this DNC will lay out the Democratic Platform, something that was written before Harris ascended to the campaign throne, but which must be embraced and explained to the American people in a compelling manner by its best and brightest over the next four days. There will be 73 days remaining until the election after the DNC concludes on Thursday. That timeframe will encompass the end of summer and the Labor Day break, the back-to-school cycle, and the beginnings of Fall, not to mention any and all newsworthy happenings around the world. There will be lots of what the political operatives call “ground game” to be played, mostly in the seven big swing states, but the fullness of the messaging will be complete come Thursday. This week is the big chance for Democrats to hammer home their themes to the American public while at least some of them are paying attention.
A denouement is the final unwinding of an intricate story plot. The story plot that some may see is the eventual acceptance by Americans of a woman leader or perhaps even more, a multi-racial woman leader, but I think that is no more than a flashy headline. To me, the real plot here is what has been called by presidential historian, John Meacham, the struggle for the soul of America. On the one hand we have Donald Trump, a caricature of a celebrity that everyone knows is not the “great man” that he likes to fashion himself as. Those who have known him personally are amazed that he has become the poster child of a movement that has little or nothing to do with who he really is other than that it is largely unprincipled. The real theme of that movement is self-centered lawlessness of the sort that we all, in our darkest and quietest moments, might secretly aspire to, but which the overlay of cultural norms precludes from seeing the light of day in most times. Republicans are focused on recreating the past and clinging to the status quo as much as possible, feeling that there are those who matter and those who don’t. Collectivism is for chumps and property rights are more important than human rights.
On the other side we have a true populist vision for a forward-looking egalitarian prosperity that advocates for personal freedoms and greater and greater levels of equality, diversity and inclusion. In many ways, it is unsurprising that DEI is the lighting rod for the right because its underlying principles are spot on for what the Democratic Platform advocates. It believes in the value of diversity and inclusion as represented by the melting pot of immigration that has defined America. And it believes in equality and equity in all forms, none less than the right for all to vote and be heard in our democratic system, but also, importantly, the value of collectivism in our economic policies such that everyone shares in the prosperity that our system nurtures. Democrats embrace the world as it currently exists and try to intercept its future in a positive way for all, understanding that any form of exclusion or opportunity gap is a drag on all.
The DNC this week will try to lay out that story plot with the help of the most recognizable faces in recent American history. It will feature Joe and Jill Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, Pelosi, Schumer and Jeffries, Elizabeth Warren and AOC and a long list of state, local and federal personalities who represent the full quilt of Democratic thought. I hope people are listening because this DNC denouement is about the future of our great country.