This is Not Just a Campaign, It's a Movement

This is Not Just an Election Year, It's a Bright Line in History

Why are the crowds so big?

Why are the cheers so loud?

Why is the feeling that you have inside you so different from that you have felt during other election cycles?

Many of us watching the rally at which Kamala Harris introduce running mate Tim Walz or the one that followed, today, as they kicked off their one week barnstorming tour across the United States with a stop in Wisconsin, have asked these questions. Frankly, we may not have asked too loud. Perhaps, if you are as Jewish and neurotic as I am you knocked wood or spit or engaged in some other ritual designed to ensure you did not somehow jinx the phenomenon that was unfolding before your eyes.

Is it because Kamala Harris is just so damn compelling a candidate? Yes. It is that. But it is not just that.

Is it because Tim Walz is just such an ideal pick as a running mate? Yes. It is that. But is not just that.

Is it because they speak the words that need to be said, simply, compellingly, with earnest conviction? Certainly. They are very good. But it is not just that.

Is it because of the joy? Because they offer a message and an underlying spirit that is inspiring, energizing, leaderly, and attuned perfectly to the zeitgeist, to the spirit of the moment? Yes. But it is not even just that.

In part, it has to do with the fact that those of us who support this ticket were concerned that as much as we admired Joe Biden and appreciated both his achievements as president and his qualities as a man, he seemed to be struggling to break through to enough people, that his words were the right words but were ones we appreciated more intellectually than viscerally, that there seemed to be a very good chance that he would not win. It was daunting. He certainly deserved to win. He had earned reelection. But it seemed like such an uphill struggle, far more than it ought to have done.

And so watching as Harris unified the party and quickly articulated a message that mobilized it gave us a sense of hope and relief. I have spoken to many people in the past two and a half weeks who have articulated this feeling. Restoring promise is a potent engine for a campaign. Optimism plus restored promise but great candidates speaking powerful words is a terrific combination.

But it is not just those things.

Watching the Philadelphia rally and the one today in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, one indoor event packed to the rafters, the other outdoors with a euphoric crowd seemingly stretching out to the horizon, it became clear to me what the real differentiating factor was between this campaign and all the others I have watched or participated in during my life. The words of Harris and of Walz and the cheers of the crowds landed on my ears differently than they had before.

Suddenly, I realize that this was not just a political campaign. This was not just an election year.

This is a movement. And this moment is a bright line in history.

For years, since Trump first took office, I have wondered when the people of the United States would rise up in defense of the country, its institutions and its values. There was the Women’s March that followed Trump’s inauguration. There were the Black Lives Matter demonstrations of 2020. But big and important as these were, they were not the kind of national movement needed to say clearly that the people of this country reject the hateful, corrupt, corrosive ideology and actions of Trump and MAGA.

Certainly the elections since 2016 sent that message with differing degrees of strength. On the day Joe Biden was declared the winner in 2020, I went with my wife down to the White House and we enjoyed the carnival atmosphere. We walked along 16th Street where people danced atop the words “Black Lives Matter” painted on to the pavement. We went to the Southwest Gate of the White House to watch Trump return following the announcement of his defeat and we listened as big crowds hooted at his passing limousine. I remember picking up one of the many placards that were held by many in the crowd that contained the words of John Lewis, his admonition to “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”

But within weeks it was clear that the Big Lie was still alive. Shortly after, January 6th occurred. And within a few weeks after that it became clear that Trump was going nowhere. That MAGA was staying for another round. That many of the worst exponents of Trumpism remained active on Capitol Hill—Jordan and Greene and Boebert and those other puppets seemingly shaped from excrement and bile.

Yes, the 2022 elections refuted predictions of a red wave as some of us had actively predicted they would. But MAGA remained. One incapable poor excuse for a Speaker of the House was replaced by another. Both were hopeless. Trump remained in charge. He was convicted of crimes, but it made no matter to MAGA or, for that matter, to many in the media. He continued to control one of America’s major political parties. He praised dictators. He stole national secrets. He celebrated again and again his role in stripping away fundamental rights and freedoms of American women and voters. He blocked bipartisan legislation that would have done more to address America’s border problems than any passed in decades.

He remained. The country it seemed was locked in a standoff between a movement that sought to end the American experiment in democracy and those of us who sought to preserve our institutions and ideals.

I was, I will admit, shocked at the passivity of many Americans. Like many I wondered if average Americans were reliving the sins of omission or passivity or inaction of “good Germans.” I would see massive crowds demonstrating in other countries and wondered, why not here?

But while we may not have acted in the way that many hoped we would, millions upon millions clearly felt a desire that someday that would change. Who knows what catalyzes such things. Sometimes it is a leader. Sometimes it is a moment. Sometimes it is a message. Sometimes it is an urgent need, an impending threat. Sometimes it is all those things.

Further, movements arise in different forms via different channels, in ways that suit the people, countries and cultures within which they occur.

What I have seen in the first rallies of the Harris campaign is a new energy being unleashed. But it does not seem to have come from nowhere. Rather it seems to be the release of a force that had been largely bottled up for too long. It seems explosive, propulsive, formidable and, for those who have been waiting for it for a long time, liberating and exciting.

Listen to the Harris-Walz crowds. You will not hear the anger or hate or robotic chants and choruses of a MAGA or other zombified fascist crowd. It is something different. Something more potent even than we may recall from the big public demonstrations of our recent past or from the most successful positive political campaigns we have seen. To me, it is something that I only vaguely recall from when I was much younger, of the feeling of the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War and early environmental and equal rights for women movements. It harkens back to moments where we truly felt that people, united and motivated to stand up for their deepest principles could actually defeat dark forces, traditions, entrenched powers within our society.

Am I reading too much into just a few days of events? Am I hearing too much in the response of the crowds we have seen?

Perhaps. It is early yet. Movements must be maintained.

But I know what I have heard and seen is somehow different. And I know that successful movements require things that some of our recent movements have not had—strong leaders and clear goals and the ability to channel feelings into constructive actions and an urgent need for change right now being foremost among them. And I believe those factors are now in place.

The emotional explosion underlying the Harris-Walz campaign is fueled by a sense that we do not have time to spare, we must rise up now, we must take action together now, we may not have another chance if we fail this time around. It is tapped in to by the right leaders who understand the spirit of the people and share with them common goals, leaders who can look past that with differentiates all the groups that may support them or, as Kamala Harris often puts it: “That there is more that unites us than divides us.”

So I believe there is evidence to suggest that what we are seeing really is a movement and not just a campaign…or at least it offers the promise of being just that. What will decide? Who will decide?

You know the answer to that. You will. This is not an effort that will be measured in the coffee spoons of pundit columns or speeches. It is one that will be transformed from commonplace to historic by your actions and those of all you know who will show up, be heard, volunteer, donate, vote, help others to vote, not stop until we have won and we have finally ended what has been a scourge on our country, until we have relegated Trump and MAGA to the dungheap of history where they belong.

But, here’s what is different and thrilling. It all feels possible now. It is not an abstract idea. It is happening right now, right in front of us, and all we have to do is reach out and step up and lead and join and work together.

We are at the moment that will define our legacy in history just as surely as D-Day or Gettysburg or Lexington and Concord defined that of previous generations facing similar challenges and equivalent responsibilities. Did you ever wonder what it was like to have been a citizen of colonial Massachusetts and to hear Paul Revere ride by with a call to action? It felt like this moment feels.

There are only 89 days to go, to get this job done, to deliver the promise of this movement. But as Tim Walz so memorably said in Philadelphia, “That’s easy. We will have plenty of time to rest when we are dead.”