Here I go, out on the road again. Here I go, up on the stage. Here I go, playing star again. Here I go, turn the page Bob Segar — Turn The Page
Thank you for the weather, Chicago! On Capitol Hill it’s not so much the heat, it’s the stupidity! Jamie Raskin
I have to say, the first night of the Democratic National Convention far exceeded even my expectations. The Young Turks cut their teeth, and Jamie Raskin and Jasmine Crockett did the honors of skewering Trump like a pig over an open flame.
But Biden stole the night, as it was set up to be. From his daughter’s emotional description of the eve of her 7th birthday, when Jill took her to the train station, where her father got off the train to hug her and sing Happy Birthday before heading to the south platform to go back to Washington, it was a lovefest. Biden had tears, his daughter had tears. Harris, Jill and Tim Walz and his wife had tears. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
The ovation for Biden went on, nonstop for almost four minutes. And when it was over, Joe was Joe. He proudly recapped his career, and laid into Trump with eight long years of pent up vitriol. He once again rephrased the 2024 election as a battle for the soul of America. Then he fully endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as the only sane way forward.
And when it was all over, the Democrats had turned the page. And Trump, MAGA, and the current GOP were relegated to history on that new phase as a footnote.
The United States is getting younger, it’s getting browner, and it’s getting more diverse. And that world is ever more increasingly willing to turn the page on the stale, worn, divisive politics of the past. Which just so happens is the only thing that Trump and his MAGAts have to sell.
Biden, Harris and Walz have unleashed a steamroller, and the only thing that Trump and the GOP can do is to get the hell out of the way, or get squashed flat. I have written previouosly that Harris is leading a movement in American politics.
But it turns out that it’s more than that. What the Democrats have unleashed is the future of American politics. They have offered the promise of a better future while the GOP can offer nothing more than the same old, tired, racist, hate based past. It isn’t even a fair fight.
And it only gets better from here on out. For the next three nights, attack dogs will continue to savage Trump, but with the Obamas, Bill Clinton, and Tim Walz and Kamala Harris, the speeches will only be more uplifting and inspirational. And the party will only be more united going forward.
And here’s what you need to remember, and you heard it here first. I said earlier that America has gotten younger and browner, and that’s true. But the 18-29 year old demographic is also the most difficult bloc to poll. They came out en masse to demolish the NRA in congress in 2018. They came out en masse in 2020 to help elect Biden and Harris in 2020. They helped to stem the red wave in 2022.
And there are more than four million of them who have come of voting age since 2022. And they’re the least likely to be polled since, even if they’re registered, they’ve never voted before. But just as in 2018, 2020, and 2022, they were the secret army that propelled the Democrats to victory. Watch for them to be a defining factor in 2024, especially with Parkland activists like David Hogg all in for Harris.
The page has been turned. And it was turned seamlessly with Biden wholeheartedly handing the torch over to Harris and Walz. The future is now, and it belongs by default to the Democrats, because Trump and the GOP already have their feet stuck in the La Brea tar pits. Three more days to go, with the heavy hitters still in the on deck circle. This could be over by the end of September. Don’t touch that dial.
I thank you for the privilege of your time.
Hmm, that’s quite the choice. Back into a dark, dismal past, or forward into a bright, cheerful, happy future?
What would most voters pick?