Here is the campaign speech Harris delivered in Wisconsin. It’s good: short, to the point, and upbeat. She hits on the right issues: Trump is a criminal, abortion, economic opportunity, Republicans cannot be trusted with Social Security and Medicare, etc. A patriotic framing that emphasizes that the United States is a great country could help present this bill of particulars in a compelling way. The basic message would be “Yes, we have our problems. We can and will address them. But along the way we must not lose sight of the fact that this is a great country.” This basic idea can be cashed out in many ways depending on the issue. For example: Yes, we have an immigration problem. We can fix this – in fact, immigration is already
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Here is the campaign speech Harris delivered in Wisconsin. It’s good: short, to the point, and upbeat. She hits on the right issues: Trump is a criminal, abortion, economic opportunity, Republicans cannot be trusted with Social Security and Medicare, etc.
A patriotic framing that emphasizes that the United States is a great country could help present this bill of particulars in a compelling way. The basic message would be “Yes, we have our problems. We can and will address them. But along the way we must not lose sight of the fact that this is a great country.”
This basic idea can be cashed out in many ways depending on the issue. For example:
- Yes, we have an immigration problem. We can fix this – in fact, immigration is already sharply lower than it was just a few months ago. And I promise to work with Republicans on a permanent legislation solution that will secure our border and ensure that America can still benefit from the vitality of immigrants. But let’s not lose sight of why so many people want to live here in the first place. This is the greatest country on earth. No one is trying to move to Russia or China or Iran, but people all over the world want to come here.
- We have a phenomenally strong economy. Yes, we had too much inflation as the economy started humming again after the covid epidemic. But inflation is under control now, and the economy is very strong – stronger than it was under Donald Trump, and stronger than the economies of other major countries. Our goal now should be to spread economic opportunity across the country, especially to areas that have not enjoyed strong economic growth in the past. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that our economy is the envy of the world, and it is stronger today than it has been in many years.
You could tell similar stories about many other issues.
Focusing on the fact that we live in a great country is a good campaign theme for democrats for several reasons.
It counters the impression that democrats are not patriotic.
Focusing on problems without emphasizing what is right about America is dangerous: if everything is terrible, maybe we need an authoritarian to set things right. It’s not an accident that Trump’s speeches are relentlessly negative.
Focusing on what is great about American will help Harris avoid being tarred with the perceived failures of the Biden administration. These perceived failures – especially on immigration and inflation – need to be addressed and contextualized. The way to do this is by putting them in comparative perspective.