lfg 🥥 🌴

Is this real life?

Yesterday, a hard and good and right decision was made. Praise and thanks are pouring in for President Biden after he broke the news via letter on X that he would be stepping down as presidential candidate and, in a fast follow social post, threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee for the Democratic Party.

So there’s a lot to talk about about this unprecedented moment, but I want to focus on what was, to me, the most remarkable: how confidently this earth-shaking news was announced and rolled out.

Because, despite weeks of “Dems in Disarray” narratives across (seemingly) every publication, as soon as Biden endorsed Harris, the endorsements started rolling in. If you were following Kyle Griffen, an MSNBC exec producer who was posting on Threads every time he got word that a prominent Dem had endorsed Harris, it felt like with every scroll, there was someone new raising their hand in support. Seriously, this is all taken from his account: the Clintons, the Congressional Black Caucus, Sen. Baldwin, Sen. Kaine, Rep. Clyburn, Sen. Murray, Sen. Kelly, Sen. Coons, Sen. Warren (that one made me so happy), Rep. Lieu, Sen. Ossoff, John Kerry, The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition, Sen. Smith, Rep. Schiff, Gov. Shapiro, Sen. Klobuchar, Gov. Cooper, Gov. Newsom, Sec. Buttigieg, Gov. Polis, Sen. Casey, AOC, Sen. Murphy, Gov. Murphy, Sen. Heinrich, Gov. Hochul, The Dem parties of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, the SEIU, Dem party of New Hampshire, Rep. Raskin, Gov. Mills, Rep. Aguilar, Gov. Beshear, Rep. Clark, Gov. Moore, Rep Delbene, Gov. Pritzker (you gotta follow Kyle Griffen, reading his feed is comforting in its news nerdiness).

Have you ever tried to get Democrats on the same page about anything? And quickly? It’s near impossible. The saying “Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line” is painfully accurate, so it was jaw dropping to see how gracefully the enthusiasm built. Suddenly, the Biden-Harris campaign filed with the FEC to rename and declare Harris the presidential candidate, allowing her to assume the “nearly $96 million cash in hand at the end of June”. Biden campaign leaders called staff to tell them “they will be the ones to help elect Vice President Kamala Harris — and to defeat Donald Trump in November.” And nearly 40,000 participants joined a ‘Win with Black Women’ Zoom call.

All of this was shockingly smooth — as the NYT reported, “With breathtaking speed, she took control of Mr. Biden’s enormous political operation and contacted more than 100 party officials, leaders of labor unions and activist organizations, and Democratic leaders in Congress and state houses to ask for their support.”

And the discipline and discretion paid off: an ActBlue fundraiser for Harris shared by Biden raised nearly $50 million within 7 hours.

Anyone who’s ever worked for a large organization of any kind (or, hell, has tried to keep a secret from a family, even!) knows how hard it is to keep any kind of information under wraps. So the fact that it all came as a surprise after the GOP spent all week attacking someone who isn’t even on the ticket anymore AND after the Sunday political shows, thereby setting the media cycle for Monday and beyond, shows just how savvy and disciplined this group of political operatives is. And the fact that all day yesterday there was a steady drumbeat of Democratic leaders throwing their hat in the ring, in such a way that every Kyle Griffen post was like a shot of dopamine straight to the brain, provided the best possible sailing plan for uncharted waters.

There’s a rocky road ahead of us, but I gotta say I’m breathing easier seeing how all of this unfolded yesterday (indeed, I apologize to anyone who follows me on Threads, because I was downright elated).

And I’m genuinely emotional I’ll have an excuse to wear this shirt again, which has sat folded in my dresser for eight years because I just couldn’t part with it after Hillary conceded.

Drink that water, get outside, be kind to each other, won’t you?

xoxo Amy