Politics as usual?
I’ve been pretty insufferable these past two weeks. I know that. I can barely go five minutes without checking in on the election news and sharing it with anyone who’s hasn’t excommunicated me yet. But it’s only because this election, in 2016, is so important and fascinating and scary and bewildering and insane and so, so, so damn important. I don’t expect the insanity to let up anytime soon (November can’t come soon enough), but I think it’s important to recognize why I’m so fired up right now about the conventions. This is when get excited in every election cycle, as each party gets a full week to show off their candidates and their platform. This is when I gather my thoughts and focus them on the task at hand; election day.
I’m not going to wax poetic about the obvious, political differences between the conventions because every political analyst (professional, amateur, or intoxicated) has already done that to death. Even in a normal year the policies are always different, the messages are different, the types of people they bring to speak are different. Just because disparity is so much more exaggerated this year doesn’t mean it’s worth noting as special or profound. Republicans and Democrats want different things for this country, and that’s okay. That’s how it is supposed to work.
The conventions, however, do share a similarity in what their goal is supposed to be; political conventions are supposed to make their supporters proud to be members of the party and, most importantly, proud to be Americans. The latter part can even occur even if the viewer doesn’t support the views of the country. Say what you want about George W. Bush but he was great at reminding people what was great about being American, whether you agreed with the reasons why or not. I am fired up right now because the Democrats have spent the past 4 days reminding me (and many others) how to be proud of that, which is important since the Republicans didn’t even try.
There is only so much doom and gloom you can pack into what is essentially a week-long victory parade. I’ve been a very political person for my entire life, and one of the main reasons for that is that despite everything it brings me hope. Knowing that I get to vote on my future is one of the most empowering ideas I’ve ever revered. The first time I voted is still one of the five greatest days of my life. If I was a Republican, why would I ever go to the polls after Donald Trump tells me we’re all going to hell? It’s exhausting. There is very little more depressing than watching one man rip an entire political party to shreds.
Of course, it’s not just one man’s fault. Some prominent Republicans had been warping patriotism into jingoism slowly since the ’80s. This is just the end result of that push — an entire convention week about how we need to turn away from the world we claim to want to help and protect. The other, likely unexpected outcome is that now the Democrats have been able to reframe traditional patriotism to their side of the aisle. Personally I don’t think patriotism has a political bent. As long as you love your country what does it matter where on the spectrum you fall? When I watched these conventions I only saw one party show their love for the USA while the other wanted to tear it apart. It was ugly.
I’m typing this at midnight after Hillary gave her acceptance speech and all I feel is pride. It’s not about party. I don’t have to agree with your politics for you to make me and many others proud. This past week the Democratic National Convention has been all about how great America is and how much greater we can still be. Are we perfect? Far from it, but there is so much to be proud of today. I’m proud that I get a vote in this election and, yeah, proud to be a Democrat. But most of all I have never been prouder to be an American.
