There is a reason Maga and the Trump media apologists hate Kamala’s smile. It scares the sh#t out of them.
Biden beat Trump with a promise of a return to normality. People were exhausted by the four years of drama and the dysfunctional hate fest. So, the voters fired Trump, but memories are short. Democrats needed something to move voters, and Kamala has come up with a secret sauce that is way more powerful than “I’m not nuts like Trump.”
Policy often seems to play only a minor role in voters’ decisions. It’s human nature; emotions and gut feelings count more than logic and reason in critical life-changing choices. This is likely why the media focuses on politics as a soap opera and horse race. Fortunately, Kamala doesn’t just have the policies to move America forward. She is making that emotional gut-level connection to voters.
Trump wins when people are miserable, resentful, and frightened. That’s the key to Trump’s scam. His ability to prey on people’s darkest impulses to drag them down into a dark place where the sun never shines. At his rallies, the MAGA faithful cheer on calls to violence, cruelty, and retribution. Trump’s message? America sucks, and we hate everyone who is not us, and we will make them all suffer. Trump humiliates and abuses Republican leaders and demands they humiliate themselves so that he will consider sparing them. He is a caricature of every comic book and cinema evil villain.
But is that how Americans see themselves? As a bunch of mean-spirited resentful Karens who bend the knee to a con-man and want to dictate to their neighbors how they live and love and revel in screwing others? Do they want political leaders who are a bunch of spineless flunkies who are afraid to stand up to a bully? Do they want a government modeled on a dysfunctional HOA that does nothing for you but is always in your face telling you how to live your life?
Is this the American individualism and freedom enshrined in our national mythology? Behind Kamala’s 10,000-watt smile is a vision of Americans as free, happy, positive, and good. People who take joy in getting sh#t done and helping their neighbors. People who, as Tim Walz says, “mind their own damn business.”
Kamala’s superpower
This is the stuff of every American hero. The individual who stands up to evil and greed, and shows the grit, courage, and moral rectitude to stand up for the weak and oppressed. Like Jimmy Stuart in A Wonderful Life or John Wayne in The Ringo Kid. Conservatives at one time saw themselves in those characters.
Ronald Reagan proved the power of optimism in American politics because voters love a happy warrior. Kamala has now harnessed the power of joy and is that happy warrior that the US needs right now as a cure for the angry cancer that is Trump. Thanks to her masterful messaging machine, the VP now owns the values of freedom and individual liberty, which used to be core values for Conservatives.
Then there is Kamala’s brilliant choice as VP. Coach Walz has taken the Progressive agenda that most Americans want and need and communicated it as good ole’ midwestern common sense. What any neighbor would want for their neighbor and their family, as American as mom and apple pie.
This intersection of joy and freedom is kryptonite to Trump.
Trump is doubling down on his hate, resentment, and bullying because he is a one-trick pony and doesn’t have the mental capacity to adapt. The more hateful and deranged Trump gets, the more he amplifies the VP’s message of joy and freedom. Trump is being consumed by the toxic stew of resentment, hate, and insecurity he used to take over the Republican party and become President. What once made Trump strong, Kamala is now using to destroy him.
Trump, the punchline of 1,000 memes
Some Democrats complained that Trump was given more time to speak than Harris, somewhere between 15% and 20% more time. Usually, this would be considered an advantage to the person allowed more time. Not so in this case. On virtually every question. Harris was able to wind Trump up, and then the moderators gave Trump all the rope he wanted to hang himself. Kamala’s facial expressions commanded the stage even while Trump spoke and did as much damage to Trump when he was speaking as when Kamala had the mic. Kamala made ‘Trump being Trump’ an “the emperors got no clothes” moment for 67.1 million viewers. The additional time provided to Trump allowed a pissed off and rattled Trump to dial up the crazy to 11. Trump’s looney tune responses spawned a tsunami of post-debate memes.
These memes may damage Trump more than the beatdown Kamala served him. No candidate can survive being made ridiculous, and Trump has become a social media punchline. The effect of Trump’s disastrous debate performance is know being amplified a million times over by social media and late night TV.
While Kamala conveys a message of joy and optimism, she has been a merciless savage to Trump. Harris has reworked Michelle’s “When they go low we go high” into “When they go low we kick their teeth in”. That's something Americans also expect of their happy warriors. That they can kick ass and take names when it is necessary. It's never been more necessary than now, and Kamala is totally up to the task — and she does it with a smile without losing a step. No wonder that smile has Republicans in a panic.
Harris is encouraging Americans to walk towards the light, to take pride and joy in being Americans, in building America, and in supporting their fellow Americans. In record time, Kamala has created a big, joyful tent that could be a powerful, unbeatable national voting block well into the future.
