Sometimes a blog like this works best as a time capsule. What did I think at the time? Our perspective tends to distort over time, so capturing an honest assessment in the moment is important for the sake of accuracy. With politics and history, doubly so. Everything seems inevitable in hindsight. But at the time it often didn’t feel that way.

And politics in the last month? Oof. From President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, to Biden withdrawing from the election and Vice President Kamala Harris taking the mantle—it’s been wild.

I could write about this for days, but nobody wants to read that. So I’m going to try to capture my thoughts in short, quick bursts. Here goes nothing…

Random Thoughts on the Political Moment

Let’s start with where we are in this moment.

• Dashed hope: First, let me start by saying I wrote a book about better politics in 2020. I really did have high hopes for better politics, and those hopes were dashed on the Stop the Steal movement and ground into the earth on January 6. Things have only gotten worse since then. This spring it started to feel like Trump was facing consequences, but a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity makes it seem like anything goes. More importantly, Republicans allowing anything goes makes the difference (Trump only gets away with it because Republicans go along with it).
• Issues: The stakes have never seemed higher and the issues more stark. Abortion, gay rights, climate change, gun control—the parties are polar opposites with little middle ground. Even something like taxes seems to be polarizing. Then throw in the conservative government takeover that is Project 2025 and whoa. (By the way, what a masterclass is branding that’s now biting them in the ass.)
• Age: While Biden has a wealth of accomplishments, his age has weighed down his campaign. Props to U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips for calling Biden on it and challenging him in the primary. Unfortunately, Phillips couldn’t make the case and was basically excommunicated from the party. He never got more than a few percentage points in the primaries. If people weren’t thrilled with Biden, and the ‘uncommitted’ vote shows a lot of folks weren’t thrilled, there was no alternative. At least as long as Biden stayed in the race. So people stuck with him.
• Low energy: That ‘uncommitted’ stance over the Israel/Palestinian conflict and young people horrified at a geriatric race led to absolutely zero energy. I think people understood the importance of stopping Trump, but there was an inevitability about Biden’s run. What could anyone do? I think that sums up the atmosphere heading into the summer.
• The debate: Then came the debate performance. It was painful to watch. Biden has a speech impediment and that’s always made his public speaking a little rough, but it was flaring up and causing him problems. He seemed to ramble, to trip over his words, to back up, to lose the thread, etc. In contrast, Trump was like a dog with a bone. He kept hammering on issues, not answering the next question so he could go back to the previous one, always peppering every statement with outrageous lies. Biden made the mistake of trying to check those lies, which just buried him. It was rough. More draining energy. Personally, I had a sense that maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked, that maybe Biden could power through and win in November. But if he did, I wasn’t sure how he could serve a full four-year term. The presidency ages people, and starting at that point? Yikes.
• The assassination attempt: As the Democrats are debating Biden dropping out, an argument that won’t go away but doesn’t seem to have a lot of momentum, there’s the assassination attempt. We came within inches of Trump being killed. It was a shocking, dreadful moment. We don’t solve our problems with political violence. While I felt a deep sense of dread in that moment, I was a little surprised how it seemed to be forgotten just a few days later. There were lots of condemnations of political violence, but the candidate and party who most stoked political violence and were now the victim of it seemed to quickly shed any kind of ‘unity’ language and quickly return to ugly, divisive political rhetoric. Not much changed. I’m not sure that’s possible, but that’s how it feels in this moment.
• The drop out: And then the arguments about Biden dropping out start to gain traction. Maybe they were already gaining steam, but last week they seemed to pick up. From a few Democratic representatives and senators to key leadership, and by Thursday there seemed to be a vibe on Twitter (for what’s that’s worth—yes, it’s a horrible echo chamber, but sometimes it’s accurate) that something was coming. And then Sunday afternoon it dropped. Biden was out. Harris was the heir apparent. There’s process to go through and we’re only one day in so who knows what will happen, but at this point Democratic support has crystalized around Harris within 24 hours. I’d say near unanimous support. And the energy?! Whoa. It’s electric. I’ve never seen anything like it. People are excited like never before, and it’s reflected in the more than $50 million raised for Harris yesterday.

So that’s where we’re at.

How’s that for understatement? There are, of course, a million questions. We’ll see where things go.

So some more thoughts:

• Can Harris win?: We never know until people vote. With the energy that’s building right now, I think she has a real shot. Of course we’re talking about America with its racism and misogyny. We saw a Black man win two elections. We saw a woman win the popular vote. But 2016 and 2020 were pretty close elections. Anything can happen, but it’s going to require a lot of work. I said a few weeks ago that I saw a lot of disengaging and complaining. None of the energy and organizing of 2017. I hesitate to say that’s changed in 24 hours. But it feels like the potential to flip that dynamic is there. And if that happens, we might be inaugurating the first woman president in U.S. history.
• The hate: Speaking of racism and misogyny, get ready for a lot more of that. You can already see it ramping up.
• Reverse coattails: Before everything changed, the best argument I heard for getting involved and overcoming a lack of enthusiasm at the top of the ticket was Amanda Litman’s reverse coattails theory. With all the issues at stake, it’s a little disconcerting that people only get excited about the presidential race. So many down-ballot races have incredible impact, and literally determine what’s possible for the top of the ticket. Biden laid out an ambitious plan for his first 100 days, but it’s all bullshit if Democrats don’t win control of the House and Senate. And they’d need to overcome the Senate filibuster. If you really want to make change, you need to win all the way down the ballot. I think you risk alienating people when you only get them excited about the presidential race and are blasé about the rest.
• How is it possible: What’s the most staggering in my mind is that we’re in this position in the first place. I don’t understand how Republicans could embrace Trump after January 6 and double and triple down on him. The felonies, the lying, the complete lack of character. I understand politicians doing the doublespeak thing and condemning him but then turning around and kissing the ring. But what’s wild is voters falling in line as well. I’m shocked that evangelicals continue to support a man who does all the things Trump does. And not just vote for him, they’re not just holding their nose and putting up with him, they have enthusiastically supported him. Everything I was told about truth and character and avoiding even the appearance of wrongdoing as a youth group kid in the 1990s is out the window. Some Christians have proven that their faith is ash and they want political power at all cost (I suspect the cost will be a generation lost to the church). The polls shouldn’t be this close. I wonder how Democrats can ever win the presidency again if they can’t trounce a candidate like Trump.
• Conspiracy theories: Oh how the speculation is flying these days. The assassination attempt of course triggered some, but now I’m seeing even more around Biden stepping down. My favorite is that it was all a manufactured and choreographed moment, timed right after the Republican National Convention for the greatest impact. I’m not sure that kind of coordination is possible. And from the Democrats? Really? At this point it’s still super early and all kinds of things could come out, but I’d be shocked if that kind of story turned out to be true. The outpouring of emotion and energy I’m seeing just feels like a natural reaction to an authentic moment, not something you could manipulate. A lot of these people are pretty jaded—I would think they’d smell a setup a mile away. Expect a lot more conspiracy theories.
• Process: It’s also funny watching Republicans—who supported the January 6 attempt to violently overthrow an election—whine about a lack of a democratic process in the Democratic nomination. Biden willingly stepped down, he wasn’t ousted. That changes the dynamic and calls for a new process. And the party nomination is inherently a party process, not a democratic process. It always has been. The parties make up their own rules. Trump changed many of those rules for the Republican primary to hinder his opponents. Like it or not, the parties are free to pick their candidate in any way they want. It often barely resembles a truly democratic process (because why should Iowa and New Hampshire get the first say?!). Much like the electoral college, primary votes are for delegates, not the candidates. The delegates ultimately vote. If all of that seems unfair, then maybe it’s time we undo the electoral college.
• Jackasses: As we’re going through all of this, I’m perhaps most surprised at just how mean people are. Social media really brings out the jackass in a lot of us. Not just limited to politics, but life in general. And if they’re not outright mean, a lot of people just don’t have anything positive to say. (Perhaps most shocking is the Christians who do this, often in a shroud of spirituality [“we need to pray”]—I’m convinced some Christians are hastening their own decline while pointing the finger everywhere else.) I’m not advocating for toxic positivity—let’s be real, we are in really bizarre, difficult, complicated times. But some people just want to shit on everything. I’m again reminded of Devona Weatherhead—”put up or shut up.” If you’re that upset about the other side, instead of the constant negativity, do something to make it better. Stop sitting around and whining. Get involved. If national politics seem too overwhelming, get involved locally. If politics in general is too much, find a nice nonprofit and do some good work. Twenty-five years ago during an internship someone called me an idealist, and I suppose I still am. I think we should work to make the world a better place, even if it’s just in our little corner of the world. Everybody can do that in their own little way. It reminds me of Erin Murhpy’s #PoliticsOfJoy. I saw someone comment today that they were “hope scrolling”—an antidote to the usual doom scrolling—and something I’ve found myself doing the last 24 hours.

There’s my snapshot in time. We’ll see if that all changes in a week.