In 2020, after four years of Donald Trump and in the midst of the divisiveness of a pandemic response, I wrote a book called Better Politics, Please.

It was hopeful.

Maybe naively hopeful.

On January 6, 2021, as the nation witnessed a violent attempt to overthrow an election—an unprecedented assault on our democracy—that hopeful book felt worse than naive.

Here we are four years later, barreling toward the 2024 election. Are our politics any better? Please?

No, they’re not.

But.

Our politics aren’t any better because we’re still hopelessly divided on nearly every issue. But more than that, we can’t even talk about the issues without falling down a well of false information and ungrounded attacks.

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance say illegal Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio—but it’s all made up. The immigrants aren’t illegal and no one is eating pets. It’s all made up. Vance even said he’ll happily make something up if it gets us talking about the issues.

That’s the opposite of better politics.

You can’t start a good faith conversation on lies.

If you’re willing to lie about that, what else are you lying about? (For Trump, it would seem everything.)

So in that sense, no, politics isn’t any better.

But: Something is different.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have really shaken up the race. That’s groundbreaking understatement. A presidential candidate dropping out this late is unprecedented, but the groundswell of energy in response to Harris’ campaign also feels unprecedented. The sheer number of Republicans endorsing Harris is also unprecedented.

I think a lot is changing right now with the Harris campaign and the potential of a Harris presidency.

Is it better politics? Yes and no.

There’s still plenty of the same divisiveness and petty squabbles. But some folks at least are coming back around to defending democracy and rejecting a candidate who doesn’t seem to care. That’s progress. It’s pathetic that’s progress, but it’s still progress.

There’s a lot of energy and people getting involved. That’s good. It doesn’t alone make for better politics, but it’s a good indicator. Unfortunately, a lot of people can get involved and just be assholes and that doesn’t make things better.

One thing that really concerns me is the personality-driven nature of this shift. Joe Biden dropped out and Harris stepped up. Huge change in personality and appearance, but not much of a change in substance. It’s worrisome that substance matters so little. Politics is personal, and as weird and unnecessary as it is, voters want to connect with a candidate. That matters. It’s hard to ignore, but I’m not sure it makes for better politics.

So here I am four years after writing a hopeful book, once again trying to be hopeful. It feels like a much longer shot than it did four years ago, but there are glimmers of possibility.

We’ll see.

Go vote.