Obama gives a beautiful speech at the Democratic National Convention, but will it work in this election? These are not normal times.
Set against the backdrop of the Constitution, President Barack Obama opened his remarks at the Democratic National Convention by laying out the stakes of the election 2020.
“This isn’t a normal convention. It’s not a normal time. So tonight, I want to talk as plainly as I can about the stakes in this election. Because what we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come,” said the former President that the American press love.
Obama is right. These are not normal times which begs the question if his approach that before 2016 would be considered normal, will work in these elections. 75 more days in the most uncertain times leave a lot of open to change. Twists and turns and dirty politics as a guaranteed factor of this 2020 Presidential election, and any election.
All possible campaign strategies and oppo research considered, even those with a good pulse on politics cannot say with great certainty who will win the election. Polls failed us in 2016, and they can too fail to inform the election outcomes this time around.
There is a lot of public shaming as to what side of the political spectrum one associates with. People are afraid to lose friends, to get “canceled”, to lose their jobs, and they tend to say what makes them look good. However, that is not necessarily what they believe, as that belief will be hidden by the ballot box.
Will Trump be gone in 75 days? Or will he stay in the office for another four years?
Obama is right. The Constitution was an “imperfect document”, and it is not a coincidence that the President’s speech was designed around the foundational principles of America. However, in the age we live in, where the Constitution is mostly called onto to claim the rights of the First and the Second Amendment, it is unclear how this idea of what it means to be an American will translate into voting preference. If you ask the Republican voters, they will tell you that Trump is as American as one can get.
We are all in the reality show
“For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,” said Obama.
As reality shows, Obama was not far from endorsing the Kardashians when the DNC thought that would be a good idea to have them on their side. Kim instagrammed singing karaoke with American President Barack Obama.
Reality shows are part of American culture, and they are now part of its politics too. What once was karaoke, we have today Kim Kardashian’s advocacy for clemency and prison reform under Trump.
In real-time news and social networks, we all roll in the deep, left with the choice to either yell into a pillow or on Twitter; broadcasting live the segments of collective frustrations and disempowerment due to the loss of jobs, immigrants in cages, and social dissatisfaction. Social media rants are open invitations for anyone and everyone to take a peek into each other’s lives.
America 2020. It is not what America was in 2016. Trump may as well continue into the next term, as the last attempt to stick a middle finger to the establishment, and those who will vote for him, know very well the power of their vote, the Republican body politique sees this election as their last-ditch for survival. Democrats feel the same. They are both right, and they can both be wrong from their respective viewpoints. Whose side will prevail depends not so much on a popular vote but delegates.
“Because that’s what’s at stake right now. Our democracy,” warns Obama.
“They were spying on my campaign”, claims Trump.
“What we do echoes through the generations”, says Obama. So is the American Dream, by ‘building back better” or “making America great”, the choice American voters will have to untie in 75 days from now.