‘Mum & Dad just got home… ’
Aussies can be forgiven for failing to appreciate exactly how and why Harris and Walz have had such a massive and immediate impact.
The psyche of Aussies and Yanks is similar yet different. A difference that is well reflected in the sorts of people who run for president and the way that they commonly present themselves. Or it has been up until Clinton v Trump.
Prior to the arrival of Trump, American Presidents were not just a political figure. For all of the modern era (until recently) the US president was expected to not only act as the head of state but also act as the defacto daddy for the country. Their family was considered by most to be a living, breathing example for how a good wholesome traditional American family should behave.
This is why the President and his family would enact their Christmas, Easter and other celebrations in a very public and orchestrated fashion. Where Aussies commonly see this as being cheesy, Americans lap it up. It talks to both their love of country and their common mythology in a way that is largely opaque to the rest of us. When they look at their First Family smiling for the cameras it evokes an appreciation that Mummy and Daddy are in the White House, the fire is burning in the hearth, the garden is well tended, the table set, the great republic continues to dominate the world, so we can all kick back and relax.
The covid crisis caused all sorts of emotional and financial problems and many, many deaths. But Americans are harder than us pussies in Aus. They are used to a dog-eat-dog society. Guns are everywhere. Gun deaths are common. War is an accepted and eternal part of the American way of life. So, the real gut punch to the American psyche that has been inflicted by the recent years of political and social argy-bargy has little to do with covid, or political unrest, or January 6, or even the overturning of Roe. American politics went off the rails for two presidential terms simply because their political leaders veered wildly off-script.
Both Hillary and Bill Clinton lost because Bill couldn’t keep it in his pants. Slick Willy Clinton commenced his incumbency as an overtly traditional family man – as with every other presidential hopeful before him. And for him as with all before him, the test for a President was as much a moral as a policy challenge. This is because the job of being the national American Daddy has always been considered as one that can be filled by only the most moral and ‘normal’ sorts of people. (People who don’t strap dogs to the top of cars when they go on holidays. Or keep a mistress. Or order criminals to burgle an office.)
So, when Hillary fronted to try and ‘crack the glass ceiling’, while there is no doubt that the American public were ready for a woman to be President, they were not ready to elect a ‘failed wife’. When you look at the figures, Trump beat Hillary on the votes of the suburban women of America. Trump was a strong virile man while Hillary was somehow insufficient. Her Daddy was playing the field. And fractured marriage would simply not work…
Then suddenly the real Trump appeared out of the haze of the election and the American political argument was suddenly ungrounded. Where once the excesses of the executive were restrained by the requirement to model a perfect family for the rest of the country, Trump decided that all of this was hoo-ha and could be dispensed with. Slavishly, the conservative media followed him. But the rest of the American polity and press were suddenly caught flat-footed.
The Republicans had unilaterally declared that the rules had changed. They were all now stating and constantly reiterating the proposition that the ends do justify the means. That a President need not be a ‘good guy’ at all. As long as he was strong and ‘one of us’.
And so we arrive where we are today. President Biden won because he resembled a good helpful grand-dad, not because anyone cared a jot about what he believed. By the time that the last election had arrived, that huge group of middle America who do not really pay much attention to politics were dead sick of twenty-four-hour Trump. His cult was as strong as ever, the Dems were still in disarray, but middle America turned against him. Not his policies but rather his chaos. The country decided Grandad Biden would do because he was a recognizable person.
Yet this still left the American Presidency detached from the traditional ethos of the leadership. Then when Joe started faltering, it so hurt the soul of middle America because they were watching their national GranDaddy failing. The charge that Joe is too old for the Presidency bit so deep and bled so readily simply because every person watching could empathize with the charge. We have all watched people we love being slowly reduced as they age.
Then suddenly, the events of the last few weeks seem to have caused a lot of middle America to once again engage with their political traditions and mythologies. This sudden and massive re-engagement has occurred simply because they have once again been provided with a model of a loving family to emulate and empathize with. The Stories being told in the convention are recognizable and uplifting. The candidate loves her husband and he loves her dearly. They both smile a lot. Everyone is happy.
In simple terms, America has so rapidly reacted to the arrival of Harris and Walz simply because they appreciate it as a return to tradition. A return to something that is immediately recognizable. Normality has once again started to reassert itself.
I have the popcorn out and I am huddled on the couch. For the last few outings I was really confused. Nothing about the unfolding drama was recognizable. Odd things were happening, for reasons that were unclear, all over the shop. But this time – along with millions of Yanks – I am really enjoying the show.
Right now, it looks like Mommy and Daddy are preparing to move back into the White House, and everyone is smiling, but this plot is moving quickly. I may have to duck out for more snacks…
Cool bananas
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