Maureen Ryan

(This was originally published in my free newsletter, Burner Account, on July 24. Cross-posting it here.)

Politics is, to some degree, a game of symbolism. But the phrase “political theater” isn’t an inherently negative one: We all respond to symbols and images that are brilliantly arranged. Under the right conditions, we create real meaning from those building blocks.  

That is all to say, if I were running the Democratic National Convention, I’d be thinking hard about the following sequence of events: In the summer of 2004, a young Illinois politician not many people had heard of gave the keynote address at the DNC. His name was Barack Obama. Maybe you’ve heard of him?

I’m from Chicago, so I knew who he was, but most viewers hadn’t heard his name before that night, which landed Obama on a lot of people’s radar. Four years later, he was president. 

Now, two decades later, the Democratic National Convention will be in Chicago in August. And I’m wondering if Obama, who has not yet endorsed Kamala Harris, will do so at the convention. A full circle moment, and a mighty poetic one at that. 

Picture this scenario: Obama endorses Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate moments before her acceptance speech. There are already photos of the two together, no doubt, but pictures and video of Obama and Harris together on stage at the DNC? As the former president passes the torch to Harris? 

If I’m running optics at the DNC, I’m going to stage that moment within an inch of its life. Obama coming out on a stage in Grant Park, right after he was elected for the first time — if you were living in this city then, chances are you remember that moment as an all-timer in the realm of Chicago images.

Done right, the one between him and Harris could top that.

Events are fast-moving and for all I know, by this time tomorrow, Obama may have endorsed Harris (and we may have been invaded by aliens, because we are just not allowed to live in precedented times anymore). 

A lot of things are still in play, but still, I find it interesting to wonder if he’s withholding his endorsement because a scenario like the one I just described might be in the works. We are in a moment where anything’s possible — sometimes in terrifying ways, but sometimes in good ways. I don’t know about you, but I’d like as much of the latter as possible. In the last few days… well, Sunday afternoon, I was freaking out. Now? It feels like I walked outside on a warm day and just realized how long it’s been since I felt the sun on my skin. 

Back to the unsolicited advice: Regardless of what happens at the DNC, in coming months, we’re probably going to see a lot of pictures of Obama and Harris together. And I hope like hell that Harris’ social media staff posts those images relentlessly on all platforms, ideally with the caption “u mad, bro?”

Because the fascists and/or theocrats and/or rich sociopaths that now control the Republican Party will not be able to be normal about Obama and Harris occupying the same space, or the same stage. Or the same oval-shaped office, maybe. No, already, it’s clear that they cannot be normal about any of that, not even a little bit. 

They are and will be unable to remain calm when it comes to the very idea of a Black and South Asian woman running for the highest office in the land — with a strong shot at winning. Of course, there have been a lot of “mask off” moments in the past decade (and the past 400 years of American history). But even more masks are going to come off in the next few months. It’s going to get ugly.

It already has; this chud just threw a version of the “welfare queen” slur at Harris, accusing this longtime public servant of just “collecting a check.” There will be more of this, much more. Including an ’80s reboot nobody wanted; sigh, of course they are preparing Willie Horton-style attacks on Harris.

I do not endorse or want to see the Discourse once again pervaded by covert and overt sexism, racism and misogynoir (in part because, well, when hasn’t a big chunk of the Discourse shown an affinity for those things?). That said, a lot more people will take their masks fully off and reveal themselves as racist, sexist shitlords in coming weeks. I don’t look forward to that, but for some, the process may be illuminating. Perhaps it will drive more people to vote for sanity and Not Racism in the next election.  

In any case, the vitriol that’s not just coming but already here is one reason to beef up Harris’ security detail, by a lot. And on a slightly less sobering note, watching terrible people try to come up with rationales as to why an intelligent, charismatic, accomplished woman like Harris should not be the candidate is and will continue to be quite the spectacle. 

In coming weeks, there will be a lot of sputtering as the toxically DC-pilled, as well as assorted bigots and dummies, desperately seek reasons why she should not be the nominee and definitely should not win. A lot of people who think of themselves as smart are going to show the world how weak-minded they are, and it won’t be pretty. But it might occasionally be semi-amusing to see them literally grasp at straws. 

She likes Venn diagrams. She rode a school bus. She laughs. Dear Lord, won’t you save us from this woman who laughs?

This ongoing clownshow of sputtering frustration gains steam every day, sometimes in downright comical ways (and thanks for that, I needed the laughs). In all seriousness, though, I don’t mean to imply that folks cannot have questions about the record of any politician — including Harris. Any office holder’s resume can be judged on the merits, and there can be reasonable disagreements when it comes to folks’ honest assessments. 

But the truth is, an enormous amount of the ugliness that has been — and will be — aimed at Harris is going to come from genuine mediocrities — many of them white — who cannot stand the undeniable fact that Harris stands on the precipice of the pinnacle of power in America. 

It is absolutely not for me to say how any person on this planet spends their time. If there’s one lesson that’s been driven home in the last few years, it’s that I don’t know what kind of bandwidth anybody else is working with. For a lot of us, the tank has been empty or near-empty for a some time — which is why it’s so encouraging to feel like people are starting to feel energized by recent events. 

For those of us who do not have an empty tank and are beginning to feel fired up (a weird feeling! But let’s go with it!), I have something to say: I really, really hope a lot of my fellow white people, especially white women, spend part of that energy doing the absolute most to combat the stupidity, racism and sexist garbage we’re going to come across in the virtual and real spaces we occupy. That work is on us.

Basically, what I really hope we do not do — again— is ask a Black woman to save us, and then sit back and do little to nothing to protect her from the hordes of jackals out to get her. We’ve already run that play way too many times in our nation’s history. So let’s really and truly get to work, because the desire to deny or destroy Harris for ugly and bigoted reasons will crop up in obvious ways and less obvious ways. It’s going to be everywhere and take many different forms.

Of course among the rabid, frequently rancid weasels that now infest the Republican Party, the vileness Harris has been subjected to was kicked into a higher gear by this past week’s events. But those dynamics will also — I’m sad to say — percolate through a large chunk of the Beltway press, that brayingly unreflective segment of the dying American media industry (one that continues, in the year of our lord 2024, to put out pieces about the new, “serene” Donald Trump. I would scream what the actual fuck if I had any energy to spare for that).

Unfortunately, I am sure some in that dangerously dopey pack of pundits and hacks are incredibly horny to create a “but her emails” narrative for Harris. Not that they’ll be able to admit that’s what they’re doing, of course. They’re Just Asking Questions. Sure. 

Combatting gross people, lazy reporters and brain-wormed pundits who come after Harris with rickety coverage and specious arguments will be exhausting, because most of the folks deploying that crap will no doubt cloak themselves in righteousness, patriotism and a Commitment to the Truth or some such nonsense. And that will pretty much be bullshit. As evidence, I present: Sleepy Hollow.