The Democrats professed values at their convention that people are proud to state in mixed company and in public: tolerance, optimism, liberality. The Republicans emphasized values you express only among confidants, or when writing anonymously on the internet: disgust, despondency, and loyalty to tribe.
Yes, that kind of division maps somewhat onto the existing parties. The Republicans have been in a kind of disarray or crisis mode since about 2006, set upon by intrigues. The Democrats are more inclined to believe the future is going to deliver them all victories by default.
But the division between aspiration and anxiety runs through all of us. And the Trump campaign has gotten this far by betting that aspirational political values are merely professed as a social courtesy, not believed when it really matters. At the heart this campaign is a referendum. What is the real America and who is the real you? Is the country basically strong and good, or is it dissolving in corruption? Is it time for the first woman president, or a strong man? Are you the person who happily checks all the right boxes on the forms the human resources department runs under your nose after training? Or are you the guy in the comments section, saying what everyone else is too afraid to admit?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member