As even the BBC noted, she “moved from ‘joy’ to calling Trump ‘a fascist.’” Even the Los Angeles Times’ cringe-inducing gushing over Kamala’s celeb-heavy rally in Philadelphia last night — Oprah and Lady Gaga “bring back the joy.” it feebly insisted — cannot disguise that this is a campaign motored more by fear than joy. By a borderline apocalyptic dread. They’re pleading with voters not to let Kamala do her thing — whatever that might be — but rather to save the world from the fire and chaos of Trump. 

After a week in the US, I’m starting to understand Kamala’s famous laugh. It’s less the laughter of joy than the infernal laughter of the lost, lonely soul that has convinced itself the world is ending. Her campaign feels entirely dispiriting. It feels a tad undemocratic too, with voters reduced to the mere negators of “evil” rather than people who might get to choose a fresh direction for the nation. When I saw those brunching, bourgeois New Yorkers holler “Nazi” at the out-of-towners who’d come to see Trump, I understood instantly why so many voters choose The Donald over the alternative.