Go High?

Well, it didn’t take long for me to get a post going. In the spirit of discussing what’s interesting at the moment, I wanted to talk about a subject that’s been on my mind over the last few days.

Stop Being So Polite in Politics

I grew up with pretty centrist, liberal parents. My father is quite progressive socially and moderate economically, while my step-mother is a Reagan-era Republican turned Democrat due to her disgust with Trump. Her main issue with Trump isn’t his horrendous policies, poor personal character, or absolute inability to lead. Rather, her issue with Trump is that he’s too mean. He wasn’t polite enough for her. My father feels similarly, but also disliked Trump’s policies. A common phrase they both like to use is, “I can’t wait until politics is boring again.”

I was watching the news with them last night, as I sometimes do, and after a story about the Harris-Walz rally from Wednesday, their reaction wasn’t focused on Walz being an overall great speaker or a good pick for VP, but rather, “I like that they aren’t slinging insults.”

I’ve seen some discourse over the last few days surrounding Walz’s comment at a rally: “I can’t wait to debate the guy. That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.” The quip was in reference to J.D. Vance and a meme that spread a few weeks ago suggesting he had sex with a couch. The discourse I’ve seen surrounding this has been incredibly positive, despite attempts to make it seem otherwise. Over the last few days, I have seen media commentators complain about this approach, citing the Democratic philosophy of “when they go low, we go high.”

This quote, taken from Michelle Obama’s speech at the DNC in 2016, exemplifies everything wrong with the Democratic strategy over the last few years. Messaging has very rarely taken direct shots at Republicans, while Republicans have done the opposite. While Democrats have been relying on their (in)ability to govern, Republicans have been launching attack after attack. Mind you, these aren’t attacks on policy but direct personal smears. Despite what people may tell themselves, the median voter in the U.S. is not that discerning and will be swayed by these smears. They see it as a candidate who speaks differently from what came before—it’s a breath of fresh air for them. In a way, they see themselves in these candidates.

I’m very happy to see that Democrats are FINALLY catching on and starting to use attacks. Call out your opponent. It’s going to win you the election this year.