Here's What I Expect to See at the Democratic National Convention
Climate, Healthcare, and a Pandemic Walk into a Bar
In a few hours, the whole world will be watching what I hope will become the future leaders of our society. The whole world will be watching as the Democrats discuss the issues of the day, laying out their plans to tell the world how they intend to stop the most nefarious and destructive president in United States history — and his Party, a party of enablers that have mostly proven themselves somewhat close to equally as destructive as the President who mocks disabled people, callously turns a blind eye to 170,000+ American deaths from the coronavirus pandemic that he first spent months describing as a “hoax”, and tries through trickery and force to rig the American government at every turn. Trump is the swamp personified and now this year’s drought — the Democrats who plan to come to dry out Trump’s top-heavy government swamp — will convene for the first time to strategize and rally the people behind their leadership.
No doubt, it’s going to be challenging for the Democrats to hold an inspiring convention. The first-ever digital DNC will present its own physical and technological challenges over the next two days, but besides the entertainment and aesthetics, there are going to be a few things I’m looking for when it comes to this convention.
Starting with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, I want to see the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President looking, well, presidential, first and foremost, something that shouldn’t be a problem considering how well-put-together Biden and Harris looked in their first appearances as running mates earlier this week. Kamala was especially good on the delivery and I think she’ll come out swinging at the current administration like we’ve seen from her thus far.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t start this year a Kamla Harris fan at all, whatsoever. But since here appointment by Joe Biden to run as his Vice President, I’ve been doing some more thinking and see that she’s the kind of no-holds-barred candidate the ticket needs, someone who’s not afraid to speak truth to power and go after injustice.
I expect Kamala to be Biden’s antithesis, Biden being the soft, empathetic, grandpa-you-never-had figure, while Kamala will be on the offensive for this Administration’s massive missteps and bogus blunders, offering up critiques as well as solutions. If Biden is here to restore hope in the people for a sense of normalcy that would come from his presidency, Kamala Harris is going to be sending the message of progress making the two a pretty solid team, with Biden snagging up middle-class, middle-America white voters, swing voters, and Republicans alike, and Kamala driving out progressive voters, igniting the fires in the bellies of those who desperately want change and secretly fear Biden’s long record of less-than-progressive policies. I’ll be honest, I love Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both Senators bestir me with emotions that make me feel some kind of way, but I secretly think Kamala Harris is going to steal the show — watch Kamala, she’s going to be coming out on fire.
John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio will be there as well and I expect John to try to sway Republicans who feel totally lost today, unable to recognize the party they’ve known and loved for a long time, a party that many of them had voted for their whole lives, after having the ethical rug of decency pulled out from under their feet. Kasich is going to speak on unity reminding us that we need to unify in order to stop the clearly unethical behavior that the Trump administration has spent every single day of the past three years engaging in. Interestingly, Kasich was the only marginally tolerable Republican who ran in 2016, so I’m glad to see him participating because, let’s be real, here, the more Republicans who can finally leave what has essentially become a Cult of Personality surrounding Donald Trump, the better.
And then there’s Bernie Sanders. We know exactly what Bernie is going to do, he’s Mr. Dynamite on the stage, an old school activist-turned-politician, we can expect Bernie to be shouting and waving his finger as usual at the crowd with his no-nonsense tone, reminding us just what’s at stake — the future.
I’ve seen a lot of people on the Left, especially on Twitter, espousing their desire to vote third party because they’re still upset about Bernie’s loss. Bernie is going to try and rally these voters and get them to support the ticket, a task I don’t envy him for. I find it funny that voters are willing to vote third party in hopes to get a chance of a better presidential candidate next time there’s an election, but considering Trump’s relentless assault on voting rights in general, it’s hard for me to say that there will be a “next time” if he wins a second term.
We’re also going to see a lot of familiar faces from the Democratic Debates, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and billionaire philanthropist and activist Tom Steyer.
Obviously, we’re all going to watch to hear the Democrats propose how they intend to beat Trump and get this asshole out of office as quickly as possible. But I’m especially going to be listening for the changes the Biden campaign has made in regards to two things that will speak to me and many other voters like me: healthcare and environmentalism.
While Biden himself hasn’t always been the strongest candidate in terms of healthcare plans and Obamacare is clearly a lackluster policy that’s helped a few people and helped others to go broke, I’m looking forward to Biden talking a bit more about how he intends to patch up the broken American healthcare system. It’s inexcusable that our insurance system is so pornographically expensive and with surprise fees and billing, not to mention a narrow window every year when we can register for health insurance, making the system painfully confusing and difficult to navigate.
The other issue is the issue that we all love to avoid. What are we going to do about climate change? This really is the climate change election and our decisions now could very well prove to be decisions that either destroy or save so much precious life on earth. We must make the right choice this election and pray that it’s not too late to begin taking the steps necessary to get onto a path of sustainability.
Fortunately, this is a place that Biden and Harris have always been pretty strong throughout their careers, and I have no doubt that Tom Steyer and Bernie Sanders will help keep that message coming, reminding us of the utter importance of casting our votes in this election — if Trump wins again, all bets are off. And when all bets are off, the last thing we need is a pandemic, wrapped in a climate crisis, tied up in a little bag of political upheaval and social fragmentation, toss in a dash of environmental catastrophe and totalitarian takeover, and we could see complete and total destruction as a result of Trump winning again.
The obvious subjects will be touched on, the pandemic, the economy, and so forth and it’s what they all really need to do to drive home the message of importance for this election. You see, the key to the healthcare, economy, pandemic, and environmental discussion taking their places at the convention is the fact that it’s not enough to just say, “Orange man bad!” and bemoan the failures of the Trump administration — I’ll be looking for Democrats to do what Democrats (sometimes) do best, offering us an alternative worldview of a place that’s habitable, safe, clean, free, fair, and just, a place where we can feel unified and not have to worry about the subversion of foreign governments or a surprise bill after a hospital stay leaving us homeless and penniless. That’s the vision we need. It’s the action that we’ve needed for a while and with no leadership in sight, most of us desperately crave.
You see, that’s the thing, and that’s what I think we all need…we need that alternative vision, we need to know that we Millennials and Zoomers aren’t working so hard each and every day just so we could show up in time to watch the world end in a fiery blaze of climate change and infernal war. We need to know we’re not saving all of our money just to throw it away on healthcare bills the moment we get sick and the insurance company we ended up with decides to change their mind and not cover our life-saving surgery.
We need to know that someone will at least try to get this pandemic under control. We’re well above five million cases, meanwhile, New Zealand is talking about closing back down over six cases. There’s a massive discrepancy between America and the rest of the world and the stock market can only barrel through with its head in the sand about the economic catastrophe on the looming horizon for so long. Tell me, Democrats, tell me how you plan to pick up the pieces. Inspire me. Inspire voters who haven’t made up their minds yet. Inspire the world. Make us believe in you. Make us believe in you so much that there’s just no way we can stay home on election day.
Tell me your biggest dreams, tell me how you’re going to get them done and tell me what kind of world you’d like to see if I turn up and vote for you. Make no mistake, my vote is in the bag, but that doesn’t mean everyone else’s is, so please, get up there and inspire us to become a better nation.
It’s time for us to heal. We as a nation need to heal, the world needs to heal after Trump…and then, the moment we finish healing, we must apologize and commit to never allow another Trump again, before getting to work undoing all the destructive damage he’s done in the past three years.
The convention starts tonight, August 17th, 2020 at 9 p.m., and will go through August 20th. Thank you for reading. Here’s how you can watch it for those interested.
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