Democratic consultant Karen Finney said when it comes to joy and the Harris campaign, “… The fun thing about it is there are people, there are some strategists who didn’t think that it was going to work as a message or a strategy, but then they realized it’s just what people are feeling. So let’s lean into that.”
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is hitting every data point — polls, crowds, campaign donations — to justify a conclusion on the final night of the convention in Chicago that this may actually be the year the U.S. elects a female president.
There is one other intangible factor that could push her ahead of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Joy.
Harris has been talking about joy in various contexts for awhile.
We just weren’t paying attention.
Then, when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, kept referring to joy in his remarks — it started to stick.
Said Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday in her rousing speech, “And what we’re going to do is elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States. And let us choose joy!”
“Joy! Joy! Joy!” said the Rev. Al Sharpton at the end of his speech Thursday.
So in the United Center, before Harris delivered her acceptance speech, the question I put to Quentin Fulks, Harris’ deputy campaign manager: When it comes to joy, are we in a moment or what?
“I think it’s going to go forward,” Fulks said. “I think it’s something that people are feeling. I think that people have been looking for hope and joy and energy for a while.
