I can almost hear the phrase that it’s “morning in America.”
Yes, that well might be the Democrats’ mantra as they plow through the final day of their presidential nominating convention.
“Morning in America.” That was the theme of President Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984. Democrats sought to paint the country in dark and frightening terms. They failed. Reagan won in a 49-state landslide.
What a change in roles, a reversal of what we’ve seen for so many years.
It’s been Republicans who’ve stood next to The Flag, who’ve spoken to Americans’ basic love of country. This year? That role belongs to the Democrats, who are countering Republican nominee Donald J. Trump’s dark portrait of the country he seeks to lead.
Democrats are about to hear from their presidential nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as they adjourn their convention and hit the campaign trail to wage political battle with Trump and the Republicans.
She’ll speak to her steadiness. She is likely to remind us of some of the statements that have come from Trump — such as how our military is a “disaster,” how our leaders are “stupid,” how the country is lost, desperate, despairing.
I am pretty sure we’re going to hear something quite different tonight from Clinton, who’ll echo the sentiments expressed for the past three days from those who’ve said that America is “still the greatest nation the world has ever known.”
Don’t you remember when Democrats bemoaned our future? Don’t you recall the Republican rejoinder? It was that the nation’s “best days are ahead.” Well, this campaign is going demonstrate how the roles have switched.
Democrats can thank Donald Trump for their resurgence and uninhibited joy they now are able to express about their country.
I guess the question that we’ll get answered once this year’s ballots are counted is whether Americans see their country as a dark place of doom we heard from Republicans or whether they have embraced the optimism and hope we’re hearing from Democrats.