I don't post all that often, though don't mistake that for not enjoying this board's discourse, OUsucks/Texags point and laughs, and quality original content on a frequent basis.
I haven't felt this sort of enthusiasm about the future of the country in over eight years. Same for my wife. We've been on a road trip the last two days and as such have gotten to digest this with each other seeing the news, subsequent endorsements, and then today's speech.
Let me backtrack a few weeks... The despair really came to fruition the night of the debate. It wasn't THAT bad, it was the worst possible performance other than pissing yourself on stage. Watching it that night, my wife and I first shared feelings of shock. Again, it wasn't as bad as it had been rumored, it was somehow worse. We (and the entire country) knew that night that the only way Biden could win the election would be to get enough anti-Trump people to GOTV. However, that was going to be next to impossible given the level of enthusiasm with the campaign as soon as they walked off the stage that night. We realized that night that Trump had gone from likely longshot odds to win, to a position where even he probably couldn't screw up the next few months bad enough to lose.
Those feelings were soon replaced by frustration and anger. Anger at the DNC for forcing Biden to run again and not spending his term as a true transitional leader and prepare the next generation to lead. Let's be 100% honest: There is nothing about "what the people want" less than forcing two basically octogenarians onto us for the choice to lead the free world for the next four years. Two candidates who wouldn't live long enough to see the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of their policies. Two candidates who should be retired, not running for the most stressful job in the world. Between Daycare and Health Insurance premiums, we are close to $30,000/year, and that's assuming everyone stays healthy. That's our floor. People on Medicare with a supplement pay usually no more than $5k/year, and that's their ceiling. So when the debate question about Childcare got skipped over completely with nary a word related to the topic at all from either candidate, further resignation and apathy about the ridiculousness of how parts of our country operate set in.
As a Millennial, going through 9/11 in high school (Biology class when the news hit), graduating college into the Great Recession and competing against literal MBAs for entry level jobs, to finally COVID. How fortunate are we to live through three "once in a generation" events between the times most of us are between the ages of 20 and 40, in our prime earning years. We know that the "Dad was a milkman and supported a family of four in a 3/2 suburbia and vacationed every year" was a literal thing. We know how far behind we are, thanks to decades of policy decisions that just continued to cut the bottom rungs off of the ladder one at a time. In exchange for going through that, our choices for the next four years were these two guys... again... just four years older. In what world are Millennials and Gen Z supposed to think that the American Dream exists in any fashion whatsoever? While older generations expressed dismay at Gen Z not savings and spending for experiences now, us Millennials were like "Ya... we get it. We probably should have done more of that ourselves at your age."
The "We're Not Going Back" line is great. We don't want to go back to the same old drawing board of "Thoughts & Prayers about your most recent shooting" and "It'll trickle down this time, we promise!". It hasn't worked, it isn't working, and it won't work. Is Kamala perfect? No. Will she deliver on half of her campaign promises? Doubtful, depends on the down ballot results mostly. Is she a breath of fresh air to anyone begging for a choice to vote for someone else? Abso-fucking-lutely. Somehow, Nikki Haley likely had it right when said "The first party to retire their 80-year old candidate will win this election." Even if she only delivers on 25% of her promises, that would be a substantial step forward, compared to the regression we'd see under Trump.
I didn't expect this post to be this long. In a way, it was sort of cathartic to write out the generalized frustrations of the last several years. But oddly... that desire to write this out is because I'm finally, FINALLY optimistic about our future in a real way. In a way where there might be a chance that I won't have to worry about my son in school doing active shooter drills, where we might not benefit from Universal Child Care, but future generations will, because they should. Where if someone changes jobs they aren't risking financial ruin before their next set of benefits kicks in, because again, be honest... no one pays the ridiculous COBRA premiums unless they are already in a situation where it's needed.
Stop trying to fix the old ladder. Just build a fucking new one.