The politics of 'oy' vs 'joy' - opinion

Down at his Mar-a-Lago fortress, Donald Trump’s reaction was understandably different, but excessive even for him. He let forth a fecal flow of invective that keeps growing, and aides report he’s still searching for the right nicknames.

The disgraced former president left little doubt about which candidate really dislikes Jews when he quickly reverted to one of his familiar antisemitic tropes. He charged that Kamala Harris’s decision to pick Walz over Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, is more evidence that she is “totally against the Jewish people.” In a radio interview, Trump also seemed to agree with the host that Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, is “a crappy Jew.”

Republican pundit Bill Kristol called the Democratic ticket “happy warriors” who are “distinctly hopeful and future-oriented.” That and Harris’s easy laugh drive Trump nuts (granted, not a far drive). 

“Tim Walz will unleash hell on Earth,” he predicted. He has called Harris “nasty,” “bitch,” “Laffin’ Kamala,” “crooked,” “crazy,” “fake,” “Crazy Kamabla,” “low IQ,” “worst in history,” various intentional mispronunciations of her name, and more. But the most ironic of all is “very disrespectful.” How odd coming from a hyper-thin-skinned man who says that about everyone who criticizes him.

Democrats are no match for Trump’s creativity in name-calling and insults. Walz, however, did come up with one word for the Republican ticket that has been picked up because it fits: “Weird.” 

Actually, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank said the first to hang that label on Trump was former president George W. Bush, which helps explain why the GOP’s only living former president wasn’t invited to speak at the party’s convention. Instead, delegates heard the inspiring words of Hulk Hogan, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and fresh-out-of-jail Peter Navarro.

“These are weird people on the other side. They want to take books away. They want to be in your exam room,” Walz said.

What makes them weird? Crazy, irrational outbursts, election denialism against all evidence, obsessive book banning, abortion bans, anti-trans crusades, religious extremism, white supremacists, Jewish space lasers, racism, and more. 

Trump is understandably confused. He planned to run against an 82-year-old, increasingly feeble Joe Biden but now faces an opponent 20 years younger and is shocked to find – and be constantly reminded – that he is now the oldest person ever to run for president. 

It’s about kvetch and kvell. On the one side is a joyful team that is racially and gender diverse while the other is two angry, rich white guys whose idea of diversity is the nearly 40-year age gap between them. 

Different temperaments

REPORTERS COVERING both campaigns seem to agree that Harris and Walz are having more fun than their opponents. Trump, who puts a premium on size, is annoyed that Harris’s crowds match his, although the moods clearly differ. Trump’s followers reflect his anger and rage, giving their loudest cheers to his harshest attacks. Harris tosses red meat to her audiences as well but with her trademark joy and easy laugh. 

The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty writes: “Those huge Harris-Walz crowds sure do have an Obama 2008 feel.”

Politico notes Harris’s crowd sizes and growing poll numbers, suggesting voters find her “a broadly appealing, competent, and energetic candidate who can harness the nation’s lingering distaste for Trump.” The New York Times reports that favorability ratings show she is seen as “more intelligent and more temperamentally fit to govern” than Trump, however she still lags on key issues like the economy and immigration.

It’s “fear and retribution” vs “hope and inspiration.” Each claims the future of democracy is at stake, though Trump is apocalyptic. “We could end up in World War III and a depression,” he warns. Under Harris and Walz “America will spiral into a socialist, open border, crime-ridden hellhole.” “We are a nation in decline. We are a failing nation.” 

Harris offers a bright vision of America. Joy has become a theme of her campaign, and her easy laugh a trademark. It may come naturally, but she is not unaware it is a useful contrast to the opposing team. Republicans, said Walz, are trying to “steal the joy from this country.” Saying it with humor and a smile smooths the rough edges on their attacks on Trump and makes them easier for audiences to swallow. 

Republican pollster Frank Luntz said if he had one piece of advice for the Trump campaign it would be “Don’t be mean.” Given his track record, that may be the unlikeliest strategy for the blustering ex-president and current felon.

BOTH CANDIDATES’ approaches strike responsive chords among their faithful, and the differences go beyond style; it remains to be seen how the middle responds.

Traditionally, a vice-presidential candidate’s job is to be the attacker and do no harm. It’s early and both are still trying to find their groove, although JD Vance seems to be stumbling more.

Vance scorns the Democrat’s upbeat approach. “This country is a disgrace,” he says. His attempt to match Trump in snarky attacks on Harris offended a massive block of voters. In a revived Fox News interview in 2021, he called Harris one of those “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives… so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” Harris has two step-children in her marriage to Emhoff.

Trump’s MAGA cult is ardently anti-government, anti-immigration, white, anti-vax, anti-LGBTQ, anti-tax, and pro-gun. It wants to dismantle a fancifully described “deep state” and give religion a greater role in schools. And, of course, it wants the government to stop regulating business and stay out of people’s lives, except the bedroom, where they are obsessed with controlling everyone’s sex lives and reproductive choices.

Democrats envision a quite different role for government. They want it to do more about the environment, education, health care, child nutrition, and workplace safety. They want to strengthen the social safety net, bolster civil rights and voting rights laws, and press for a compassionate immigration overhaul. Of course, they support the kind of common-sense gun safety measures that Republicans abhor. These are also the views held by a large majority of Jewish voters.

Polls are beginning to show that momentum is shifting toward Harris in some critical battleground states and she can expect a boost from next week’s Democratic convention in Chicago.

This will be another election that could change the course of history. The differences between the two sides are many and clear. One paints a dark, dystopian view of America where “revenge can be justified”; the other speaks of joy, “freedom,” and “a brighter future.” Personalities and character are also critically important.

In November, voters will be asked to decide between a vindictive and angry old man burdened with lifelong grievances on one side, and a happy warrior who will be the first woman president. Which one will voters most likely identify with?

The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director.