The ‘vibe’ is hollow, and it wouldn’t take much to expose it as such if the Republican nominee would stop stewing in his own indignation.
Like its overused predecessors “gravitas,” “maverick,” and “gaslighting,” it’s past time to retire “vibes” from the political lexicon. The word now serves as shorthand to convey a variety of concepts, the proliferation of which has diluted the word’s meaning to the point of being useless as a tool of communication. Today, it signals more the insider status of its user, who hopes to relate his own credentialed cynicism as much as his insight. Insofar as the word represents a stand-in for sentimentality, romanticism, or even schmaltz, the English language is at no loss to describe the display Democrats have now put on for the past three weeks.
What we’re witnessing is bathos on a level that rivals precedent. The Democratic Party’s presidential campaign — once a drawn and somber affair preoccupied with the existential threat Donald Trump posed to the republic itself — has been transformed into a giddy pageant organized around the gratification that is to be found in happiness.
In lieu of a governing agenda, the Harris-Walz ticket retails “joy” to a Democratic audience that has not experienced jubilation for the better part of three years. The political press is part of that audience, and they’re lapping it up.
The “Democrats’ joy is unconfined,” the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino recounted. That is apparent in the fact that the Democratic Party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees keep telling us how joyful they are. “Thank you for bringing back the joy,” said Tim Walz of his running mate. His delight is apparent in his demeanor as well, based on Gambino’s analysis of the Minnesota governor’s body language: “He waved. He bowed. He pointed to the crowd, and back to Harris. He grinned and laughed and bowed again,” she observed. Could someone who gesticulates with abandon and bends so fluidly at the waist really be faking it?
An Associated Press analysis notes that by reading the subtext aloud — the campaign is “branding the Democratic ticket ‘joyful warriors,’” for those of you who might not pick up on the overtones — Harris and Walz’s comportment contrasts with the Trump campaign’s “predictions of doom.”
“Walz had the politician’s gift of making everyone he encountered feel special,” a USA Today profile of the governor read. “Walz isn’t the first soldier of good vibes for a VP ticket,” it continued, but his “grounded character and amiability” set him apart from many in his party. That is, save for the top of the ticket, who is felicity personified. The Harris campaign has cultivated a “party atmosphere,” NPR reported. The vice president’s aides can be seen dancing and soaking in the adoration of their candidate’s crowds as the Democratic ticket “barnstormed joyfully” across the country.
The campaign has engineered what Time magazine’s Charlotte Alter called “the swiftest vibe shift in modern political history.” It’s not hard to see the play here. “Vibes matter,” Salon declared amid its artless reading of the stage directions aloud. “Trump can hardly restrain his jealousy over the Harris campaign’s joy.” What kind of heartless gargoyle would dare strike a posture at odds with joy? Dare to harsh the Democrats’ mellow by observing the degree to which the Harris/Walz campaign has festooned itself with fripperies, and you’ll be castigated as the dismal scold you are. Who needs to know what the potential next president of the United States wants to do with the power she seeks? Just pour yourself another Franzia and enjoy the effervescence while it lasts.
This is all hollow, and it wouldn’t take much probing to expose it as such. The problem for the Trump campaign, as I noted on Friday, is that its effort to market itself as sober and serious can be tarred as joyless because the GOP’s presidential nominee is genuinely irritated, and it shows.
As the New York Times reported, citing sources who attended a closed-door fundraiser in the Hamptons in early August, Trump “described himself as ‘angry’” over the conditions to which Democrats consigned him. “Indeed, Mr. Trump has often been in a foul mood the past few weeks,” the dispatch read. “His quickness to anger has left him susceptible to manipulation, even among close allies.” As evidence, the Times cites the Trump campaign’s attacks on erstwhile Republican allies — from the late Sheldon Adelson’s wife to Georgia governor Brian Kemp. Trump “is struggling to get past his anger,” one “top Republican” told Axios over the weekend.
Well, he’ll have to. And soon. “Happy warrior” is an unspoken affect, not a billboard. The Trump campaign had it when the former president was riding high in the polls, and they lost it when the Democratic base recovered its enthusiasm for this election. Trump wears his emotions on his sleeve. His voters can sense the trajectory of the presidential race in the candidate’s mood. But thoughtful earnestness is not incompatible with cheerfulness.
“Vibes” is a catch-all stand-in for nebulous ephemera. The Trump campaign’s job is to challenge the Harris camp on specifics without being indignant about it. That is an achievable objective, but the Republican nominee will have to stop stewing over what the universe has done to him first.