Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is on the left, and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is on the left. | Photo credit: AP
At the beginning of his first speech as vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz addressed US Vice President Kamala Harris and declared: “Thank you for bringing back the joy.” The next day, Mrs Harris went a step further and called the Democrats “joyful warriors”.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump opened a press conference a few days later by saying, “There are a lot of bad things ahead of us,” and predicted that the United States could fall into an economic crisis not seen since the dark days of 1929, or even another world war.
Democrats are emphasizing their more optimistic outlook, promoting the idea that voters can be inspired to support someone rather than simply vote against the other side. The Trump team argues that their candidate reflects the gloomy mood in the country, and rejects the notion that a growing contrast in tone and optimistic attitudes will decide the presidency.
Mr. Walz’s relentless positivity is expected to energize his supporters and maintain the momentum that Ms. Harris has built.
In his first week of campaigning, Mr. Walz traveled with Ms. Harris through swing states, making his point. “This idea of caring for our neighbor … and just feeling that people have to go through things, that’s what defines us,” he said. “It’s not about making fun. It’s not about calling names.”
President Joe Biden often ended his speeches by saying he had never been more optimistic, but his now-failed re-election campaign was based on branding Trump an existential threat to democracy.
Ms Harris’s campaign still relies on many of the same themes: She denounces Trump as a threat to democracy, warns that he will impose draconian restrictions on abortion and voting, and that he will follow Project 2025, a plan pushed by leading conservatives to restructure large parts of the federal government.
And although Mr Walz stressed that a smile was more effective than insults, he and Ms Harris continued to make their own denunciations.
But even before she named Mr. Walz as her running mate, Ms. Harris hinted that she could help make politics fun again.
Now she tells the crowd that she and her running mate “both believe in building people up, not tearing them down.”
Trump’s campaign advisers counter that the mood in the country is currently bad, with regard to the economy, the situation on the US-Mexico border and beyond. They see their candidate as a reflection of this reality rather than what they see as a temporary euphoria that is sparking the Democratic base after months of disappointment with their candidacy.
Trump has sought to capitalize on this danger by issuing a long list of warnings, some of them apocalyptic, during his campaign rallies. For example, he said that if he is not elected, “we will have no country left” and “the only thing standing between you and its extinction is me.”
Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has drawn a sharp contrast to Walz. Vance has been hailed by the right for aggressively campaigning for Trump.
“I think most people in our country can be lighthearted sometimes, they can enjoy things sometimes, and they can turn on the news and realize that what is going on in this country is a disgrace,” Mr. Vance said at a campaign rally in Michigan.
