Editorials & Other Articles

Ironically, ending chaos is exactly what lures people into strongmen — autocrats who create chaos and whose goal is to end democracy, not heal it. About time we learned how to frame our democracy-healing goals in a way that gets that message across.

To that end, Harris should bear down hard on reclaiming the flag. That means casting herself as a mighty defender of the country’s national security, global preeminence, and the American way. The parts on foreign affairs in her DNC speech and the debate — including Trump’s subservience to Putin and her promise to preside over the world’s most lethal fighting force — weren’t just “foreign policy” statements. They were her hardest, highest-dominance flexes, and they appealed to a far broader audience than she can hope to reach by talking about her differences with Trump on economic policy. This is an area where Harris can most readily appeal to centrists and real conservatives and where Trump is most vulnerable with these voters. Harris has to bear in mind, every minute of the campaign, that Americans are hungry for a real leader and powerful protector who will end the chaos — not just a builder of roads and a deliverer of healthcare benefits.