Democrats look to seize the high ground on freedom and patriotism

The national presidential race has undergone a sudden and striking overhaul in recent weeks. President Joe Biden’s decision to turn the reins of the Democratic Party over to Vice President Kamala Harris has sparked a remarkable resurgence of energy and enthusiasm amongst voters who generally support the policies of the past four years but felt strongly that it was time for Biden to exit the stage.

Last week’s rousing Democratic National Convention in Chicago seemed to put an exclamation point on this dramatic shift. Rarely has the Democratic Party – a frequently raucous and unwieldy “big tent” long known for its diversity and disorganization – emerged from a convention so enthused, unified, and motivated.

Much of this abrupt transformation, of course, is about people and personalities. While the admiration and appreciation that Democrats feel toward Biden is real and obvious, the anxiety that many felt at the prospect of a fall campaign in which his advanced age would alienate millions of voters was equally apparent. And the fact that Harris has seemed to rise to the occasion and present an image of striking confidence and authority so rapidly has helped turn the relief at Biden’s departure into a kind a of celebratory joy.

But another important factor in the newfound Democratic unity and enthusiasm that extends beyond the handoff (and that could play an important role in the 10 weeks that remain between now and Election Day) involves two matters of substance.

The issues are freedom and patriotism.

For many years, the American political right has done a skillful job of seizing these issues and making them their own. Much of this success was about labeling – see, for example, the ultra-conservative and misnamed House of Representatives “Freedom Caucus” – but some of it was real and substantive.

It’s no secret, for example, that progressives, for a variety of historical and ideological reasons, have long felt less comfortable with overt displays of flag-waving nationalism. Meanwhile, when one of the chief substantive policy divides between the modern left and right revolved around taxes and business regulation, it was easy for champions of laissez faire economics to claim the “freedom” moniker as their own.

But in recent years, as the GOP was transformed from the party of Reagan and the Bushes into the party Trump, an obvious and important shift has taken place.

Consider the following domestic policy issues on which 21^st Century progressives now argue persuasively that they are the champions of freedom:

• Healthcare – where the Affordable Care Act and Biden-era reforms have liberated millions from the life-threatening trap of corporate power that rendered them uninsured or uninsurable, and unable to afford the cost of basic medications
• Reproductive rights, sexuality and gender – where the demise of Roe v. Wade has removed a fundamental human right to bodily autonomy for the first time in U.S. history and a Democratic vice presidential can make “mind your own damn business” a featured applause line in all of his speeches
• Climate change and the environment – where millions view the freedom that comes with inhabiting a sustainable planet as vastly more important than the license to pollute or develop fragile lands
• Gun violence – where the freedom to be safe and without fear in public places is now widely understood to outweigh Second Amendment absolutism
• Democracy – where a growing majority demands the right to vote without burdensome roadblocks in districts that aren’t rigged to favor one party of the other

A similar pattern is now evident in the foreign policy realm – especially when and where it comes to combating Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian dictators. There’s no doubt that things like unfettered military spending and frequent global saber rattling still leave many progressives uneasy. The legacies of the nation’s costly and often disastrous adventures in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq still loom large.

But Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine and the actions of so many Putin-wannabes around the world have changed things for millions of Americans. They see these developments as a threat to freedom and democracy everywhere and are aghast at the idea that their nation could actually end up embracing and partnering with such thugs as soon as next January.

And so it was, as Susan J. Demas of the Michigan Advance noted in a recent column, that Democrats in Chicago last week “embraced a muscular, liberal patriotism, from breaking into spontaneous ‘U-S-A!’ chants to filling the hall with a sea of American flags during key speeches.”

Speeches like the one in which their presidential nominee said to loud applause: “As commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world,” and “As president, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand — and where the United States of America belongs.”

It will be fascinating over the next 70 days to see whether this evolution in the Democratic message proves fruitful, and if it does, the kind of change to which it leads in both major parties in the months and years that follow.