I’ve been thinking about the deeper meaning of the effort to bring in so many voices at the Democratic National Convention. In this tight election, it is clear on the surface that #Harris is simply trying g to turn out as many voters for her as possible - disillusioned Republicans, Americans of all races, men and women, police and military members, younger folks. But I think something more ambitious is being attempted. 1/

I think that Harris is looking beyond the election itself and realizing that if she wins, her administration will be the first step in rebuilding the American ideal. She wants, I believe to restore our politics to one where we have normal political disagreements. These can be fierce but they are not about the primacy of popular sovereignty and democracy; rule of law and rejection of dictatorship. 2/

We have been enduring a national political trauma, a mostly cold civil war. We are going to need a decades-long reconstruction of our secular, pluralistic, constitutional democracy. This is an effort that will have to take place at the local and the state levels as well as the federal one. Harris gets this, it appears. Her Dem Convention featured mayors, state executive and legislative officers, and members of the federal government. 3/

More profoundly even, is that Harris seems to be running as the embodiment of a reconstructed political normalcy. This is why she can coherently appeal to firm progressives, to self-labeled Republicans, and to independents. It is also, frankly, why her campaign is going to incur unprecedented expenses. She is not only trying to win the presidency, she is trying to lay the cornerstone of a restoration of the American project. 4/

Harris is running so that we can fight over policies and programs, but can agree that America aspires to have a government by the people and for the people, where the law binds everybody including the most powerful and prominent, where the vote is accessible to all, and we use voting —not a rogue Supreme Court or an autocratic executive —to decide the course of our polity. 5/

In sum, Harris is running to refound our country, to rededicate the American union to its most distinctive ideals. That is both a necessary and a daunting project. It is going to take every conversation, every postcard, every phone call, every plan to vote, every actually cast ballot - and yes, every dollar we can muster. 6/

@heidilifeldman
For Harris to do that, it's going to require a Democrat-majority House and Senate, and that means donating to those races, and if you can, phone-banking and canvassing.
The link below is for excellent strategic donating recommendations from activist Jessica Craven
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13pvzT4gB7FK7n0O_3p6_ymrBaSIlpB3YbkuZCjNXGKw/edit