Just a dozen days ago, The New York Times ran a thoughtful, hard-hitting, unbiased, 100% even-handed article on Kamala Harris: ‘Joy’ Is Working for Harris, but Can It Close the Deal? (That was a follow-up to its previous hard-hitting piece: Harris Used to Worry About Laughing. Now Joy Is Fueling Her Campaign.)
A few days earlier, another site exclaimed: Kamala Harris is showing that joy can be a strategy. And just a little bit prior to that, New York Magazine declared the dawning of a new, exciting age in American politics: Kamala Harris and the New Politics of Joy!
Happy-happy, joy-joy!
Of course, a dozen days is a lifetime in politics. A lot can change.
Over the past week or so, the Harris-Walz headlines have been noticeably sapped of their unbridled joy. The Associated Press just wrote: Harris campaign features less talk of joy and more head-on digs at Trump as Election Day nears. Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle — her hometown paper — wrote: Kamala Harris has gone from a joyful warrior to a somber one.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is clowning around in a McDonald’s drive-thru, having an absolute blast.
Hey! Where did all of Kamala’s joy go?
The McDonald’s brand is synonymous with happiness. With all due respect to that orange-beige goop it slathers on those Big Macs, the REAL “secret sauce” is how they’ve built their brand.
Think about the slogans: “You deserve a break today!” “The good time, great taste of McDonald’s!” “McDonald’s and you.” “We love to see you smile!” And, of course, “Ba da ba ba ba: I’m lovin’ it!”
It’s all about familial joy.
Side note: The “real-life” Ronald McDonald lives in Tampa Bay. He’s the nephew of Richard and Maurice McDonald, the two brothers who invented the McDonald’s restaurant. (Years ago, Ronald and I partnered together on a book project that didn’t go anywhere.) Anyway, Ronald worked closely with Richard and Maurice to launch the McDonald’s franchise and told me how they’d map the traffic patterns for new restaurants on their tennis courts.
After Ray Kroc took over, Ronald partnered with Dave Thomas to develop Wendy’s franchises in the southeast. Fascinating guy. He also claims that the true story of how McDonald’s fell into the hands of Kroc is unknown to the public and not all is as it seems: There was Kroc, organized crime, supply lines disrupted, violence, and lots of ugly moving parts. One day, I really, REALLY hope he gives me permission to tell his story.
Right now, Donald Trump is the beneficiary of ALL the generational goodwill that McDonald’s has accumulated over the years. (Donald and McDonald rhythmically flow together, don’t they?) Even if you were a left-leaning moderate and anti-MAGA, you probably couldn’t help but smile when you saw Donald Trump salting the French fries. It was funny.
Politics is tough work. Your emotions get frazzled; you say stupid things. I think it was Morton Blackwell who first coined this phrase, but alas, I can’t find it online to confirm authorship. But I think it’s accurate: “The moment a candidate runs for office, their IQ drops 30 points.” (And let’s be honest, most candidates don’t have too many IQ points to spare.)
When we’re under pressure, our decision-making process deteriorates.
If you’re a high-level Harris-Walz campaign worker today, you’re drinking info from a firehose. It’s just too much to absorb, which tends to exasperate a sense of confusion, frustration, and paranoia.
But when you’re losing, you usually know it. And losing is no fun at all.
In the closing days of the 2024 election, Donald Trump is hamming it up over hamburgers, having the time of his life. (And I’m 99% sure he stole some of those French fries.) This isn’t “Dark Trump” at all. Even in previous campaigns, he’s never been this optimistic — or this Reaganesque.
Meanwhile, Kamala’s staffers are emailing each other the latest polls. We might disagree with them politically, but not all of them are stupid people: They can read the writing on the wall.
It’s not going well. In fact, it’s going very badly.
And there’s no joy in losing.
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