We're hours out from the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where headliner Barack Obama is expected to rally his party to support the historic candidacy of Kamala Harris.
The former president, of course, is returning to his political hometown at a moment of rare hope among Democrats, the kind of joy that defined Obama's 2008 run. It all feels ripe for symbolism. And normally, I'm not particularly into that sort of thing. But while catching up on Joe Biden's speech this morning, I was taken aback by how sappy I suddenly felt. Was that a slight tear? What was happening to my face?
Perhaps that's one of the reasons I absolutely adored New York's guide to Obamacore today, which traces this strange sense of optimism in the air to the unabashed positivity—and in hindsight, painful naivety—of 2008 both in politics and the larger zeitgeist: the music, TV shows, girl boss feminism. It's such recent history that, though it bears some resemblance to this current moment, also feels so awkward to revisit. So kudos to New York for so expertly articulating the weirdness.
Now, it wasn't all bad—and I certainly don't mean to equate hope with naivety. (It is not!) But should Democrats successfully keep Donald Trump out of the White House this November, I hope that the party remembers just how cringe things got, too.
—Inae Oh
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