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It’s been some time since “hope” and “politics” sat comfortably in the same sentence. Eventually, historians and commentators will look back on our present age and conclude it was one of politics’ darkest hours.
Modern politics has landed in the uncomfortable position of requiring hope to function. Yet it can’t inspire it. It leaves citizens with a political order that can’t deliver on its promises and functions openly on slander. We won’t accept either failing. Nevertheless, with voters becoming more agitated, the tendency emerges to elect an authoritarian leader, usually a man, who vows to use power to fix our problems. From India to Indiana, Moscow to Munich, we witness strident politics choosing the path of the extreme to capture power.
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None of this is new to us, and we worry about it. Countless polls reveal voters see no way out – the future is foreboding, and the opportunity for real change is minimal.
Then, in a way no one expected, the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket in America has turned those tables in an instant, going from the theatre of the absurd to the theme of the aspirational. It’s like the fog lifted. People, regardless of political persuasion, can’t stop talking about it, and an audible sigh of relief is everywhere.
As tempting as it is to focus on leaders in unpredictable moments like these, the story is really about us and our ability to dream even in the darkness. It’s about a people’s desire to harbour deep feelings of goodness and possibility, even when politics itself seems to kill off such tendencies. Just as our collective skepticism had to be taken seriously, so must this new wave of hope be taken into account.
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It’s rare to see politics infuse true hope, but we are living in such a moment. There will always be skeptics. Remember in 2010, when vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin asked: “How’s that hopey, changey stuff working out for ya?” She was trying to tap the widespread skepticism of her time, but failed. Why? Because of Barack Obama? In part, surely. But it was more about an American population tired of war in Afghanistan and Iraq and of an authoritarian imperialism that diminished their view of their country. The people were ready for a “Yes We Can” revolution, but needed someone to light the fuse. Obama became that person.
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We live in something of a similar time. Kamala Harris is a breath of fresh air, not just because she’s a Democrat or a Black woman. She is an instrument, unlocking a spirit of hope in an America sliding into despondency. It’s a lesson for us, that we should never hope against hope. It lies closer to the surface than we realize.
This form of yearning has two key, unexpected characteristics. First, it is “political” hope, not social or cultural. It is something that frequently emerges in a time when politics doesn’t seem to be the answer to anything. That’s why it’s so surprising.
Second, in such an individualistic age, this kind of political hope becomes about a collective people. In an instant, it spreads its inspiration across boundaries, divisions, and persuasions. It is transformative in ways no one anticipates, and it succeeds in drawing people together, not forcing them apart.
This is not a partisan column, but a recognition of those rare seasons in political life when the impossible suddenly seems possible. Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Brian Mulroney, Jack Layton, and, yes, Justin Trudeau – all rode a wave of change into something different because voters were ready for meaning again. We are learning there is a ceiling to all this hate and that possible change is in the crowds seeking something better.
Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, captured the heart of what’s happening: “We must try again to be alive to what the people of our country really long for in our national life: forgiveness and grace, maturity and wisdom. . . . Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls.”
May we live in such an interesting time.
Glen Pearson is co-director of the London Food Bank and a former Liberal MP for London North Centre. glen@glenpearson.ca
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