Hope is Mandatory
Kamala and the case for optimism.
This morning’s Star Tribune featured a letter from my 11th-grade English teacher. One line in particular hit hard: “Hope is mandatory.” Ms. Bell and I often did not see eye to eye when I was a student, but in this case, I agree with her wholeheartedly.
Look, I get the urge to opt for pessimism. We were all shocked when Trump won in 2016 — even Trump himself was surprised. But 2024 is not 2016, Kamala is not Hillary, and pessimism isn’t some kind of raincoat that protects you from an election-night deluge. It’s just a bad feeling that ruins all your days before election night.
George Harrison (yes, I’m forever Team George) was fond of reminding us to “be here now.” The election night result is in the future. In the now, there is hope. In the now, there are possibilities. And most importantly, in the now, there is work to do.
For weeks, I felt like I’d swallowed a live squirrel that was gnawing at me from the inside. Then, I discovered Vote Forward, an organization that helps volunteers write to voters in swing states to ask them to vote and boost turnout.
Over four days, I wrote 65 letters to voters in Georgia. I didn’t write to people in Pennsylvania or Michigan because those campaigns were nearly complete when I started. Two days later, they were complete. On the morning of the 27th, there were 58,000 voters in Georgia that still needed to be “adopted.” That number was down to 20,000 by Tuesday, the 29th.* I realized that there’s something you don’t see measured in traditional polls: the enthusiasm it takes to handwrite millions of letters and mail them to strangers in other states.
That same enthusiasm is showing up in phone banking and canvassing. (I canvassed in North Minneapolis this morning; talking to people I don’t know is way out of my comfort zone as an introvert, but when this is over, I want to know I did everything I could.)
In 2016, people didn’t think Trump would win. Now, they know he can and are working very hard to stop him. Others have said, “Do more and worry less.” They were right. The more I do, the less I worry. I’m anxiety-prone, and yet this election may turn out to be the thing that finally teaches me how pointless worry is. If there’s one thing that won’t get Kamala elected, it’s worry.
People who know me know I’m not exactly Little Miss Sunshine, so if I’m the one telling you to choose optimism, well, that’s saying something. There are many others on here who can help you reject pessimism:
, , and, just to name a (mighty) few.There’s a time for everything — I think that’s somewhere in the New Testament — and now is the time to put fear aside and do the work. It’s Sunday night. There are still phone banking and canvassing shifts available. There are still neighbors and friends to talk to. There are social media images available in the Reach app and plenty of time to post them. Most importantly, there’s still time to vote.
Let’s do this. Fatalism is optional. Hope is mandatory.
*These are not exact figures but rough estimates of what I can remember from watching the totals change.
"The more I do, the less I worry." Amen!
True words. Although the Bible allusion is Ecclistastes...OT. Made into a song by Pete Seeger and a hit by the Byrds. But Hope is the message.