How We Expand Our Power Right Now

4 ways we can build beyond the vote with Harris

We have the opportunity to do something pivotal with this election. Of course, voting away Donald Trump is impactful and game-changing in itself. But looking at this election after last Tuesday’s debate, I see an even bigger opportunity.

I see this election being important and engaging enough to shift how we collectively view our role as citizens and how we all participate in our democracy. If this were to happen, we would then have a very real opportunity to reshape our country. We could change the extent to which American people interface with those in power, altering our political systems in a way that would prevent any future autocrat from rising to power.

Let me tell you why I think this is a possibility at this chaotic yet crucial moment.

1. With what is on the line this election, there is a clear incentive for people to participate

Women’s right to choose, support for the middle class, health care, climate change, gun reform, and national security are all deeply personal issues that seem to be especially pressing at the moment. The Harris team is being loud about how these issues hit home. They speak clearly, not in the abstract but in impact-your-everyday-life terms.

We saw this in the debate when Harris looked straight into the camera over and over, speaking to the tv audience. “Understand this…,” the VP would say. She brought viewers right along with her reasoning that when you grasp what’s at stake, you can’t just sit back and do nothing.

Voters are being vocal too. They are meeting the moment by protesting the Supreme Court’s corruption, attacks on women’s rights, and congressional inaction to end gun violence. Organizations are stretching, reaching further out to garner support for causes that are striking a chord right now.

Together, these messages from the top down and bottom up are meeting to form a hungry-for-change surge of energy that is palpable.

2. Being a voter is popular, organic, and contagious

Harris and Walz are relatable, likable, and motivational. As they show up in every corner of the United States, they make voting exciting. They encourage everyone to research the issues. They make the case to the people that citizen participation matters, both in electing leaders and in building a better future right along with them. “Let's turn the page on this. Let's not go back. Let's chart a course for the future and not go backwards to the past,” Harris says.

Beyond that, they normalize compassionate action in the political sphere. So, it’s not enough to be kind to those around you, you have to also stand up and vote for them. It’s mainstream. It’s endorsed by everyone (including Taylor Swift!) and it goes to the addictive tune of Beyonce’s Freedom.

We may not be able to precisely measure it, but when we look at what’s happened in the last 8 years, it’s incredible to see how popular using your political power is becoming. I remember hearing an 8 year old say at the 2016 Women’s March “Yeah, this is my first protest.” I thought, No kidding! Me too!

Since then we’ve seen young leaders like Greta Thunberg, the Parkland shooting activists, and newcomer Knowa inspiring new generations of Americans to fight for justice. They protest, speaking truth to power like it’s nothing, like it’s expected. This is a trend no book ban and no stern talking-to can break, and with any luck, it will only grow as people see how the Harris/Walz team treasure their voices.

3. Leaders are asking for more than a vote

Time and again, as Harris, Walz, and their surrogates campaign for the election, they emphasize building the economy and building stability through their support of the middle class. In doing so, they are expressing faith in the American people. To them, our success as a country doesn’t come from manipulating the markets and waiting for trickle-down economics to buoy our entire social system. It comes from everyone doing their best and using their ingenuity to build communities.

They talk a lot about showing up, helping neighbors, empathizing with people who are struggling, and coming together in the face of that which would divide us. We are inundated with messaging from the Harris-Walz team talking about how they cannot be successful without us. Any chance they get, they tell young people, “we are counting on you,” “you are a leader,” and “we are all an important part of the team.”

In policy and in character, they are putting their faith and expectations in citizens to bolster a better future. With this call to action, the groups and identities formed around this election have good reason to stay active and continue their work beyond November 5th.

4. There are easy opportunities to jump on board

Both through the Harris-Walz campaign and through outsider-led initiatives, easy-to-join citizen groups abound. As people meet online and in person to campaign for causes and for candidates they build identities and create community ties. It’s welcoming, it’s fun, and it’s sustainable.

If Democrats invest in maintaining these groups, keeping them connected as citizen groups and giving them resources for community improvement, the results could be gigantic. Tapping into peoples’ desires and supporting their capacities to make a difference can redefine voting. We choose our future with our feet as much as we do with our tweets, and we care all year long, not just in the months leading up to an election.

The possibility for a fuller civic cup

Right now, I think more and more of us feel a pull to do something, to be a part of something that gets a result we can see. I think of that as a drive for community, and I envision it as a cup that can be filled with every civic action we take. Voting only fills it with a few drops, and we thirst for more. Our country does too.

My hope for this election is that we embrace the chance to become a more democratic nation. That we follow Harris’s fresh kind of leadership with a renewed belief in our power and responsibility to self-govern with care for others. One drop at a time. We volunteer at our pet shelter, show up at council meetings, go to parks and recreation events, and stand with teachers when they protest. We notice our neighbors and begin to see their lives more closely connected to ours.

As we do this, leaders meet us with more opportunities and more resources. Ever so slowly, our cups saturate and our communities blossom. Politicians notice, they have no choice but to respond. Little by little, we fill those civic cups, eventually right up to the brim, and we realize then that our country is showing up for its people right along with us.

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Cheers,

Dr. Stephanie Lovely