The campaign to secure Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States is completely changing the face of the 2024 election cycle.
After spending months mired in hopelessness as the unthinkably incompetent Donald Trump faced off against the long in the tooth Joe Biden, the arrival of a candidate sporting both youth and distinct capability has immensely changed the race. Hope has returned to American voters, interest in the election cycle is reignited, and Donald Trump is shaking in his boots.
And it’s all thanks to a few supremely normal, relatively average, human beings. Sure, Harris is an impressive woman with a stellar resume backing her, but she’s also just a regular American. That’s underlined by her husband of a decade, Doug Emhoff, whose steadfast presence by her side is a major selling point for the democratic nominee.
Emhoff gives off exactly the energy this country’s been missing for the last eight years. He’s a sweet, cozy, familial guy with nothing but the best intentions, and that couldn’t be clearer when you hear his children cheer him on. Ahead of his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Dougie’s kids made an encouraging video rooting for their old man’s big moment, and it underlines how wholesome and compassionate the second gentleman — soon to be first — truly is.
Filmed by Emhoff’s oldest child, Cole, the video could be one of any American family. It zeroes in on Ella, Emhoff’s daughter, as she discusses the “empowering” nature of her dad, and gushes about seeing his “goofy face” plastered across television screens everywhere. It’s a humanizing moment, watching a couple of adult kids discuss the strangeness of watching their dad rise to such great heights.
“They’re my parents! They’re just Doug and Kamala,” Ella expresses, before a rogue Doug enters the scene and steals the show in a simple U.S.A. sweatshirt and a sleek Harris/Walz camo hat. His interactions with his children prove a simple, but utterly vital, difference between the Harris camp and that of Trump — they’re normal. His kids clearly love him — Ella is up and in his arms in moments — and their interactions would be at home at any kitchen table across the nation.
Ella’s touching discussion of her dad’s impending speech is only heightened by Emhoff’s own comments, as he expresses how important it is that he delivers for his wife. “I just want to make sure that it just… It reflects how we all feel about her, and what she’s doing for all of us,” Emhoff said, expressing how vital it is that Harris cinches a win in the election.
The video ends soon after, with the Emhoff kids’ expressions of love still echoing as a clear reminder to voters. We have a choice ahead of us, and, while it ultimately comes down to two people, those they surround themselves with are just as vital. It’s important to see how average but awesome Doug Emhoff is, how wholesome and utterly Midwestern Tim Walz is, how loved and loving these tokens of healthy masculinity really are.
Because in the end that’s what we’re voting for — an average, uplifting American future. Let’s leave the days of unprecedented times, of WWIII near-misses and insurrections, in the past, and welcome a new era of simple, sweet, normalcy.