Democrats ‘not been this joyous, happy, confident, united’ in years, says strategist

We’re joined by Simon Rosenberg, a party strategist who founded the New Democrat Network.

Matt Frei: Simon, great to have you here. I’m sorry, they’ve stopped the music for you. I tried to get them to carry on.

Simon Rosenberg: This is going to be a joyous convention. I think we just saw that in action.

Matt Frei: And we’re going to have Hillary Clinton here tonight, and AOC. They represent different wings of the party. How united is this party?

Simon Rosenberg: It’s very united. I’ve been doing this a long time, decades, and I don’t think the party has been this joyous, happy, confident, united in any of the years since…

Matt Frei: What have you been having for breakfast? Do you believe any of that? You’re taking the Kool-Aid here.

Simon Rosenberg: I’ve had a lot of coffee today. But it’s true, actually, I think in all the serendipity of everything that’s happened over the last six weeks, we’ve come together here for this convention, leading in the polls, raising tons of money with a terrific ticket. And people are really excited, honestly.

Matt Frei: But literally about 24 hours before Biden stepped aside, people were telling me, Democrats – your friends – were telling me, Kamala Harris, ‘I’m not so sure’. We might lose the election. How did she go from being zero to hero in 48 hours?

Simon Rosenberg: Listen, this has been a miraculous period in our political history. And her performance – she seized the moment. This happens with politicians and elected leaders, that history gives them a chance to rise, and she has risen. She has seized this moment. She’s in command of this race. She’s performing at an unbelievably high level, and the country is really responding to her. I mean, that’s the other thing. You’ve seen the crowds, you’ve seen the energy, you’ve seen the passion.

Matt Frei: Is that about the triumph of low expectations?

Simon Rosenberg: I think it’s a couple of things. I think one is that the country is ready to move beyond MAGA and Trump. There’s this desperation to get to a better politics.

Matt Frei: It’s still 50-50 in the polls though, isn’t it?

Simon Rosenberg: I would say we’re up a few points. I would much rather be us than them, as we head into the homestretch here, but I think there is this weariness. Remember, MAGA performed poorly in 2018 and 2020 and 2022, and I think that the country, there’s an anti MAGA majority in America that is ready to move on to a better politics, and wants to bring people back together and not push them apart, and wants a strong economy and a better future. I think the vice president has really tapped into that.

I think it is like lightning in a bottle and it’s right now, it’s powerful, it’s far more powerful. I think the best column I’ve read in the last few days was that Trump now has to accept that he’s not driving American politics like he’s been doing for nine years. There’s a new kid in town.

Matt Frei: Right. He’s floundering. Even his own people are saying that. Nikki Haley said it the other day quite brutally, even though she kissed his ring at the convention. But when he gets his message back on track and he attacks the administration for their record on the economy, on immigration, on crime, these things hit home with Americans – don’t they?

Simon Rosenberg: They can but I think Trump is in real trouble. I think he had.. we are strong, he is flailing – to your point. I think he’s barely campaigning. He’s disappeared for a few weeks. I don’t think he’s connecting with the American people. His performances on the stump are wild, and I think they’re struggling to figure out how to run against her, and they don’t have a lot of time to figure it out.

Matt Frei: But people are still on holiday. The beaches in Chicago are full. People are eating too many hot dogs. When they get back to work after Labor Day, kids are back at school, that’s when they pay attention.

Simon Rosenberg: Yeah, we’ll see. I feel again, I would much rather be us than them. I think we’ve got candidates who represent the future, a better future for the country. I think the country doesn’t want to go back to Donald Trump. And I think in many ways this election is operating at a very simple level.

Matt Frei: What about the debates? She hasn’t had a debate with him yet. She’s not really been tested in interviews either, right?

Simon Rosenberg: Listen, she’s obviously a very capable and smart communicator and public official.

Matt Frei: She’s been doing some terrible interviews in the past.

Simon Rosenberg: But she’s been doing this a long time. And I think Democrats welcome the debate. Also, given Trump’s historically terrible performance, both at the debate and on the stump, he just wanders off into this ‘sharks and magnets’ and all these things that he talks about. He’s been unable to restrain himself in his public appearances. It’s far more likely that he has a bad night than the vice president.

Matt Frei: Just very briefly and finally, if she wins but he doesn’t accept the results, how much trouble is this country in?

Simon Rosenberg: Well, I think we have to win the election by as much as we possibly can, so that that doesn’t become an issue.