Opinion: Election will be choice between fear and hope

Fear and hope, the stuff campaigns are made of.

As unique as this year’s presidential campaign is, there’s nothing new about the candidates’ efforts to tap into these two visceral emotions. Each side is trying to scare the hell out of voters by demonizing their opponent and promising to lead us into a better future. 

And like all other campaigns before this one, the hyperbole runs thick, but I don’t want to create a false equivalency here. Donald Trump is the fearmonger in this race, while Kamala Harris is bringing hope back to life in a race that previously looked depressingly hopeless, at least for the Democrats.

To hear Trump tell it, Harris is so far left she’s a communist. In case you’re too young to remember, that used to be the biggest bogeyman out there — to be a communist meant you were un-American, even anti-American. Back in the days of the Cold War, communism was our enemy, and the fear it would take hold in the United States was palpable.

Now, it’s just silly. 

Harris, on the other hand, seems to recognize voters’ innate desire for something to believe in. Old Joe Biden had lost his mojo for a hopeful future, but the Harris-Walz ticket has brought their Democratic Party back to life.

Suddenly, their party seems younger. As a woman during a time in which women’s rights are under attack, she offers a hope that it’s only a temporary setback. And as a mixed-race person, she looks more like America’s future than some rich old white man who feels entitled to do as he pleases.

Remember a few weeks ago, when New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham muttered something about this state moving closer to Trump than Biden? The Trump campaign was so cocky at that time they declared New Mexico in play. Flipping this true-blue state was a terrifying prospect for the controlling Dems, but now that Old Joe is out of the way and young Kamala has replaced him at the top of the ticket, nobody’s worried. Even New Mexico Republicans are quietly resigned to a Harris win in this state.

In fact, going into last week’s Democratic National Convention, polls are showing Harris-Walz surging ahead. Suddenly, a lot more states are in play for the Dems. Seems that hope has trumped fear as the primary motivator in this election.

Of course, it’s way too early to declare a win for Harris. Trump may still latch on to something that gives him traction, such as his ongoing fear-based stand on border security or his misinformation campaign about inflation and the economy. Or, maybe there will be a scandal that usurps the Harris-Walz campaign — though that’s hard to see a scandal worse than any of the ones around Trump, a convicted felon and proven cheater if there ever was one.

Fear and hope, the stuff that campaigns are made of: It’s especially true this time around. And while there’s plenty to fear, there’s also a good reason for hope. 

We’ll soon see which one carries the most weight.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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