Kamala Harris stands for a diverse, free, inclusive and equal America

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That encapsulation of racial progress embellished some details (Chief Justice John Roberts would likely swear Harris in) and left out some possibilities.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries could become the first African-American House speaker, and two African-American women could serve in the US Senate simultaneously, something that has never happened.

It is a vision of America that millions of voters have had on their minds for decades, working for—and against—its realization. This election is a referendum on that struggle, on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. And to their credit, Democrats are staking their future on those ideals and aspirations.

Two stark versions of America have been on vivid display. One, last Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where echoes of nativism rang out loud.

Crowds cheered for bottom-of-the-barrel bigotry, images of watermelon-loving African-Americans, rock-throwing Muslims and penny-pinching Jews.

Puerto Rico, home to American citizens, was trashed as garbage, and Mexican men were labelled wanton baby-makers. It was Trumpism distilled. It was shocking because while America had birthed many of these stereotypes, there has been an earnest, if imperfect, attempt to banish them. Not so in Trump’s version of America.

Two days later, another version of the US was displayed in Washington on the Ellipse with the White House as a backdrop. A crowd of 75,000 gathered to reclaim that ground from an anti-Democratic mob that laid siege to the Capitol.

Children of all ethnicities sat on their parents’ shoulders, waving American flags to see a woman who looked like them. They gathered there to hear Harris, the daughter of immigrants, call on Americans to remember the activist patriots—at Selma, Seneca Falls, Stonewall —who marched, protested and pushed to make this country great for everyone.

Her campaign is an extension of this struggle, a refutation of the other side’s distracting carnival of conspiracy theories, lies, sexism, racism and machismo.

“Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That is who he is," Harris said. “But, America, I am here tonight to say that is not who we are. That is not who we are! That is not who we are!" It was a declaration, hope, a shouted prayer that most Americans will choose to have an expansive vision of the nation.

[In its diversity focus], the Democratic Party is forcing the country to make good on its bedrock principles of equality and progress. It is an insistence on inclusion and representation that is not without risk.

In 1971, Patrick Buchanan famously wrote a memo entitled ‘Dividing the Democrats’ that advised using racial progress as a motivating factor for Caucasian voters.

“There is nothing that can so advance the President’s chances for re-election—not a trip to China, not a four-and-half-percent unemployment—as a realistic black Presidential campaign," Buchanan wrote.

Trump is so plainly running against social progress, and his rise and his current success should be rightly seen as a backlash to the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.

If Trump wins, many will point to the Harris campaign and argue that she focused too much on women, didn’t sound tough enough on immigration and crime, and wasn’t specific enough about her plans.

They will say she ignored men, particularly working-class men, and should have found time to sit with podcaster Joe Rogan. They will advise the Democratic Party to do some soul-searching, to move to the right, to frankly “not be so Black," so “woke" and so focused on social progress — some of that second-guessing is already underway. And they will be wrong.

Harris, who will spend election night at her alma mater, Howard University, represents the best of her party, the culmination of everything the party has strived, imperfectly at times, to be.

Her historic run has been triggering for millions of Americans nostalgic for the old order and the old ways. And her run has been energizing for millions of Americans who want fairness, equality and just plain decency.

This unwieldy, multiracial, multi-generational coalition of Americans persists in this vision of a better America despite the risks and evident backlash. This is good trouble and a necessary battle. Win or lose, the Democratic Party must not give up on this worthy fight. ©bloomberg

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