“Coco, I want to learn to call you by your real name. Help me pronounce it right!”, said my CNN colleague on the final day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. I immediately noticed the sensitivity to my ethnicity when my co-workers took extra care to pronounce my name, even after I had blithely asked them to address me by my family moniker ‘Coco’ for convenience. I went from being called “Coco” by anchor Anderson Cooper on the first day to “Tanvi” by everyone on the final day. After all, a Black, Indian woman was now the leading contender for the next President of the United States of America.
As a 20-year-old who was born in America, grew up in India, studying in the UK and interning with CNN, I cherished the poignance of my identity as I heard Kamala Harris’ nieces teach the world to pronounce their aunt’s name. This was how I experienced first-hand the transformation in American society, driven by Harris’ confirmation. The DNC marked a historic entry-point in American politics and society, and I had the privilege of experiencing the theatrics of the convention at Chicago’s United Centre in all its frenzied grandiosity.
This November, I will be a first-time voter in America. As a female Gen-Z voter, what struck me instantly was how Kamala explicitly avoided acknowledging the history she could be making as the first female president of the world’s oldest democracy. The move seemed intentional, after Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss. Kamala didn’t use her female identity as a crutch for votes, instead she appealed to the identity she has built for herself as a prosecutor and a public servant. I watched former President Bill Clinton up close, telling us in his characteristic folksy style that Kamala intends to win this election riding on the back of her personal merits and charisma. As flawed as he was as a political leader, I thought it was a riveting endorsement.
But, Harris didn’t shy away from her racial identity entirely. She beseeched us to “consider”. To consider the explicit intents of Donald Trump broaching the coveted American Dream. There is a key distinction she wants the American people to realise with their presidential candidates, Prosecutor vs Felon. A hardworking public servant vs a self-serving billionaire. And she summed it up saying “he is out of his mind”, a phrase aimed more at my generation than the intellectual elders at the event. I have always valued the importance of voting, but the magnitude of this election still hit me like a truck at the convention. The go-go-go environment of working at the DNC seamlessly coincided with the urgency with which we were being told to vote.
Vice President nominee Tim Walz called Harris the president of “Joy”. Walz’s rousing pep-talk as a “normal” American high school teacher was extremely popular at the convention. I was immediately drawn to his relatability. The VP nominee is a clear indication of what Americans want. Not some “whiny billionaire riding down his golden escalator” as President Barack Obama put it, but a return to good old-fashioned American values. Elitism is out. Excessive wealth taints, rather than trumps (pun fully intended). It’s why the convention echoed with “Amens’ and “Preach” as Kamala Harris revered her mother’s humble beginnings. It’s why Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, was bombarded with cheers when talking about working at McDonalds. And it’s why thousands of people around me were entranced in deafening silence as Michelle Obama spoke on the importance of family and solidarity on Day 2 of the convention. Meritocracy is the forgotten backbone of America that is making a comeback, despite my personal qualms with that idea.
The United Center was brimming with palpable energy. CNN anchor Van Jones described it to me as one of the most emotionally and politically charged democratic conventions out of the four he has witnessed. The surge in joy and excitement reminiscent of Obama’s 2008 campaign, devoid of the fear of choosing America’s first Black president.
The irony is not lost on me. Four days of televised theatrics, the entire stadium echoing with chants of “Yes SHE can”. Some of the most powerful people in the world idolising Harris to the nation. Even the humblest of public servants would fall prey to such a high decibel, boisterous ego boost. But even I, someone admittedly apathetic to American politics (largely fueled by cynicism) was moved to tears.
Undeniably, there has been a huge surge in the momentum of the democratic campaign for this presidency. Whether it was influencers proudly wearing ‘Kamala IS brat’ badges or the fervor with which Gen-Z hero Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson, urged young Americans to vote. For the first time, I felt significant in this historic reshaping of American politics. Hillary Clinton was right, we are all needed to “break the glass ceiling”. Euphoric as the mood was, there was also cognisance among most present there that there was more work to be done, as ‘Coach’ Walz emphasized with the classic “We can sleep when we’re dead” line.
Glitz and glamour aside, a few simple conversations will stay with me. “My son celebrated New Year’s because it’s an election year. He hasn’t turned off the TV since the convention started,” said an officer in the CNN security detail. We laughed at the text chains between her and her 11-year-old son who educated her on all the big names she was escorting to the main stage, dreaming to be one of them some day. A college professor of psychology in Chicago told me she had never been more excited to vote. A heated conversation on gun control with a colleague ended in us realizing we had the same fundamental beliefs, but different visions on how to actualise it. The DNC had seemingly reaffirmed core American values of freedom and individualism, regardless of race, identity or politics. And a Democratic party can help uphold those characteristic American values too.
Despite being a half Tamil American woman deeply interested in public service, my vote for Kamala Harris is not driven by identity commonality. I am not voting for her because of sparkly, albeit meaningless, buzzwords such as the “opportunity economy”. Harris, despite the formidable efforts of the DNC, is not my idol. However, she gets my vote because, in a twist of fate, she has become the most radical symbol of change I have witnessed in American politics. A week of jargon and speeches does not quite encapsulate what her slogan sums up to me.
“America, we are not going back.”
The writer attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as part of CNN
