If we’re being honest, one of the biggest failures wasn’t just the campaign; it was the performance around it.
The tone-deaf celebrity endorsements. The paid-for enthusiasm. The “relatable” PR videos crafted in boardrooms by people who haven’t had a real conversation with an undecided voter in a decade.
We don’t need more famous faces telling us who to trust; that’s not influence, that’s marketing dressed as morality.
Let’s get to the bone marrow:
Kamala Harris didn’t lose because she lacked credentials or history.
She lost because the party machinery around her refused to evolve.
Because it ran the same script: hype, symbolism, edits, hashtags, external validation; instead of grappling with what people are actually afraid of, angry about, or tired of being fed.
And if you read what she’s been loud about in her new book, you can feel the subtext:
There’s a gap between the version of leadership the public is sold
and the version that’s actually allowed to exist behind closed doors.
People don’t want polished hope anymore.
They want someone who can speak without a teleprompter, without a sponsor, without a curated room of nodding heads.
They want the kind of leadership that doesn’t need to pay celebrities to manufacture momentum; because it already has it in the streets.
The lesson isn’t “campaign harder.”
It’s: stop treating citizens like consumers and democracy like a brand launch.
"Assignment-based" is an interesting and new concept for me. Moving hope away from yourself and over to a higher purpose is brilliant.
Supporting a network of hope is like that. If you're individual results don't pan out, you're still connected to a legacy of hope that will continue on after you're gone. I love that.
Not to derail. I really feel this idea deeply. I believe doom's overdone, so I share hope. I've sorta lost faith in politicians (on both sides tbh). I believe in ordinary people, doing extraordinary things - saving lives by advancing tech, medicine, energy, conservation, etc.
I just finished a 5-year project curating all the good news in the world (and Far Side cartoons). It's all the small miracles and breakthroughs that I believe will save us. I support some of the ideas in this piece, but it's more assignment-based. It's about supporting or becoming a part of something that's bigger than I'll ever be. Help me spread hope if this resonates :)
Great Read!
thank you for reading!
Very well written Maya. Couldn't agree more.
thank you Elo :)
If we’re being honest, one of the biggest failures wasn’t just the campaign; it was the performance around it.
The tone-deaf celebrity endorsements. The paid-for enthusiasm. The “relatable” PR videos crafted in boardrooms by people who haven’t had a real conversation with an undecided voter in a decade.
We don’t need more famous faces telling us who to trust; that’s not influence, that’s marketing dressed as morality.
Let’s get to the bone marrow:
Kamala Harris didn’t lose because she lacked credentials or history.
She lost because the party machinery around her refused to evolve.
Because it ran the same script: hype, symbolism, edits, hashtags, external validation; instead of grappling with what people are actually afraid of, angry about, or tired of being fed.
And if you read what she’s been loud about in her new book, you can feel the subtext:
There’s a gap between the version of leadership the public is sold
and the version that’s actually allowed to exist behind closed doors.
People don’t want polished hope anymore.
They want someone who can speak without a teleprompter, without a sponsor, without a curated room of nodding heads.
They want the kind of leadership that doesn’t need to pay celebrities to manufacture momentum; because it already has it in the streets.
The lesson isn’t “campaign harder.”
It’s: stop treating citizens like consumers and democracy like a brand launch.
Shayne you are PREACHING. "People don’t want polished hope anymore." ... this.
thank you for taking the time to read...
"Assignment-based" is an interesting and new concept for me. Moving hope away from yourself and over to a higher purpose is brilliant.
Supporting a network of hope is like that. If you're individual results don't pan out, you're still connected to a legacy of hope that will continue on after you're gone. I love that.
Not to derail. I really feel this idea deeply. I believe doom's overdone, so I share hope. I've sorta lost faith in politicians (on both sides tbh). I believe in ordinary people, doing extraordinary things - saving lives by advancing tech, medicine, energy, conservation, etc.
I just finished a 5-year project curating all the good news in the world (and Far Side cartoons). It's all the small miracles and breakthroughs that I believe will save us. I support some of the ideas in this piece, but it's more assignment-based. It's about supporting or becoming a part of something that's bigger than I'll ever be. Help me spread hope if this resonates :)
https://darby687.substack.com/p/headlines-of-hope