Labour needs some Conventional wisdom

There has been a lot to love at this year’s National Democratic Convention. It came remarkably close to acting as the uneasy coronation of a candidate everyone thought too old to run but too powerful to remove. Instead, Biden and Trump agreed to an unusually early debate and, well, you know what happened next.

The great and the good of the party gathered in Chicago, and the mood was both buoyant and emotional. In fact, it would be hard to pick highlights from the speeches, as so many of them were brilliant.

“This convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” Barack Obama told the crowds with a smile. His wife Michelle, on the other hand, claimed that “hope is making a comeback”.

Left-wing firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was pleasingly punchy, calling Trump a “two-bit union buster” and speaking with pride about her past as a bartender. Tammy Duckworth, the Illinois senator and war veteran, opened up by saying that her “struggle with infertility was more painful than any wound I earned on the battlefield”.

A personal highlight came from the goofy and endearing Doug Emhoff, who called his wife, Kamala, a “joyful warrior”. It was only a small part of the speech but, in some ways, it was the most important one. As an outsider watching American politics from afar, the past few weeks have been unusually joyous.

Hillary Clinton had always been a flawed and divisive candidate; Joe Biden did win in 2020, but his campaign hadn’t exactly been full of enthusiasm. Crucially, the nature of their opponent meant that every decision, mishap and gaffe had felt potentially world-definining. Donald Trump is, after all, no usual Republican nominee. Another victory would fundamentally reshape not just the US but everything from the war in Ukraine to global economics.

It is too early to try and predict what will happen in November but – not for the first time – Michelle Obama was right. There seems to be something in the air at the moment, and it really does feel like hope. The Democrats are, as a party, more united than they have been since perhaps the late 2000s. It has been a joy to behold.

Crucially, it is something Harris and Walz seem to have actively embraced. Ocasio-Cortez spoke on that stage and so did Bernie Sanders, a man whose supporters once threatened to split the party in two. Another prominent speaker was Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania and perhaps the most popular moderate Democrat of the newer generation.

Only a few weeks ago, activists had campaigned against the possibility of Harris picking him as VP. It already feels like ancient history. Over in Chicago, everyone got along, and the Democrats are acting as a broad yet cohesive church.

It is worth wondering if Keir Starmer and the Labour party could learn from this. Firstly, there is a lot of political power to be found in hope and happiness. Voters aren’t stupid, and they know that not every problem can be solved overnight. Still, that doesn’t mean that their politicians ought to only ever be dour and relentlessly fatalistic.

Secondly, united parties tend to go far, and factional wars are often counterproductive. Starmer and his faction won the internal Labour battles fair and square; there is no need for them to keep squashing the left with such vigour. After all, the party lost a lot of votes to the Greens and other left-wing independents in July. A way to win them back would be to use the politicians on the left of Labour who may be able to speak to them.

It is hard to see them doing this anytime soon but, hey, it would have been hard to picture Lil Jon repping up Kamala Harris on the DNC floor even a month ago. Things can change fast if they need to; let’s hope the Democrats win, and Labour learns to embrace its more joyful side before it’s too late.