Note the shift in tone here from the Biden campaign verbiage on the left to the Harris campaign statement on the right.

The messaging is way sharper. It is also coming more frequently, with rapid-fire, in-the-moment responses to whatever Trump and Vance are saying. They’re not letting dangerous nonsense go unresponded-to, and they’re willing to use plain, aggressive language that probes the Trump-Vance campaign’s weaknesses.

Many atop the Democratic Party hierarchy (probably including an ex-president who delayed endorsing Kamala Harris for days) may now be tenting their fingers and intoning “this is inappropriate to the dignity of the office and the need to reach across the aisle” or whatever.

I disagree. I’m here for this. As one of millions alarmed by the threat to rights and institutions that Donald Trump and his movement represent, I’m very tired of feeling undefended by the cautious, triangulating current that dominates the Democratic Party, especially in the Senate and at the presidential level.

The key word for me is “undefended.” As the MAGA onslaught has worsened this year, the feeling that “nobody is sticking up for us” has been a daily source of dread and stress.

The party and the President were exuding centrism and competence, yes, but also a sense of slowness, constant calibration, and fear of seeming off-putting to imagined swing voters. The result was tired, infrequent, and often boring responses to Trumpist outrages and even occasional embraces (with asylum-seekers at the border, for instance) of “Trump-lite” policies.

The implicit message to people scared for the future of our democracy has been “you’re on your own: the hard work of defense is up to you.” That’s a terrible feeling.

And yes, civil society often is on its own. That’s why it exists: because democratic institutions and parties often do get captured or gridlocked, and people have to organize in order to have their demands listened to, channeled, and met.

But with Trump and the extreme right appearing (until a week ago) to be cruising toward a coronation, the “you’re on your own” feeling was suffocating.

The worst moment was the June 27 debate. President Biden was on the same stage as Donald Trump, the defender of January 6 and the executioner of Roe v. Wade, as Trump spouted a torrent of lies. And Biden failed to respond. He utterly, devastatingly failed. This may have been for reasons of infirmity, but the fact remained: we were on our own.

The best thing about this new tone and energy is the feeling that, at least for now, we’re not on our own anymore. Someone—even if it’s with the same consultants who were writing timidly for Biden before, now unleashed—is finally sticking up for us.

It’s a great start, and I think it explains the surge of energy that we’ve seen over the past few days.