Last weekend, when I arrived back home from the Democratic National Convention, my first stop was a visit to the Sonoma County Democratic Party’s “Blue Wave BBQ & Bluau.” Still buzzing with excitement from the prior few days in Chicago, it was a pleasant surprise to see that energy had followed me home to Sonoma County.
Local volunteers were organizing postcard parties, phone banks and trips to talk to voters in the key swing state of Nevada. Community activists were plotting how best to support our excellent Democratic nominees in key red-to-blue congressional seats across California. And our local Democratic clubs were fired up—reporting higher membership and greater excitement than they’ve seen in years.
This is possible not just because of the Harris-Walz campaign and the Democratic Convention—it’s actually about something so much bigger than a few days in Chicago. It’s more than days of speeches contrasting our agenda with the darkness of Donald Trump and the dangers of Project 2025. It’s about—as Pete Buttigieg put it—a better kind of politics.
This kind of politics results when we’re brought together by visionary, not vindictive rhetoric. When we run on an agenda focused on expanding freedoms rather than stripping them away. When we unite our communities through joy, not blind them by hate.
That was the true thread I saw in Chicago: that there is hope in that kind of politics and power in fighting for the future instead of stewing over the past. And that better kind of politics is achievable if we all show up, have the tough conversations and do the hard work of being engaged.
After all, it’s not too bold to suggest that women should have the freedom to choose what they do with their own bodies. That kids be free from gun violence in schools and at home, and you are free to marry who you love. Working families should have the freedom not to have to choose between putting food on the table or paying the rent.
That’s what the Democratic National Convention reminded us of. That’s what the Harris-Walz campaign is all about—a campaign for the people and the future.
Because we’re not going back.
Ariel U. Kelley lives in Healdsburg.
