What ‘doing something’ could mean in the coming weeks after the conference

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Long before I became a journalist, I was a political activist and campaign worker. I grew up in the trenches. And while I love the policy side of things, I understand that politics is largely a performance. If we like the performers, we cheer and clap — usually in the form of votes, donations, and maybe action. As Michelle Obama said, “Do something.” If we approve, we give them power.

And while politics is largely performative—the spinning of stories, images, and sounds that flood our pleasure or anger centers, that unsettle or reassure us, that delight or compel us—it nevertheless embodies much that is real, or at least feels real and relevant to us as individuals, as citizens, as human beings.

The way people choose to present themselves and their values ​​in public tells us a lot.

And that also applies to the way they characterize others.

I remember, after watching the Democratic convention, those moments when, despite our realization that it is a show, we were transported. One of those moments was undoubtedly when we met Tim Walz’s children, specifically his 17-year-old son, Gus.

Politicians’ relatives know that cameras are on them and usually act accordingly. But they are only human and we always get an idea of ​​what is going on inside.

So when I saw Gus go, “That’s my daddy,” and cry, it had quite an impact on me. At first I thought, oh my gosh, this young man is so passionate and so open. And then it dawned on me that he was a little bit different than some of the other kids of the contestants.

Then I, and apparently many others, began to wonder, and to Google, and we got a quick glimpse into another fascinating aspect of the Walzs’ ordinary, yet exemplary, lives. We learned that their son has special needs and, like them, special talents.

Reasonable people of all political persuasions felt their hearts open to this young man of faith and his authentic emotions came to light. Reasonable people.

But not the Trump machine and some of the loudest voices behind it. As soon as they sensed that vulnerability on the other side, they tore into this innocent, clearly sensitive child.

The mildest attack came from the creepy Ann Coulter, who called Gus “weird.” From there, things got worse.

The boy may have mental issues, but he acts just like Tim Walz! So what’s Walz’s excuse? (Dinesh D’Souza, Convicted Criminal Pardoned by Trump)

Tim Walz’s son Gus wears eyeliner. (Terry Schilling, president of the LGBT-bashing American Principles Project)

Now give that boy a tampon. (Podcaster Alec Lace, who bluntly claimed that Harris didn’t get to the top on merit)

Tim Walz’s stupid crying son is not the flex the left thinks he is. You raised your child to be a chubby beta male. Congratulations. (Mike Crispi, chairman of America First Republicans of New Jersey; posted a claim that Barron Trump doesn’t cry)

Crying bitch boy. (Extremist radio host Jay Weber)

When you find the only working McDonald’s ice cream machine in your town. (Posted with a picture of Gus crying. (Autism Capital, Trump supporter who ridicules autism)

Of course, once they spout something like that, they back off or cover it up. Coulter later deleted her post. Expect others to do the same.

But they are happy to express their meanness. They are happy that Trump is doing it so openly.

At this point, nothing the self-proclaimed “family values ​​party” does should surprise us. And yet Trump continues to lower the bar. (Like when he physically mocked a disabled person. Or when he said that disabled people, with all their expensive gear and care, “should just die.” Or when he disparaged John McCain and others who have sacrificed so much for this country.)

What kind of people would do something like that? We know what kind of people.

Bullies and cowards. People full of hate.

And these people vote.

So this is what we should be saying to the voters, especially the fraction of a fraction in battleground states whose decision will make all the difference in the world: This election, like all elections but never again, is about two fundamental questions: What kind of people are we? What kind of people do we want to be led by?

Our Gus Walz moment.