Let’s Have a No-B.S. Talk About These Over-the-Top Campaign Efforts in Philly
If our politicians truly want to save democracy, they need to champion it more than every four years. I've got ideas for how they can do that.
Get-out-the-Vote efforts in Philadelphia have been fierce. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher / AFP)
Tuesday is Election Day, and it will be yet another consequential, unprecedented one.
I can’t tell you how many times over the past several weeks I’ve heard candidates, politicians, celebrities, influencers, and canvassers involved in get-out-the-vote efforts remind us how important our vote is and why this election matters more than all the other ones.
“Politics is not a cure-all,” said former President Barack Obama during a star-studded rally in support of Kamala Harris at the Liacouras Center last week. “But who you vote for can make things a little better and a little worse, and that adds up.”
“We have a serious decision to make about our today and our tomorrow,” State Rep. Joanna McClinton said at the same get-out-the-vote rally. “It’s on us to work the next eight days because we know our former president doesn’t give a damn about us.”
Look, I strongly agree with them. But why does it seem as if leaders, parties, and elected officials don’t treat it this way at any other time?
I’m a 33-year-old Black millennial who’s actively covered the past three presidential election cycles. I followed the ups and downs of Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid in 2016 (and her over-the-top efforts to woo Philly voters). In 2020, I tracked the unusual pandemic campaign of Joe Biden in Philly that led to his ultimate victory (and I interviewed Harris along the way).
This election, it’s like déjà vu as the presidential election blitz once again overwhelms Philly. More rallies, crowds, speeches, and this time an overload of social media influencers bombarding our timelines with grand promises, fear-mongering, and hype. Small businesses, Black and brown communities, barbershops, and neglected neighborhoods suddenly matter to mainstream media and elected officials alike.
Of course, this is a predictable byproduct of national political cycles — and the fact that ours is the most consequential voting bloc in the most consequential swing state. But it’s also heartbreaking. As someone who covers diverse Philadelphians regularly, I can say with confidence that once a winner is declared, it will be another four years before many of these segments matter so much to the powers that be. After November 5th, no matter who wins, much of the joy and enthusiasm will evaporate. That’s simply unacceptable, and a big reason many neglected areas remain so. To avoid this perpetual cycle, all of this talk and energy about the importance of elections needs to expand beyond presidential races.
I’ve spoken with neighbors and friends who say they haven’t experienced this much political engagement on their blocks since 2020. That’s a damn shame. My barbershop hasn’t been visited so frequently by elected officials in years. If these voters and communities really matter, they should matter more often than that. Saving our democracy shouldn’t be an every-four-years thing. It needs to be a more routine — and less dramatic — one.
I get that it’s impossible to replicate the energy of a presidential election. But why can’t members of City Council and our state legislature try to channel that energy year-round? Perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult to engage voters in the neglected areas of our city and state if said elected officials were creative, accessible, and present without the threat of a demagogue hanging over them.
Translation: If politicians were more habitually responsive to voters (read: constituents), they wouldn’t need to desperately pull out the fireworks every presidential election cycle.
So let’s fix that: I’m calling on the local Democratic Party (since there’s been no strong effort from the Philadelphia GOP to seriously engage local voters) to evaluate what recent efforts they’ve made during this cycle that could be replicated more frequently. Seriously, keep the barbershop conversations going, promote small businesses/vendors regularly, and incorporate our talented youth and schools/colleges in festive GOTV parties. What I’ve seen in the last few weeks has been inspiring, but it can’t die after November 5th.
Democracy wouldn’t need to be “saved” every four years if we sustained it every year.
