Kamala Is Stealing Trump’s Agenda and Dems Are Co-Opting Conservative Culture—Including ‘Dark’ Football

Over at The Nation, the outlet’s designated sports editor Dave Zirin addressed the move made by the Democrats and the Harris-Walz campaign to embrace the Minnesota governor’s former position as an assistant football coach. His supposed leadership and the metaphors of the sport have become fixtures somewhat in the campaign. And Zirin sees trouble with this decision.

In the so-called taking over of football from conservatives Zirin sees dire consequences – because appealing to those fans of the most popular sport in the nation is a poor decision??? He says that the sport carries some “dark” aspects, such as the threat of concussions, but also toxic testosterone-fueled components that will drive away a core of Democratic Party youths.

The hypermasculinity and violence of football…could repel young voters. This could repel the young, left-wing voters more interested in policy changes than who wins the football wars. Young people care about racism, the economy, climate change, Palestine, and a host of other issues given short shrift at the convention. Football not only won’t be enough to satisfy them. Its embrace may send a signal that the big tent isn’t big enough for them. 

What adds to the mirthful wishcasting is something else Zirin touts, and that is the manner the Democrats have allegedly appropriated the sport of football as their own. This is supposedly something that completely unravels Republicans, in his fevered mind. “How confused, how utterly rattled, these conservatives must be at the moment. Democrats are claiming football for themselves; presenting the sport as not only patriotic but as a potent symbol of the kind of teamwork needed to take down Donald Trump.”

This is nothing more than desperate wishcasting, of course, but it points to something else taking place in the minds of the Democratic Party. They somehow operate as if they suddenly begin to embrace some aspect of the culture that means that the conservatives no longer have access to it? So if Democrats now declare football as a symbol of…I dunno, something, for their party…conservatives can no longer claim to enjoy the game themselves? 

This is ridiculous on its face, of course, but it cuts to the level of desperation for their party. Just as Kamala has adopted a number of policy items that have long been on Trump’s docket – no taxes on tips, building the border wall, etc. – the Dems are trying to claim various cultural touchstones that have been regarded as conservative in the past. 

Some opined that at the Democratic Convention, they took over country music. Quite the surprise, considering just one year ago that genre was considered toxic and dangerous. Also at the convention, patriotism was highlighted as a novel item embraced by the Dems, with chants of “USA” heard and then celebrated as the party tried to claim the “love of country” mantle from the right. It’s especially galling considering they routinely call expressions of pride for the nation “jingoism” and divisive and antagonistic. Now they go the other way; instead of inviting all under the Stars & Stripes, it is said they displayed the “Democratic brand of patriotism.”

The selection of Tim Walz has brought a number of changes to Democrat approaches, and this is due to the conflict he delivers. Walz is an avid hunter, something that brings challenges to the anti-gun party. It has been fun to watch them tightrope to targeting “bad guns” as a result. The Walz arrival brought another supposedly claimed component, one even more ridiculous. 

The campaign produced a piece of merchandise playing off of the Walz hunting preference, a branded baseball hat in a camouflage pattern. By itself, it is not all that remarkable, as just about any brand in America with a tangential connection to the outdoors might produce this kind of headgear. But Rolling Stone, in a dose of over-insistence, saw the stepdaughter of Kamala Harris, Ella Emhoff (who appears as outdoorsy as a teacup poodle), wearing one such hat at the convention and turned rhapsodic.

The cherry on top appearing in the form of a Harris-Walz camouflage baseball hat released a few weeks ago — it sold out instantly. That’s the genius work of this one small bit of Harris-Walz merch. The hat reclaims the rural and Southern identity that mainstream Democrats have long ignored, all in with the power of one nifty little cap. Ella Emhoff proudly wore hers last night, while Walz displayed his own.

That is quite the political party makeover, in a matter of a few weeks, for the sake of pushing a San Francisco Democrat who was raised in Canada into the White House. It is quite the list of items that were scorned by this party not so long ago; country music, hunting gear, patriotism, border hawks, and now football. That sure looks like something the Democrats normally demonize – cultural appropriation. 

The result, however, delivers the opposite of what is intended. Like Kamala’s sudden new position on several political issues, the embracing of these cultural items appears like a shallow, calculated maneuver rather than a genuine acceptance of these touchstones. It conveys the Southern aphorism: “All hat, and no cattle.”