De Rugy: What to make of Harris campaign's embrace of freedom

Democrats are embracing freedom and love of country as their campaign message. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and announced that the difference between Republicans and Democrats is "freedom." Similarly, Vice President Kamala Harris insisted that Democrats "believe in freedom, opportunity, and the promise of America." She added that her greatest privilege is being an American.

With the GOP's old mix of freedom and optimism no longer front and center, I am just glad that someone, anyone, in these elections is willing to loudly say that America is indeed the greatest country there is. Millions of immigrants like me have left everything behind precisely because they believe this to be so. And many millions more would love to come and experience the American dream.

Besides, Americans do love freedom. As Eric Boehm of Reason magazine reminds us, freedom polls well, especially, I assume, since (as he writes) "majorities of Americans are also worried about losing those freedoms."

Don't get me wrong. Walz and Harris have a very different understanding of freedom, especially economic freedom, than I have. They mean by "freedom" the ability to acquire certain things, such as health care, with other people's money. They don't mean the traditional American definition of freedom as the absence of government-imposed restraints.

In fact, during their time in power, Democrats were terrible for this kind of freedom. From COVID-19 lockdowns to banning gas stoves to attempting to influence content on social media sites, Democrats' actual policies of late have been anti-freedom. Also deserving criticism are Harris' economic plans, which, if enacted, would undermine the very freedom and opportunity she claims to cherish.

Still, some positivity is refreshing. I and many others are tired of hearing that America is awful and that there's nothing special and wonderful about the USA. For a generation, the GOP's message was that America was a force for good at home and abroad, and that it was exceptional largely because our founders understood the importance of limiting government interference.

The Democrats were much more cautious in their optimism; few seemed to believe in any real sense of American uniqueness, as exemplified by former President Barack Obama's infamous statement that he believed in American exceptionalism "as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."

Then, a decade ago, things changed. Left-wing intellectuals developed a narrative that the original sin of slavery poisoned all the fruits of America's tree of liberty. Put simply, there was nothing good about our country and there never could be, absent some sort of new revolution. Many Democrats went along with this narrative, confusing the opinions of extreme online activists and intellectuals with their voters. Soon, the party seemingly soured on America. And the more they soured, the bigger they wanted the government to be.

Then Donald Trump turned the party of Reagan's sunny optimism into a dour and depressing lot, as evidenced by (among many other examples) his "American carnage" inaugural address. Since that time, Republicans' message has been that America was once great but has become a wasteland. In fact, Trump recently declared that America is becoming a third-world country.

As such, we should welcome a change in rhetoric — from either party — that proclaims that America is indeed good. The Democrats could have chosen to fill their stage with any number of academics, politicians and activists to spend four nights talking down America. But they didn't. In fact, they intentionally kept their crazies out. Even though this wouldn't have been noteworthy as recently as 2012, it certainly is in 2024.

Vision is upstream of policies, and it can't hurt that Democrats project a vision that seems to reflect that they like the country they wish to govern. Also, their embrace of "freedom" and "opportunity" makes my life easier. I might disagree with what they mean by it, but at least we can commonly debate the best way to get there and critique bad ideas.

Unfortunately, the task gets harder when a loud contingent on the right insists that freedom and economic growth (which is the fastest path to creating opportunities for all) are not what we should focus on because, they claim, such a vision has damaged the country. They make it more frustrating by instead embracing abstract goals like the "common good."

This should not be mistaken for a Harris endorsement. But whether you agree or not with Harris and Walz's plans, we should celebrate the fact that at least one party again proclaims this country to be awesome, because it really is.

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.