Keeping up with the election … and its memes

What a rollercoaster. Now that we have a new Democratic nominee for the presidential race, along with both vice president picks, we’re expecting to see the race to settle a bit over the next few weeks. Congress will come back from the August recess in mid-September to pass a government funding bill, most likely a Continuing Resolution, either through December or early next year, just to get through the election.

In the meantime, here are some of the most common questions we’ve fielded from folks not following the election closely:

Why Did President Joe Biden Decide Not to Continue His Campaign?

After his disastrous debate performance in June, President Biden’s polling tanked. Democrats lost confidence in his ability to win the election and were seriously concerned that he might drag the House and the Senate down with him. None of his efforts to rehabilitate his campaign really took hold. Eventually, Democratic leaders including Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama ramped up their public messaging, questioning whether he was the right person to lead the party in the election. After taking a weekend to recover from COVID, President Biden made the decision to step aside and endorse his Vice President, Kamala Harris to replace him.

What About the Primary Election and Voters?

Determining a political party’s nominee is an internal party decision. Technically, voters do not elect their primary candidate; party delegates elect the party’s nominee at the convention. Party rules require the delegates to vote for the winner of their state’s primary election. While there were concerns among Democrats that voters would feel disenfranchised, the relief at having a livelier candidate at the top of the ticket has dwarfed any disappointment in the lack of a primary.

What’s the Deal with the Coconuts?

Coconut tree memes and branding have become a staple of the Harris campaign. This comes from a speech back in 2023, where Harris quoted her mother saying “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” She goes on to say, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

While the quote got some attention when it first happened, it is particularly timely now. In 2020, Harris struggled to put together a campaign machine to win the Democratic nomination in that cycle, eventually dropping out. Now, as if falling from a coconut tree, she has been delivered a pre-made campaign infrastructure that is excited to work and get her elected. And all of that comes in the context of what came before: gracefully exiting the race in 2020, being selected as Biden’s running mate, and working to support him as part of his administration for four years.

What Is ‘Brat’ and What Does It Have to Do with the Election?

This one is a little trickier to explain, probably because it doesn’t fully make sense. Charli XCX, a British pop star, released a new album this summer titled ‘brat’. The album was incredibly popular and has dominated airwaves, especially among young people. After Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Kamala, Charli XCX tweeted: “Kamala IS brat.” Within 24 hours, the Harris campaign embraced the message and changed their campaign logo to the same green background that is on the ‘brat’ album cover.

As for what it means? That is less clear. According to Charli XCX, ‘brat’ means a girl who … “feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.” It has been interpreted broadly by Gen Z as the essence of what it is to be cool. It is in that context that Harris is tapping into to build enthusiasm among young people and voters in a way that hasn’t happened since Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

J.D. Vance’s Couch

Senator J.D. Vance has made a number of controversial statements since being named Trump’s running mate, but it is actually a statement he never made that has stuck with him on social media. After Donald Trump named him as his running mate, rumors began to circulate from a tweet that apparently J.D. Vance admitted to having sex with a couch in his book Hillbilly Elegy. The tweet was completely false and later deleted, but before it was, a few smaller publications ran stories assuming it was true. Even worse, the Associated Press ran an article titled ‘No, J.D. Vance did not have sex with a couch’, but eventually retracted the article because they could not verify he for certain did not.

At this point, no one is seriously saying it happened, but the joke has continued to run, most recently with Tim Walz, Harris’ newly announced running mate, who said at a campaign rally, “I can’t wait to debate the guy… that is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”

Who Is Tim Walz?

The first week after Biden stepped aside for Harris, a handful of names were considered frontrunners for Kamala Harris’ running mate, none of which included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. However, he surged to the top of consideration after several strong interview performances, and as the other potential candidates became increasingly controversial. Tim Walz is a former teacher, served 24 years in the National Guard before retiring, spent 12 years as a Member of Congress, and is now Governor of Minnesota. Notably, he and his wife have a daughter, Hope, who was conceived through IVF, which was recently threatened by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling deeming the procedure illegal. With the Walz pick, Harris’ team is hoping to secure the Midwest, allowing them to focus on picking up ground potentially in Georgia and Florida.