Renewed Patriotism as a Weapon for Democrats

Photo: Brandon Bell Agence France-Presse Flags were plentiful in the crowd at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention on August 22 in Chicago.

Fabien Deglise In Chicago

Published at 0:00 Analysis

• United States

In the United States, the American flag has been a fixture in the landscape for decades, planted in front of houses, decorating their porches or hanging over balconies. It is very often seen in those occupied by Republicans, accompanied by other flags calling for a vote for Donald Trump, and a little less in those where Democrats live.

“In recent years, the Stars and Stripes have become a symbol appropriated by the Make America Great Again movement [of the populist Trump] and its extremist patriotism,” summarizes Sheila Vain in front of her small suburban house in the Kenosha region, a city in Wisconsin north of Chicago. In 2020, this small community living on the shores of Lake Michigan was the epicenter of a confrontation between these “radical patriots” and a crowd that had come to protest against the police brutality that led to the death of a young African-American, Jacob Blake. Two people were killed by the gunfire of a 17-year-old Republican, held up as a hero by Donald Trump.

But for the past few days, Ms. Vain has put up a flag in front of her residence. “It’s also ours,” says this Democrat in her early fifties. And I think the time has come to reaffirm that.”

Small, discreet, mounted on a wooden structure, its star-spangled banner is far from the exuberance of the flags of many of its neighbors. But it accompanies a movement begun a few weeks ago by the Democrats, who are seeking, almost 70 days before the presidential election next November, to pull the rug of patriotism from under the feet of the Republicans, and this, by no longer being afraid to appropriate the symbols of the American ideal that Donald Trump and his allies have cleverly diverted to their advantage in recent years.

“Everyone here and everyone watching, I want you to proudly claim your patriotism,” Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin said last week at the party’s national convention in Chicago. “You are here because you love your country. Do not give an inch to the imposters who wrap themselves in the flag but spit on the freedoms it represents.” »

Patriotism assumed

All week long, the great Democratic political mass was played out in front of a sea of ​​American flags and under cries celebrating the unity of Americans: «USA, USA, USA ! » An esprit de corps supported by the presence of The Chicks, a Texas country trio who came to sing the national anthem, and by the multiplication of classic patriotic songs broadcast in the heart of the United Center in Chicago, such as Small Town by John Mellencamp or Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen, by a DJ who, in the middle of his musical program, shouted to the excited crowd: “Are you proud to be American?”

“If you didn’t know what party was being discussed, the staging could have led you to believe you were at a Republican convention,” philosopher and essayist Steven Smith, author of Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes, published in 2022, notes in an interview. “It’s clear that Democrats are trying to exploit a positive vision of America that contrasts with Donald Trump’s image of ‘American carnage.’ The words ‘freedom’ and ‘possibility’ repeated throughout the convention fuel that vision. So does the American flag.”

The change in tone is significant within a party where just 37% of members say they are “very patriotic,” according to a 2022 YouGov poll, compared to two-thirds of Republicans. The American flag arouses “very positive” feelings for 83% of Republicans, compared to just 49% of Democrats. Last July, Gallup also revealed the hold that these same Republicans have on “pride in being American,” shared by 59% of them, while Democrats express it a little more timidly, at 34%.

“Reclaiming the American flag is the smartest thing to do in this campaign,” says Kelly Gallaher, who we met last weekend at the Racine County, Wisconsin, Democratic Party offices, which she chairs. “Republicans have long embraced it, while moving their rhetoric away from America’s patriotic values. During the televised debate in June, Donald Trump made several statements that went against those values. But that’s been forgotten because of Joe Biden’s poor performance.” Since then, the president has given way to Kamala Harris, who is bringing new energy and a different wind to the Democratic campaign… with increasingly obvious patriotic tones. “Democrats are great patriots, but they don’t necessarily show it with the flag, and we’re changing the way we show our love of country.” »

Occupying the void

“The Democratic Party’s emphasis on liberty in the face of Republican attempts to control women’s bodies, ban books, or deny climate change is a relatively new tactic that explicitly attempts to paint Donald Trump’s policies as un-American,” says historian Paul Rosier, a professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, in an interview. “By rejecting NATO and supporting Vladimir Putin, Trump has abdicated the tenets of Republican Party orthodoxy. There is a vacuum that Democrats are now filling with their version of muscular patriotism and advocacy of international cooperation.”

In her speech formally accepting her nomination as the Democratic presidential nominee last week, Kamala Harris did not fail to warn voters about the threat that a second term for Donald Trump would pose to the country’s democratic legacy, recalling in passing his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection against the dome of American democracy, the Capitol in Washington.

“You can always trust me to put country before party and myself, to hold sacred the core principles of America, from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power,” she said in a clear critique of her Republican opponent’s behavior.

She also echoed the narratives of several speakers before her who have championed a diverse image of America and celebrated those differences which, far from dividing, according to them, unites them behind the perspective of a future placed by the democrats under the angle of “possibilities” and “optimism”.

“We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world, and for the sake of our children and grandchildren and all those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom, we must live up to this moment,” she added, seeking to strip Donald Trump of the monopoly on patriotism he has established, including by regularly kissing the American flag at his political rallies.

“As Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt explain in their important book How Democracies Die, much of the current conflict in the United States revolves around this question: Should the United States be a multicultural democracy or a white Christian nation??” says Randall Curren, a professor of philosophy at University of Rochester, joined by Le Devoirin New York State. “What we saw in Chicago was an affirmation of patriotism embedded in a multicultural democracy that proclaims freedom and equality for all American citizens. It’s a clever way to hit back at Donald Trump, who seeks to define Kamala Harris as not being ‘one of us.’”

In front of her house, Sheila Vain doesn’t go so far in explaining the reasons that convinced her to put up an American flag in front of her home. Instead, she says she’s now waiting for a new sign promoting the campaign of Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, aspiring vice president and governor of Minnesota. “I had Joe Biden’s, but his withdrawal from the race, which I regret, made it obsolete,” she says. “I know there are many of us in the area waiting for these signs. And I assure you that I’m going to plant it on my lawn with patriotism and pride,” she concludes with a smile.

This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund-Le Devoir.