Conventional wisdom: Lessons from the DNC for the Conservative leadership race

Following Joe Biden’s decision to stand down as Democratic nominee for president, the campaign of his replacement, Kamala Harris, has breathed fresh air into the Democratic Party, with key Democrats across the political spectrum rallying in support of her trailblazing campaign strategy. This includes, most notably, a departure from the previous doom and gloom approach of threatening the general public with the downfall of democracy and the villainous - potentially catastrophic - impact of another Trump presidency.

Perhaps her campaign team thought, weirdly, the Democratic Party asking for votes as a collateral for the preservation of our electoral system - like leaving your car keys at the cash-only nail salon of democracy - isn’t the most sustainable voter engagement strategy.

A key part of this approach is the appointment of Governor Tim Walz as Harris’ running mate, whose viral interview calling Republicans ‘weird’ has taken Twitter (we refuse to use the other name) by storm. His ability to distil countless bizarre Republican positions and their vaguely threatening demeanour, into one of the single words that would infuriate them most, is nothing short of inspired.

Alongside this, Harris’ renewed strategy isn’t afraid to poke fun at Trump on and offline – taking shots at his handling of the COVID pandemic, felony convictions, and track record on crime - contrasting the previous near-refusal to utter Trump’s name among many senior democrats. Other than hosting the second most famous former-president-slash-notorious-sexual-predator as a key speaker, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) has largely been a successful extension of this PR strategy.

Speakers like President Obama and Oprah Winfrey also fired shots at Trump, painting him as a “meanspirited fraud who is playing a long con on the American people,” rather than an existential threat. They paint him as an imposter – a false ‘working man’ and anti-union poser, with left-leaning Representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s speech redefining the definition blue-collar for the modern day to include bartenders, social care workers, and postmen.

In response, many Democrats breathe a collective sigh of relief: maybe we will be fine. Maybe a nice, normal person will run the country. Many feel that they are no longer forced to choose between bad and worse, and could potentially even - brace yourself - support a candidate who is well equipped for the job and vote for a policy platform they believe in.

One wishes the same could be said for the Conservative leadership campaign. While Democrats across the pond race to inject excitement and light-heartedness into their party, the potential Tory leaders stare down an intimidating task – uniting the Party after suffering its worst General Election defeat in history and recouping credibility lost through a crashed economy, countless scandals, and a slew of election-related gaffes.

To reverse the collective mood of your party is no small feat, and everyone approaches it differently. Some look backwards to good moods past, such as Robert Jenrick’s strategy to tease a potential Boris revamp. Others look forward, such as Kemi Badenoch’s promise to deliver a securely right-wing future.

The failure of fiercely unpopular Suella Braverman to even get on the ballot, in part due to the refusal of key right-wingers to support her, is a reflection of the Party’s strategy to distance themselves from their own ‘weird’ past and move towards a strong, capable, no-more-f**king-around future.

We’ve come a long way from Rishi’s 2022 post-Truss promise to "place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda” – in many ways, the Tory Party’s own attempt to change the Party ‘vibe’.

Of course, there are many differences between a US General Election and a UK party leadership race, and perhaps the result doesn’t particularly matter that much (as 62% of Brits would likely argue). Indeed, taking three months to choose a leader shows they’re in no major rush.

But as the candidates start to be taken out one by one, like the Hunger Games, perhaps they could take a page or two out of Harris’ playbook ahead of the Party Conference season, to U-turn their party’s landslide defeat.

Meanwhile the other 38% of the country waits with bated breath as we spectate this elaborate televised fight to the death.