Harris pushes for joy. Trump paints a darker picture. Will the mismatched moods matter?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Early in his first speech as vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz turned to Vice President Kamala Harris and declared, “Thank you for bringing back the joy.” The next day, Harris took the theme a step further, calling the Democratic nominee “joyful warriors.”

Contrast that with former President Donald Trump, who opened a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida a few days later by saying, “A lot of bad things are coming our way” and predicting that the United States could fall into an economic depression not seen since the dark days of 1929, and even one other world war.

“I think our country is in the most dangerous situation in its history right now, both economically and security-wise,” Trump said on Thursday.

Democrats are playing up their sunnier perspective, pushing the concept that voters might be inspired to support someone slightly than simply vote against the other side. Trump’s campaign says its candidate reflects the country’s somber mood and rejects the concept that a growing contrast in tone and optimism will determine the presidency.

Two-thirds of Americans said they felt very or somewhat pessimistic about the state of politics, in response to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research last month. About 7 in 10 said things in the country were headed in the unsuitable direction.

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the former president, said people don’t care about “vibration control.”

“It won’t make gas, food or housing cheaper,” Miller said.

Walz promotes a positive attitude

Still, Harris’s determination to take the opposite approach is obvious in her decision to pick out Walz, whose personal experience includes coaching a highschool football team that had gone winless just a few years earlier and won the state championship in 1999.

The Minnesota governor’s continued positive performance is anticipated to offer supporters a boost and maintain the momentum Harris built after President Joe Biden — facing mounting pressure from inside his own party and increasingly pessimistic views about his probabilities in November — stepped right down to endorse his vp.

Walz spent his first week as Harris’ deputy traveling with Harris to undecided states and emphasized the issue at a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, praising what he said was her “ability to talk about what can be good.”

“That idea of ​​caring for your neighbor and being kind and lending a helping hand when someone needs it. And just feeling like people are going through things and being there when they need it, that’s who we are,” he said. “It’s not a mockery. It’s not a name-calling.”

Biden has often ended his speeches by saying he has never been more optimistic. But he has built his now-closed-in reelection campaign around characterizing Trump as an existential threat to democracy. The president has offered dire predictions about the former president, suggesting he would dismantle the nation’s founding principles if he reclaims the White House.

Harris’ campaign continues to depend on a lot of the same themes, criticizing Trump as a threat to democracy, warning that he’ll impose draconian restrictions on abortion and voting and pursuing Project 2025, a plan promoted by leading conservatives to overhaul large parts of the federal government.

Even though Walz insists that smiles are more practical than insults, he and Harris have continued to criticize, denouncing Trump’s conviction in New York on 34 felony counts in a silence case, in addition to finding him liable for unfair business practices and sexual abuse in civil court.

Even before she announced Walz as her vice presidential candidate, Harris suggested she could make politics fun again.

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“We love our country. And I believe it’s the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country,” Harris said in her campaign speeches before Walz was elected. Now she’s telling crowds that she and her vice presidential candidate “both believe in lifting people up, not bringing them down.”

Paula Montagna, who visited Harris and Walz at a rally outside Detroit last week, noted the shift in messaging since Harris took over from Biden.

“Kamala is a very positive person and it’s nice to hear something positive rather than negative,” Montagna said.

Trump’s team says their candidate reflects reality

Senior Trump campaign advisers say the mood in the country is bad immediately due to the economy, the state of the U.S.-Mexico border and unrest in the Middle East and beyond. They see their candidate as reflecting that reality, not what they see as a passing enthusiasm firing up the Democratic base after months of discouragement with their ticket.

Trump has tried to capitalize on this by repeating predictions of a stock market crash and war. His campaign speeches included a long list of other warnings that leaned toward the apocalyptic, saying that if he weren’t elected, “we will no longer have a country,” that “the only thing standing between you and its destruction is me,” and that under Harris, “Social Security will buckle and collapse” and “the suburbs will be flooded with violent crime and savage foreign gangs.”

During a speech at the Republican National Convention last month, during which his aides said Trump would appear modified and more personal after surviving the assassination attempt, the former president did indeed strike a different tone — no less than at first.

At the outset, he said that he had “a message of confidence, strength and hope” and that he desired to “usher in a new era of security, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed.”

Towards the end, nevertheless, Trump returned to doomsday predictions, twice warning: “Bad things are going to happen.”

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice presidential candidate, has drawn sharp contrasts with Walz. Vance has been praised on the right for being an aggressive fighter on behalf of the former president, particularly with reporters.

“Right now, I’m angry about what Kamala Harris has done to this country and to America’s southern border,” Vance said during a campaign rally in Michigan. “And I think most people in our country can sometimes be carefree, can sometimes enjoy something, and can also turn on the news and recognize that what’s happening in this country is a disgrace.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, not exactly a sunny person himself, offered a similar assessment Friday at a conservative conference in Atlanta hosted by radio host Erick Erickson.

“The country is clearly in a bad mood,” McConnell said.

Trump supporters waiting for a rally in Bozeman, Montana, said they feel positive about the former president’s campaign — even when his message often doesn’t.

“Just looking at the state of the country right now, I don’t think Kamala Harris’ campaign is a campaign of joy and hope. I think it’s a Trump campaign,” said Alex Lustig, a 23-year-old from Billings, Montana.

Fred Scarlett, a 63-year-old retiree from Condon, Montana, said that “everyone understands that we have to be here and support Trump because he has never let us down.”

“They keep shooting at him,” Scarlett said, “and he keeps shooting back.”