Why we need nauseous optimism

For the first time in years, I’ve been walking around with a smile on my face. Maybe you have, too.

- Robert Reich

The positive energy unleashed by Kamala Harris over the last two weeks is in such stark contrast to the negative energy unleashed by Trump for the last nine years that it feels as if America has had a new beginning.

Complete strangers come up to me — also smiling — and say: “At last!” Or “Isn’t it wonderful?” Or “I’m so relieved!”

Millions of Americans are mobilizing for Kamala. We’re volunteering our time and energy. We’re donating to her campaign as we’ve never donated before.

Hundreds of thousands of young people are creating pro-Kamala content for social media — a new form of political participation, as well as free advertising.

We’ve all been given new hope that Donald Trump — perhaps the worst human being ever to occupy the Oval Office — will be consigned to the dustbin of history.

(Even Olympic hero Simone Biles is into it — mocking Trump’s claim that immigrants take “Black jobs” by calling her gold-winning gymnastic performance a “Black job.”)

But wait.

I’ve been in and around politics long enough to know that our current euphoria needs to be tempered.

The election is 91 days from today. That may seem soon, but almost anything can happen between now and then. If polls are to be believed, Harris is basically tied with Trump among likely voters.