If you’re not across much of popular culture, the US election may require some interpretation. The Democratic National Convention has been an exercise in creating a theatrical cast drawn from celebrity, music and drama. Take, for instance, Nancy Pelosi, the “Mother of Dragons” – a main character in Game of Thrones – as she was introduced at the DNC. A dragon tamer who was also introduced as “brat before brat was brat” (a buzzy reference to the musician Charli xcx’s album of the same name, which denotes a confident, nonchalantly rebellious woman). Kamala Harris herself was anointed as “brat” the moment that Joe Biden stepped down, but already Harris’s mother – who had Indian heritage and raised Harris as a single parent – has been declared the uberbrat, more brat than even her daughter.
If all that’s too obscure, perhaps Taylor Swift is a more familiar touchstone. Commentators have suggested that Swift’s boyfriend, the NFL player Travis Kelce, has much in common with vice-presidential candidate and Harris running mate Tim Walz, and more broadly with the “wife guys” of the DNC – all of whom are men who, while confident in their masculinity, are not ashamed to talk up their wives and girlfriends and take a back seat. Harris has captured this loose amalgamation of cinematic performance and cultural zeitgeist by delivering liberals what they sorely need: a “Beyoncé moment”. She is experiencing her “Renaissance”, according to the New York Times columnist Charles M Blow – a reference to the spectacular pyrotechnic tour that elevated Beyoncé to pop icon status. The rumour that Beyoncé herself was appearing as a surprise guest at the DNC drew much speculation, as if her presence alone would bless the campaign and ordain its political legitimacy.
