Harris - Walz Looks Forward - Maybe Back Up a Little, Tap into Americana Nostalgia.

 On the right track. That's how Kamala Harris' first-out-of-the-gate policy speech on August 16th in Raleigh, North Carolina was assessed by some of those whose opinions count. Yes, it was forward-looking, they observed, in contrast to Donald Trump's continually playing with yesterday's memes. 

At this time in the campaign Trump is perceived as doing nothing right. But there is something to his backward gaze. Remember his message that America was once great and could be great again caught fire and got him elected in 2016. 

Trump taps into the power of nostalgia. In the reseach by psychologists and sociologists nostalgia was found to foster a sense of social connectedness. In itself, as lead researcher Jacob Juhu published in the journal Emotion, that feeling of being a part of can motivate human beings to reach out and to accept help.

In Psychology Today, Marlynn Wel, MD JD defines "nostalgia" as a "sentimenal longing for the past." In this era of Gen AI there is a lot of that, especially for the pre-digital era when everything ran on analogue. The way Trump is currently mis-handling nostalgia is what's positioning and packaging him as stuck in the past.

However, wide open is for Harris-Walz to exploit, just as McDonald's USA is doing, an emotional  connection through the past. Some might recall how Don Draper on "Mad Men" did just that to launch the Kodak Carousel.

Of course, that can be overdone, which is a tragic fault of the Trump-Vance ticket. Along with the pleasure of swinging back to the past is pain. For example, there won't be any return to when professionals such as Jim Anderson on the popular TV show "Father Knows Best" can be expected home for dinner every evening, soon after 5 PM.

The guide in leveraging the nostalgia meme is to keep asking: What moves the dial on social connectness? That establishes trust in government to solve problems. A little nostalgia here and there unleashes a powerhouse of positive emotion.

 In a 2022 Business Insider interview Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp makes a reference to an episode from the 1950s TV hit  "I Love Lucy." It was the time Lucy and Ethel go to work in the chocolate factory, can't keep up with the assembly line and eat what isn't boxed. 

That reach back into the past pulled us in to having deep empathy for Karp's questioning if he had the strength and energy to re-up for another term of leadership. Many of us knowledge workers were also experiencing that internal conflict in this volatile era. (Karp did go for another term and the partners did vote him in.)

What I would treasure? If the post-Labor Day advertising has snippets of us boomer women being the first gen to have professional jobs in Corporate America. Remember how we dressed for success and hurried off into the night for our MBA courses ... Now, of course, there will be way more opportunities available with the coming Harris Administration.

In business and life you usually have only one shot at whatever. Up the odds of success with Jane Genova. I am an intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)