Inflation is high. The economy has seen better days. Extremists in Iran are threatening. In these difficult times, a Californian arises with a message of optimism and confidence in this country. Americans who had been nervous about their future suddenly find reason for hope. Is this a description of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is set to be officially confirmed as her party’s presidential nominee at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago? Perhaps, but it’s actually a recollection of 1980 when Ronald Reagan, a former California governor, accepted the Republican nomination for president with a call for Americans to “recapture our destiny.”

Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate, may never be mistaken for Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the former CIA director who served as Reagan’s vice president, but her first two weeks as the Democratic Party’s nominee have been a reminder of the power of positive thinking. A race that looked like a possible landslide in November for former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance when the Republican National Convention convened one month ago in Milwaukee, now looks more like a toss-up. The latest presidential polling shows Harris leading in the popular vote by two or three points. That’s hardly an insurmountable lead but it’s still impressive given that Trump was leading by as many as seven points as recently as July 25.

President Joe Biden’s choice to not seek reelection was, of course, the biggest factor given voter’s mounting concerns about the 81-year-old’s frailty and future. And the Trump ticket didn’t help itself in recent days with its series of controversial claims from the threat of “childless cat ladies” to the false claim that Harris has “turned Black.” Throw in the GOP ticket’s uncertain support for democratic institutions and the rule of law — the claim that Jan. 6 insurrectionists are political prisoners is surely anathema to Reagan Republicans — and it’s not hard to spot which ticket holds the more dismal vision of the country. Harris and her folksy running mate, even in calling GOP opponents “weird,” (which is more lighthearted than “nasty,” “communist” and certain words unworthy of print that Trump has used to describe Harris) have struck a far more optimistic tone about the present and the future.

Whether that upbeat outlook will continue at the United Center and McCormick Place, the main venues for the 2024 Democratic National Convention Aug. 19-22, remains to be seen, but the chances seem high. It’s been working well for the revised Democratic ticket so far, but there’s also the emerging involvement of former President Barack Obama and his allies who so famously campaigned for the White House on “hope and change.” Twenty years ago, it was a young and little-known Black lawmaker who wowed the crowd at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston as the keynote speaker calling for “out of many, one.” The Obama teams knows a thing or two about appealing to Americans’ better angels — to paraphrase another politically gifted Republican who rose from representing Illinois in the U.S. Senate to the presidency.

There are limits to optimism, of course. Harris will need to present a clearer and more detailed platform than has been offered to date. Protesters, particularly those concerned about the death of innocent civilians in Gaza, could disrupt the Democrats’ plans and lay bare a hot-button issue on which there is disagreement within the party. And the Republican ticket may yet get its act together and recognize that they, too, need to show they believe in the idea of America and not just appeal to white nationalists who harbor grudges about those they see as different from themselves and therefore threatening. Gloom and doom may get you TV ratings, but it doesn’t inspire. Americans like to be reminded that better days lie ahead. So far, it’s the Harris-Walz ticket that seems to understand the power of pushing joy.