"Brat" vs "Old Hat"

The Subaru "Brat" popular in the late 1970s

Source: Jacob Frey, via Wikimedia Commons

Some readers are, like me, old enough to remember the odd, little pickup "trucklet" that Subaru produced in the late 1970s called the Brat. It was designed to be a functional compromise between a car and a pickup, and about one hundred thousand of them were sold in the U.S. through the 1980s.

Brat, however, has a wildly different connotation today. Forbes magazine explains what it means to Gen Z (those in their teens and 20s today): a "compliment towards a person or action emulating confident rebellion, playful defiance, and boldness." And Gen Z-fueled social media have ordained Kamala Harris as brat. Though the moniker is cute and seems a little silly, it could signal something more significant.

In contrast to brat, the term old hat refers to "something considered uninteresting, predictable, tritely familiar, or old-fashioned." As CNN commentator David Axelrod (former senior advisor to President Obama) put it, Trump may not want to debate Harris because with the two of them placed side by side on the debate stage, he'll look like the past and she'll look like the future. The observation has since been repeated by other political analysts on other networks.

One distinguishing aspect of this presidential election cycle (and there are many) is that the candidates themselves personify an inflection point in America: It's not just that one is old and the other is young(er). One is white and the other is biracial; one is conservative and the other is progressive; one has already been president while the other would be the first woman to serve in that post. This election comes down to how the American public sees itself—as holding on to the past and how things have always been or as forging ahead to a new reality and a new identity as American.

Historically, looking back is associated with the older generations -- enjoying their memories and feeling nostalgic for the way things used to be. Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" has been successful in part because of its inherent nostalgic implication. When the Trump campaign seized upon this messaging almost 10 years ago, it resonated with a large sector of the American population that felt the America they knew was slipping away.

Looking ahead, by contrast, has traditionally been associated with the younger generations excited for what the future might bring. Accordingly, the Harris campaign's mantra of "Not Going Back" has resonated with her supporters who do not seem to believe that remaking America into what it used to be is the way to go. The "Not Going Back" messaging aligns with the Democratic goal of keeping abortion and IVF safe and legal, which is under threat in many states and nationally from some of the more extreme Republican fringe positions like those contained in Project 2025.

Although Kamala Harris is (sort of) the incumbent, she's been called "the change candidate," partly because she kept a low profile while serving as VP under Biden, while Trump, by contrast, has never really left the spotlight. The debate tomorrow night should serve to help voters decide which vision resonates with them most—holding on to the past or reaching for the future.