海角大神

[Updated at 7:17 a.m. on July 28, 2016.]

When it comes to tone, the contrast between the conventions in Philadelphia and Cleveland could not be more stark.

Democrats this week have been hammering home those differences: an ostentatious emphasis on love, hope, change, optimism, and togetherness.

鈥淭his year, in this election, I鈥檓 asking you to join me 鈥� to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summon what鈥檚 best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation," said President Obama on Wednesday night. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 fear the future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own.鈥�

Even the criticisms of Republican nominee Donald Trump 鈥� while plentiful, and increasingly piercing as the week has gone on 鈥� have been more muted than the 鈥淟ock her up!鈥� rhetoric so plentiful at the Republican convention.聽

The question is which vision will resonate with American voters who, by some measures, are less optimistic and more distrustful of government than at any time in recent history.

Trump got a significant post-convention bounce, according to some polls.聽It may have been fleeting, but there seems to be no question that for certain groups of voters, his more dystopian picture of an America in decline 鈥� threatened by lawlessness, disorder, terrorism, racial tension, and economic collapse 鈥� is one that resonates with them.

While Trump supporters say he鈥檚 demonstrating the clear-sighted wisdom and courage needed to protect America, Democrats say he is stoking fear.

鈥淏oth parties are struggling to tell a story about who the country is and where it鈥檚 going that includes everybody,鈥� says Robert Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), a nonpartisan research organization, and the author of 鈥淭he End of White 海角大神 America.鈥�

鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 strategy has been to double-down on looking back to this mythical golden age, and Democrats are trying a different strategy of looking forward to pluralism and a younger demographic and what it looks like,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭he danger for Trump is that it鈥檚 going to be an appeal that doesn鈥檛 resonate outside of white 海角大神 working-class Americans and he鈥檒l lose a generation of supporters. The challenge for Democrats is that those white working-class voters still make up 40 percent of the country. You can鈥檛 have a message that excludes them either.鈥澛� 聽

Veering into an anti-Trump tone

Historically, American presidential candidates have run 鈥� and won 鈥� on optimism, and the Clinton campaign is banking on that being the case even in this year of anti-establishment sentiment.

鈥淥ur convention is going to be optimistic, it鈥檚 going to be hopeful, and it鈥檚 going to be talking about specific plans,鈥� Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters Monday morning.

For the first half of the convention, that was largely the case, even down to the signs distributed for delegates to wave on the floor: 鈥淪tronger Together.鈥� 鈥淩ise Together.鈥� On Wednesday night,聽top Broadway performers coming out to sing 鈥淲hat the world needs now is love,鈥� after which the audience chanted 鈥淟ove Trumps Hate鈥� for several minutes.

But the same evening,聽the convention veered much more sharply into an anti-Trump tone, away from the relentlessly upbeat first two days.

鈥淯nlike that immigrant-bashing, carnival barker Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton understands the enduring symbol of the United States of America is not a barbed-wire fence. It is the Statue of Liberty,鈥� said former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. "I say to hell with Trump鈥檚 American nightmare. We believe in the American dream.鈥�

'We don't abandon our values'

Still, if Trump titled his book 鈥淐rippled America鈥� and declared himself the 鈥渓aw-and-order candidate,鈥� the only one who can fix a rigged system and 鈥渕ake America great again,鈥� the dominant themes in Philadelphia have been ones of togetherness, diversity, and an emphasis on American values of inclusion rather than a need to close off borders.

Monday night, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker鈥檚 speech on love and gratitude induced comparisons by some commentators to President Obama鈥檚 2004 convention speech that helped launch his meteoric rise.聽

鈥淎mericans, at our best, stand up to bullies and fight those who seek to demean and degrade others,鈥� said Senator Booker, who delivered his remarks in the strains of a sermon. 鈥淚n times of crisis we don鈥檛 abandon our values 鈥� we double-down on them. Even in the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln called to the best of the country by saying, 鈥榃ith malice toward none and charity toward all.鈥� 鈥�

Michelle Obama, in the best received speech of the convention so far, reminded her audience of the core American principles of opportunity.

鈥淒on鈥檛 let anyone ever tell you that this country is not great,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on Earth.鈥澛�

Trump more attuned to zeitgeist?

Those messages have been well received by delegates here 鈥� and echo the optimistic messages candidates typically employ 鈥� but it鈥檚 also possible that Trump is more attuned to the current zeitgeist.

After all, the success of Sanders was also rooted, in many ways, in his ability to address voters鈥� concerns and frustrations. Trump has focused on lawlessness and terrorism 鈥撀爌ointing the finger at undocumented immigrants and Muslims. Sanders tapped into fury at Wall Street and campaign corruption, and highlighted class divisions.

And both he and Trump tapped into Americans鈥� economic insecurities, anger at Washington and the establishment, and their sense that the system is rigged against them.

This year is becoming known as the anti-establishment, anti-incumbent year for a reason, says Tarin Nix, a political consultant from New Mexico who鈥檚 in Philadelphia as a Hillary delegate. She says that she hopes that phenomenon has seen its peak, but worries that some people, responding to the fears stoked by Republicans, and fed up with the status quo, may go into the voting booth in November and secretly vote for Trump.

鈥淚 think that for the last eight years they ran on hope, and people don鈥檛 feel like hope delivered. The argument is that hope didn鈥檛 deliver, but fear does,鈥� Ms. Nix says. 鈥淭he goal of this convention is to prove that hope and progress can still come out ahead of fear and hate.鈥�

Polls show racial, partisan divides on optimism

Numerous polls have shown a divide on optimism that exists on racial as well as partisan lines 鈥� one reason, perhaps, that Clinton fared better with minorities and Sanders did well among white voters. A poll conducted by the Atlantic and the Aspen Institute last year found that less than half of white Americans believe the country鈥檚 鈥渂est days鈥� lie ahead of it, compared with some 80 percent of African Americans.

And an NBC Wall Street Journal poll last year found that just 22 percent of likely Republican voters are optimistic about the direction of the country, compared with 89 percent of likely Democratic voters.

Meanwhile, when PRRI asked respondents in its annual American 海角大神 Survey whether they believed America has changed for the better or the worse since the 1950s, the country was divided down the middle, says Jones. White 海角大神s, Republicans, and older white Americans believe it鈥檚 changed for the worse, while African-Americans, Latinos, younger Americans, and Democrats say it鈥檚 changed for the better.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an exaggeration to say that Trump鈥檚 ascendancy as a lead candidate has turned into a referendum on the death of that cultural and economic world of the 1950s, particularly for white, working-class Americans,鈥� says Jones.

More distrust of government

Many analysts have drawn comparisons between this year and 1968, a year that also saw significant turmoil: student protests, riots, the Vietnam war, racial tensions, assassinations. And the Trump campaign said his convention speech was modeled on Nixon鈥檚 1968 speech, which also promised law and order and painted a bleak vision of an America in crisis: 鈥渃ities in smoke and flame,鈥� 鈥渟irens in the night,鈥� and 鈥淎mericans dying on distant battlefields abroad.鈥�

Last week, Trump told his audience that 鈥渙ur Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.鈥�

But American voters are also a very different group than they were in the 1960s: not only more diverse, but also less likely to trust government and institutions. Whereas Nixon was banking on Americans鈥� faith in government and institutions to restore order, Trump is capitalizing on his outsider status.

'I don't want to go back to the 1950s'

In Philadelphia, Clinton supporters and delegates say they understand why Trump鈥檚 message 鈥� in which he and his surrogates talk about soaring crime rates and unemployment (sometimes using inaccurate statistics, according to fact-checking groups), and warn of more terrorist attacks and a crashing economy unless he closes off borders and restores order 鈥� may appeal to Americans feeling left behind or left vulnerable by liberal policies they see as na茂ve or ill-founded.

But they hope that Clinton鈥檚 message resonates with more people, and appeals to Americans鈥� best instincts.

鈥淣o one is arguing that the way things are today is perfect,鈥� says Diane Stollenwerk, a Clinton supporter from Baltimore, walking outside Philadelphia鈥檚 City Hall with her wife.

鈥淚 think the crossroads is whether you fix it by dividing people further or you fix it by bringing people together,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭he message this week is about bringing people together, and for those of us who are motivated by love and a positive optimism, it鈥檚 far more uplifting to think that鈥檚 how we鈥檙e going to fix the challenges as opposed to thinking about dividing, because that鈥檚 never an effective strategy.鈥�

Bear Atwood, a Clinton delegate and lawyer from Mississippi, agrees.

鈥淚 think there are solutions, moving forward solutions, and I don鈥檛 want to go back to the 1950s, thank you very much,鈥� says Ms. Atwood, taking a short break from the convention floor to have some pizza. 鈥淲here鈥檚 the perfect moment? I think it鈥檚 ahead of us.鈥�

Story Hinckley contributed reporting from Philadelphia.