Your thoughts on some progressive commentators mocking mainstream liberal US Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow’s drumline entrance at Michigan's Democratic convention today? Is such mockery effective?
Video & tweet link for context: https://x.com/EmmaVigeland/status/2045918846842732867
I’ve been seeing a lot of progressive commentators on X making fun of US Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow for walking into the Michigan Democratic Party endorsement convention with a drumline and supporters. Progressives are calling it “cringe” or “millennial cringe.”
For context, McMorrow is a Michigan state senator running in a competitive three-way Democratic primary against moderate Haley Stevens and progressive-backed Abdul El-Sayed. McMorrow is running as a "mainstream liberal," receiving endorsements from sitting Democratic Senators like Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy, Martin Heinrich, and Peter Welch. Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi endorsed moderate Stevens.
McMorrow's drumline entrance happened during caucus meetings at the state party convention. Here’s the tweet from Emma Vigeland, co-host of The Majority Report with Sam Seder, where she links to the video and calls it "millennial cringe*."* Pastor Ben also piles on in the comments:
Video & tweet link: https://x.com/EmmaVigeland/status/2045918846842732867
I’ll be honest, this mockery rubbed me the wrong way. I’m a professional musician and drummer. I did four years of high school marching band, played bass, tenors, and snare drums in the drumline. After high school, I went to an HBCU and marched cymbals one year and snare drum the rest. I also marched a summer of Drum Corps International and have performed in marching bands at the Rose Bowl and Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Drumline and marching band are a huge part of my identity, and as a Black musician, it’s deeply tied to culture, especially HBCU show-style bands.
Seeing something like this dismissed as “millennial cringe” by progressives feels insulting and dismissive of something I take seriously and value a lot. I thought it was awesome to see that kind of marching band energy and drumline representation in a mainstream political setting.
If people want to criticize McMorrow’s policy positions, including on foreign policy, that makes sense. But mocking the style of an entrance like this instead of engaging on substance just feels like an ad hominem.