So where are we, with Kamala Harris suddenly the Democrats’ presidential nominee?
Joe Biden did an amazingly good job as president with the narrowest of Congressional margins – or none. If he’s been “actively engaged” mostly from 10 to 4 each day, he’s reached some good conclusions, though I can’t defend his unquestioning support of Netanyahu’s Israel. Quitting, he did something few of us could. Yeah, folks pushed him. His action doesn’t rank with George Washington twice refusing to be our monarch; but when Biden could have persevered, he stepped away. J.D. Vance whining “He should resign as President, too!” is a tiny dog yapping at the heels of a very fine horse.
Harris is experiencing a polling “bounce.” She’s fresh, Biden was stale, and Republicans haven’t yet attacked her with full force. Harris set an all-time one-month funding record, with 62% of the donors giving their first donation in this race. Democrats who prayed Biden would withdraw are delighted, and unusually enthusiastic. They’ll need to maintain that energy as precinct walking and phone calls through a tough race.
Her “bounce” reflects serious realities. Voters’ strongest sentiment, particularly among independents, was “Why the [expletive] must I choose between these two superannuated clowns?” The raft of “Never Trump” Republicans tell us many conservatives see – and fear -- the serious dangers Trump presents, but Biden was a bridge too far. They begged for someone else. One party complied. Countering the attacks on Harris is the steady drip of Republicans facing up to Trumpian realities and choosing their country.
She’ll choose a running mate from a strong field.
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly: astronaut! Seriously vetted long ago. Courageous. No politician, until his wife got shot. Her serious injury puts in perspective Mr. Trump’s recent survival of an assassination attempt.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is extremely popular in a deeply Red state. Too, if we called Central Casting seeking a “sincere, idealistic, persuasive male Anglo,” he’s what we’d get. Beshear can also negate J.D. Vance’s claim to represent Appalachians. Beshear really represents them, while Vance, in his book, bragged about personal success and called them lazy. Recently Beshear gave us a great preview, saying quietly that Vance “ain’t from here. He spent summers here. He’s trying to profit off our people, but calling them lazy when they’ve mined all our resources and fought two world wars.” Well said!
Beshear lacks name recognition. Opponents can claim his father’s governorship guaranteed him success. He also hasn’t had to opine regarding the Middle East. And he doesn’t swing a single big state, as Josh Shapiro or Roy Cooper well could.
Does being Jewish mean Shapiro would less strongly reassure middle Americans uneasy about Harris’s ethnicity? Shapiro’s more serious flaw is inexperience. He was elected governor in 2022. Beshear, Cooper, and Tim Walz have each been re-elected after a four-year term. They have executive experience. (Of course, Trump’s executive experiences all ended with bankruptcy and/or lawsuits, or even criminal charges. But Reality TV is more powerful than reality.)
Harris will be attacked on thinly-masked ethnic grounds. She’s a Californian, too. And she’ll be attacked for Biden’s policies. However, she’s spent four years as vice-president, learning, deepening contacts, handling problems, and observing. Gaining patience?
In debate, Biden’s condition distracted viewers from Trump’s increasingly untethered lies. Experienced prosecutor Harris should know how to let Trump’s dishonesty and mental muddiness shine through clearly.
It’s a hell of a race now.
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[The above column appeared Sunday, 28 July, 2024, in the Las Cruces Sun-News and on the newspaper's website and on KRWG’s website, under Local Viewpoints. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM, streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org/). For further information on the topic of this column, please go to my blog, https://soledadcanyon.blogspot.com/ .]
[As days pass, I still like the excitement about Harris I see, I still think her menu of potential running mates is superb, and we’re seeing a little dissension flare up among the Republicans: J.D. Vance is too much of a doubling-down on Trumpian rhetoric, rather than a draw to disaffected independents and troubled Republicans (and women); he’s made some graceless and overstated remarks that have drawn fire from allies; Governor Breshear has shot holes in Vance’s claim to represent Appalachian folks; he’s added to the ticket’s problems with thoughtful female voters; and now that Kamala Harris (as was foreseeable) has ascended to the top spot on the Democratic ticket, some Republicans wish Trump could have been less Trumpish and invited Nikki Haley onto his ticket. Too, one decades-long Republican, whose mother was a Republican state legislator in this state, read through the Republican platform and found it so Trumpish, so senseless, and so unlike traditional Republican conservatism that she changed her registration to Independent.]
[It’s a tight race. Harris still trails, and the electoral college still favors Republicans; and better-aimed attacks on her will come. A Democratic friend who said, “It went from an unwinnable race to a race that’s ours to lose” was, in my view, too optimistic. But, for now, the Democrats have more excitement, are saying and doing things that are getting more and better media attention, and clearly have the momentum. Like a football game in which you’re still down a field goal, maybe a TD, but have narrowed the gap from 18 or 21 to 7 or 3, with time left. Mr. Trump still has a solid base who love him. There are still many who buy into the Republican arguments that there problems are caused not by economic inequality or big corporations ripping us all off and dictating to our government, but by people getting abortions, not sticking solely to male-female relationships, and/or getting a break on their student loans. That seems as inaccurate as ever, but so do a lot of things that many human beings believe.
I do think enough level-headed folks, of varying ideologies, will wake up to the fact that Mr. Trump’s disqualifying points transcend normal politics. But Mr. Trump has won once and lost one close one (after we’d seen four years of him), so I ain’t bettin’ the farm on that. ]
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