Category: Politics

Kamala Harris Rips Trump As ‘Unstable, Obsessed With Revenge’ At Ellipse
By Kaitlin Lewis for Newsweek.com
More than 75,000 spectators gathered in Washington, D.C., to hear Vice President Kamala Harris’ closing argument speech at the same site of former President Donald Trump’s infamous “Save America” rally that preceded the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Harris’ event at the Ellipse arrived one week before Election Day and followed Trump’s closing arguments at Madison Square Garden on Sunday that received backlash for its inflammatory and racist rhetoric.

From the New York Times Editorial Board:
It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks.

Those disqualifying characteristics are compounded by everything else that limits his ability to fulfill the duties of the president: his many criminal charges, his advancing age, his fundamental lack of interest in policy and his increasingly bizarre cast of associates.

This unequivocal, dispiriting truth — Donald Trump is not fit to be president — should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election.

For this reason, regardless of any political disagreements voters might have with her, Kamala Harris is the only patriotic choice for president.

Only two weeks remain until Election Day.
I was reminded today by someone on the radio that the 2020 election was only called on Saturday Nov. 5— four days after Election Day (Tuesday Nov. 1).

Written for deadline.com by Ted Johnson and Dominic Patten on Nov 7, 2020:
After days of wait over a seemingly glacial pace of ballot counting, CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer called the presidential race for Joe Biden at 11:24:20 AM ET, the first of the networks to declare the winner.

“After four long tense days, we have reached a historic moment in this election,” Blitzer said. “We can now project the winner of the presidential race.”

What triggered it? The latest report of votes coming in from Pennsylvania, which put Biden’s margin over Trump at more than 30,000. Although the trendlines have been in Biden’s direction, network decision desks had been reluctant to make the call until they could better discern the remaining vote.

Analyst Van Jones broke down in tears. “It’s easier to be a parent this morning. It’s easier to be a dad. It’s easier to tell your kids, character matters. It matters. Telling the truth matters.”

My ballot landed in the mailbox today. I walk down to the drop box here on Broadway in Seattle’s Capitol Hill tomorrow, and drop it in tomorrow.

Here’s Ezra Klein writing in an opinion piece for the New York Times called ‘Ignore The Polls’, Oct. 13, 2024:

There are voters who are still undecided, but they are, almost by definition, voters who pay less attention to political news and are either so uninterested in politics or so cynical about both candidates that nothing has yet caused them to make up their minds. There are many more voters whose minds are made up but may or may not actually fill out ballots by Election Day. These are the voters who will decide the election, and they’re not tipping their hands yet.

I suspect, if you’re reading this column, you’re not one of those voters. So give yourself a break. Step off the emotional roller coaster. If you want to do something to affect the election, donate money or time in a swing state — ideally to a state party or down-ballot race, where your efforts will go further — or volunteer in a local race. Call anyone in your life who might actually be undecided or might not be registered to vote or might not make it to the polls. And then let go. There’s nothing more you can do, and nothing more the polls can do for you.

Happy Friday.
Early voting has started across the country.
In Georgia, former president Jimmy Carter (100 years old) has voted for Harris-Walz.
My ballot has not arrived yet, but it should land in my mailbox any day now.

Happy Friday.
Thirty-two days to go.

“After tonight, I don’t think Donald Trump will be insisting on another debate.”
– Whit Ayres, Republican Pollster

“Trump looked angry, scowling, and old”
– Chris Wallace on CNN tonight

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.”
– Taylor Swift in an Instagram post to her 283 million followers

---

By all accounts (that matter), Vice President Kamala Harris acquitted herself very, very well during the debate tonight with Trump.

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer writes for The Washington Post:
Harris’s strategy was to get under Trump’s skin, a campaign official said, and she did that.
A few examples:
She said people leave his rallies early “out of exhaustion and boredom.”
She said military leaders have told her he’s a “disgrace.”
She said 81 million people fired him and “he is having a very difficult time processing that.”
She said Russian President Vladimir Putin would “eat you for lunch.”

There goes August, leaving us with 66 days to go until Nov. 5.

The convention in Chicago is over.
The Democratic Party’s nominee for president took the stage tonight in Chicago to rapturous applause and accepted the nomination.
I liked all of Harris’s speech: the story of her life, how everyone counts in a democracy, and saying she will be a president that is realistic and practical, and that she will always fight for the American people.

Nandita Bose, Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu reporting for Reuters:
Harris drew a series of contrasts with Trump, accusing him of not fighting for the middle class, planning to enact a tax hike through his tariff proposals, and having set in motion the end of a constitutional right to abortion with his picks for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here’s Minnesota governor Tim Walz (picked by Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for Vice President), addressing the conventioneers tonight.

Happy Monday.
The Democratic National Convention is underway.

The Democratic Party’s national convention starts tomorrow in Chicago.
A headline in the New York Times reads ‘Democrats’ Unity Convention Has One Giant Exception: The Gaza War’.

From bbc.com:
President Biden will headline the convention on Monday night. The crowd will also hear from First Lady Jill Biden, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Democratic leaders.
On Tuesday, former President Barack Obama is expected to deliver remarks. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Ms Harris’s husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, will also address the convention on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s line-up reportedly features former President Bill Clinton and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, among others.
Ms Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will give the prime-time speech that night after his nomination.
The most important night of the convention is Thursday, when Vice-President Harris will take the stage. She will formally accept the presidential nomination and give her speech on the final night of the convention dedicated “For the Future.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will also take the stage at some point during the week.

I was convinced that VP Kamala Harris would pick Governor Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania as her running mate, but we learned this morning that it is Governor Tim Walz from Minnesota.

Here’s Lisa Lerer writing for the New York Times:
In selecting Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris has picked a partner who is many things she is not: a product of small-town America. A union member known to campaign in a T-shirt and camo hat. A white guy who exudes Midwestern dad energy.

And, perhaps most important, a politician who has had to rely on the support of independent, or even Republican, voters to win elections.

Their pairing is somewhat predictable; a cardinal rule of vice-presidential selection is to construct the ticket with political balance in mind. But it is also a statement about what many Democrats believe is one of Ms. Harris’s key vulnerabilities: that she is perceived as too liberal, putting even the small slice of rural, working-class and moderate voters that she needs across Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan out of her reach.

Veepstakes is an informal term for the quadrennial process in which candidates for president of the United States select a running mate.
If the ticket wins, the running mate becomes the vice president of the United States— and first in line to the presidency.
-Wikipedia

---

The Trump campaign announced that their candidate is backing out of the second debate that had been scheduled for Sep. 10 (that would have been with Pres. Biden, but would now be with Vice Pres. Harris).

We should know in two weeks who the other name on the Democratic Party’s ticket is, for the Nov. 2024 election for president of the United States.

The Associated Press reported late today that Harris had secured the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to capture the nomination in the first round of voting.
On Day 1 of her campaign, she drew endorsements from her final possible rivals, hauled in record sums of cash and attacked Donald Trump.

Should the Democrats have spent more time and effort to hold a mini primary, or townhalls, or debates, to encourage challengers to Kamala* Harris to step forward? Probably not.
*Pronounce comma-la as in ,-la

Says Lydia Polgreen from the NYT:
I think Harris will be fine. We are all overestimating Trump’s strength. Our colleague Jamelle Bouie has been saying for a while that the vibe feels very 2016, with the soothing sense of inevitability on the G.O.P. side rather than the Democratic side. I agree. I think there is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for anyone but Biden or Trump, and it might matter a lot less than we think who the person who stands in is.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President.
And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.
For my part: my very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President.
And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.
Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.
Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”
– A message from President Biden on the Biden-Harris campaign website

---

To be sure, Vice President Kamala Harris is not officially the candidate for President yet— that is what the upcoming Democratic National Convention is for, which starts Aug. 19.
There is no formal rule-based structure that transfers pledged delegates from one candidate to another (Biden to Harris) ahead of the Democratic National Convention.
Under the Democratic National Committee rules, pledged delegates are bound to initially vote for the candidate they’re assigned.
Since Biden has left the race, delegates are now free to support whomever they choose.
Biden’s endorsement will nudge them towards voting for Harris, though.
A much more forceful endorsement would have been for Biden to resign as President, handing over the reigns to Harris, and vaulting her to the top of the ticket that she has been on all along.

Today the Washington Post reported that former President Barack Obama has said (in private conversations), that President Joe Biden’s chances at a successful presidential run in 2024 have declined and that he needs to examine whether it’s the best choice for him to remain in the race.