FRIDAY 8/23/24

There was much familiar in Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech for her nomination as Democratic presidential candidate. And yet, there was much new in its execution. As a former prosecutor and San Francisco district attorney, Harris no doubt has made countless closing arguments. But her national performances as a speaker have heretofore been less than engaging, until now. 

Harris began, as many politicians do, with anecdotes about her late mother and her family’s humble middle-class upbringing in the flats of the San Francisco area’s East Bay.

“She taught us to never complain about injustice, but to do something about it. Do something about it.”

And … “And never do anything half-assed.”

Her speech was not the least bit half-assed, even as she riffed on familiar themes. Much of the Harris/Walz campaign is about preventing a “tyrant,” ex-President Trump, from returning to power, though she did outline some specific agenda items.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious,” she said.

Harris continued, “we are not going back … And we are charting a new way forward, with a way forward for the middle-class,” a defining goal of her presidency. 

As president, Harris intends to “create an opportunity economy,” she said, offering labor, small enterprise and businesses “the chance to compete and the chance to succeed,” with a federal program to provide capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses. 

Her plans for a middle-class tax cut contrasts with “another (Trump) tax break that will add $5 billion to the national deficit.” 

There’s also legislation restoring Roe v. Wade that a President Harris would sign, along with the bipartisan border bill that Trump killed because he wanted to keep the issue for his campaign.

But it’s on the international issues that must have been terra infirma for her.

“Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelenskyy to warn him about Russia’s plans to invade,” Harris said. “I helped mobilize a global response – over 50 countries – to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.”

Then she tried to make up some ground lost to “uncommitted” Democratic voters on the issue of a ceasefire in Gaza, saying “now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done,” adding that she always stands for Israel’s right to defend and arm itself, while acknowledging “so many innocent lives lost” in Gaza, filled with hungry, desperate people. “President Biden and I are working to end this war.”

--Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Charles Dervarics

The speeches ran long again Wednesday on a celebrity-filled night in Chicago, but fortunately for Democrats, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz showed he’s a former football coach who knows the value of a powerful pep talk.

In a folksy 18-minute address, Walz introduced himself to the nation as a farm boy, veteran, teacher, and (by the way) a politician whose humble roots will serve him well as Kamala Harris’ Vice President. He also highlighted his background as a high school football coach, with members of his state championship team — in their team jerseys — coming out on stage.

That was just the start of the football analogies. Of the tight presidential race, he said, “It’s the fourth quarter, we’re down a field goal but we have the ball and we’re driving downfield. Our job is to get into the trenches and do the blocking and tackling.”

Of the Republicans’ Project 2025, he said not to take the GOP’s word that they are abandoning this governing blueprint. “When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’ll use it.”

He also drew wide applause by proclaiming “never underestimate a teacher” when citing his gubernatorial accomplishments such as paid family leave and free meals for school-age children. “While other schools were banning books from their schools, we were eliminating hunger at ours.”

With shouts of “Coach, Coach” from the crowd, he also offered his takes on these hot-button issues:

•On Abortion: Regarding reproductive rights, he said Minnesotans have a rule: “Mind your own damn business.”

•On Guns: He described himself as a hunter who’s “a better shot” than many Republicans in Congress. Still, he has signed gun safety laws as it’s “our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.”

With Walz’ nomination complete, the last remaining task for Democrats is Harris’ speech Thursday where she will accept the nomination for president. 

•••

Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder and John Legend were among the celebrities on stage Wednesday for speeches and music. Winfrey noted that she’s not a registered Democrat but urged fellow independents to support Harris. She said character and values “matter most of all.”

•••

The night’s speakers also included Republicans critical of Trump, including Geoff Duncan, lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2019 to 2023. Duncan talked about Trump’s detailed efforts to undermine Georgia’s 2020 election tally, which led to Republicans repeatedly protesting at Duncan’s home when he did not want to alter the results. 

“These days our party acts more like a cult — a cult worshipping a felonious thug,” he said. “If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat. You’re a patriot.”

•••

Former President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office in 2001, but last night he noted that he’s still younger than Donald Trump. It’s one of the ways the presidential race has changed in the past month, with Trump now facing questions about his ability to serve as president as he nears age 80. 

Clinton returned to familiar territory though, by claiming the GOP nominee cares more about himself than the country. “The next time you listen to him, don’t count the lies. Count the I’s.” 

Clinton was known to be a fast-food aficionado — satirized on Saturday Night Live among others — and he leaned into this Wednesday night. Noting that Kamala Harris worked at McDonald’s when she was young, the former president was glad that a President Harris would set one new mark: “She will break my record for the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s.”

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Todd Lassa

Lines for entry into a rally for the Democratic presidential ticket wrapped a couple of blocks around the Fiserv Forum Tuesday evening, leading one man in one line to wonder whether we would make it inside before the program was to start at 7 pm. The Fiserv Forum’s capacity is 17,341 when configured for Milwaukee Bucks NBA games, so let there be no doubt that about 17,000 supporters (and this reporter) shlepped out to see the presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, a number that must have rivaled attendance at the very same venue a month earlier for the Republican National Convention. 

One of the charged-up supporters to see Harris and Walz divert 90 miles or so north from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was Milwaukeean Joyce Fowler, who says she would not have made the same effort for a Joe Biden rally.

“I think he made the right decision,” she said of Biden, “and Kamala ought to make a good president.”

Fowler did not single out any issue that binds her vote to Harris, though she added that it is “crucial” that Donald J. Trump be defeated in November. Fowler, who is Black, lamented that her son plans to vote for the Republican rival.

Nathanial Brown of Brown Deer, Wisconsin, said he would have come out for a Biden/Harris rally. For him, the big issue is what he described as Trump’s threat to American democracy.

Retired teacher Edward Croke, of Milwaukee, said; “I feel we need more progressive people. Like (Sen.) Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and (Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio) Cortez (D-NY), and these older people, they shouldn’t be there.

“I like Biden. I think he was given, excuse my language, a big fucking mess from Trump, and he had to deal with it. And he did.”

Inside, the program began at 7 pm with the big, ceiling-mounted Bucks video scoreboard broadcasting the ceremonial convention roll call (Harris was officially nominated August 7) from Chicago. 

You can see from our photograph that the Editorial We ended up just short of the very last row. Acoustics were such that it often was hard to make out what anyone was saying. 

Walz came out solo about halfway through the roll call and declared the Democratic crowd more enthusiastic than the Republican crowd in July.

Back to the Chicago video feed, the Fiserv crowd cheered especially for the Democratic superstars as they rattled off delegate counts – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Some of the states had small numbers of delegates – often just one – vote “present” or “absent” in protest of the Biden/Harris administration’s support of the Israeli government in its execution of the war in Gaza.

The Fiserv crowd erupted loudly when the Wisconsin delegation came on the scoreboard-screen, drowning out apparent flubs by Gov. Tony Evers. Then Wyoming, and then Minnesota and California in honor of their favorite son and daughter, and then, finally, Vice President Harris came out to speak. 

She warned it’s “going to be a tight race” … 

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work,” Harris said, adding her side will win “because we’re going to put a lot of hard work into the next 77 days.”

A disruption several sections over appeared to be from a pro-Palestinian protester; all that could be made out of a crumpled banner he or she had previously held was the word, “genocide.”

Meanwhile, Harris emphasized the parts of her agenda that could be most important in the remaining 76 days. These include her $6,000 child tax credit, calling out the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 (even as Trump denies any serious knowledge of plans to take over the federal bureaucracy) and, of course, women’s reproductive rights remain important. 

Harris’ brief pause to get help from medics for someone who apparently had collapsed behind the nylon cordon a few feet from her stage drew admiring cheers from the audience. 

The vice president concluded with one of her campaign’s recurring slogans, “We’re not going back.” (Blue rectangular cards with the word “Freedom” printed on it also were handed out to the audience.)

“Just like the Wisconsin state motto tells us,” Harris concluded; “Forward.”

It’s going to be a long 76 days forward to the presidential election.

Posted WEDNESDAY 8/21/24

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Charles Dervarics

It wasn’t the Democratic convention that Joe Biden envisioned for 2024. Instead, his appearance Monday in Chicago — part campaign speech, part wistful reflection on his career — represented the end of an era as the president made clear he is turning the keys over to new management.

With a speech that pulled on a few heartstrings, Biden touted his administration’s progress to overcome the pandemic, create new infrastructure and manufacturing jobs, reduce drug prices and install the most diverse cabinet in history. “We’ve had the most extraordinary four years of progress,” he said.

To steady chants of “Thank you Joe” and “We love Joe,” the president reflected on why he ran for president in 2020 — to honor his late son, Beau, and to help restore democracy amid the turmoil of Donald Trump’s presidency. 

“I made a lot of mistakes in my career. But I gave my best to you for 50 years,” he said. “Like many of you, I give my heart and soul to our nation.”

Even with the warm reception for Biden, the night’s activities illustrated the fast-changing political landscape of the past month. Vice President Kamala Harris made the unusual step of appearing on stage the first night of the convention, both to introduce herself to delegates and urge them to give Biden a warm welcome. 

A video and speeches about Harris’ early years were just some of the many activities that pushed Biden’s speech back until 11:30 p.m., well after prime-time television on the East Coast.

Biden spoke briefly about the tumultuous events of the past month when he faced pressure to step aside due to his age and eventually withdrew and endorsed his vice president.

The 81-year-old president said it is “not true” that he is angry at those who urged him to end his candidacy. “I love the job, but I love my country more.” Of Harris, he said, “She’s tough, she’s experienced, and she has enormous integrity.”

He also noted that his half-century career in national politics began as a 29-year-old elected to the U.S. Senate, where the minimum age to serve is 30. “I've either been too young to be in the Senate because I wasn't 30 yet or too old to stay as president. But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you.”

•••

Some “apparently uncommitted” delegates unfolded a protest banner during Biden’s speech, according to The Washington Post. Outside, the “tens of thousands” of pro-Palestinian protesters organizers had predicted turned out in far lower numbers. Dozens broke through part of a perimeter security fence, which drew riot police to the site, according to a Reuters witness. Chicago Police declined to say how many were arrested.

•••

While Biden’s late speech served as the highlight of the evening, it was not the only dramatic event of the night. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain introduced a new campaign slogan when he removed his jacket to reveal a red t-shirt with the words “Trump is a Scab! Vote Harris!”

The convention hall quieted during a series of short speeches about protecting reproductive rights. Most dramatic was the story of Hadley Duvall, a victim of sexual assault who became pregnant by her stepfather at age 12. “What is so beautiful about a child having to carry her parent’s child?” she told the crowd.

And Hillary Clinton connected the past and future in an address criticizing Trump and calling on Americans to break the glass ceiling to elect a female president. “We have him on the run now,” she said of the former president. At one point, the crowd chanted “lock him up” in reference to Trump’s recent felony convictions—a stark difference from 2016 when Trump supporters used “lock her up” as a chant against Clinton, then the Democratic nominee, over her email controversy.

_____________________________________________

DNC Week -- MON 8/19/24

Prepping for a Loss – While Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has said he will accept the results of a “free and fair” election, he is defining for his supporters what that means; “This was an overthrow of the president. This was an overthrow,” Trump said at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, of President Biden stepping down from the race last month, The Washington Post reports. “It was a coup of a president. This was a coup.” Beware January 6, 2025.

•••

Of Protests and Ceasefires – As pro-Palestinian protesters gather around the DNC in Chicago, Gaza war ceasefire talks are moving this week from Qatar to Egypt, where stubborn resistance from Hamas leaders and from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far prevailed. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says this week’s talks are “maybe the last chance” for a Gaza ceasefire, according to The New York Times. 

•••

Zelenskyy Explains – What’s Ukraine doing in Russia? Has been the much-asked question since the counter-invasion earlier this month. Ukraine is creating a “buffer zone on the territory,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained in his Sunday address, Newsweek reports. Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian forces destroyed a second bridge in Russia’s Kursk region.

“It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall, to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible. … In particular, this is the creation of a buffer zone on the territory of our aggressor – our operation in Kursk Oblast.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Waiting for the Fed -- July’s Consumer Price Index all but assures the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates when it next meets in September. The CPI dropped to 2.9% for July, from 3.0% in June, marking its lowest level since March 2021, the Labor Department reports. Prices increased 0.2% in July over June, with shelter up 0.4%, accounting for 90% of the increase for all prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food was up 0.2%, food away from home was up 0.2%, and food at home was up 0.1%, while all prices except food and energy rose 0.2%. [Chart: BLS]

FRIDAY 8/16/24

It’s the Economy, Stupid – Ex-President Donald J. Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic policy Thursday at a press conference held at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club ahead of the Democratic presidential candidate’s unveiling of her economic policy in a Raleigh, North Carolina, appearance Friday.  

Her “populist” agenda, according to The Washington Post features …

•Elimination of medical debt for millions of Americans.

•”First-ever” ban on price gouging for groceries and food.

•Cap on prescription drug costs.

•$25,000 subsidy for first-time home buyers.

•Child tax credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life.

The last plank follows Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s suggestion earlier in August that the child tax credit be raised from $2,000 to $6,000, WaPo notes.

The price gouging ban gave Trump fodder at his Thursday presser that “radical left” California politician Harris wants to put “price controls all over the place, which will end up driving up your prices, not down your prices,” USA Today reports. Trump held up examples of foodstuffs to highlight grocery inflation, including Oreos, Froot Loops, Cheerios and an impossibly downsized container of Tic Tacs. 

Trump also attacked the Biden/Harris administration’s favorable jobs growth and unemployment rate record, which has generally gone unnoticed by voters. He claimed without evidence that “virtually 100%” of net job growth over the last year has gone to migrants, “actually beyond the number of 100%.”

•••

Vance Wrote the Forward – Donald J. Trump has spent much of the summer trying to distance himself from Project 2025, the 900-some page Heritage Foundation book that, among other things, would consolidate presidential power, eliminate various federal agencies and promote a “Christian nation.” 

In an August 6 speech in Philadelphia, with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris standing behind him, running mate Tim Walz said: “JD Vance literally, literally wrote the forward for the architect of the Project 2025 agenda. 

Friday PolitiFact:Daily confirmed Walz’s charge. Vance wrote the forward for Kevin Roberts’ book, Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America. PolitiFact cites HarperCollins Publishers’ website and “other marketing materials” as proof. 

Whatever your opinion, be sure to give Walz credit for correct use of the word, “literally.”

--TL

_____________________________________________

THURSDAY 8/15/24

Reviving Ceasefire Negotiations? – Negotiations to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire were set to resume Thursday in Doha, Qatar, where mediators from Qatar, Egypt, the US and Israel are to take up the deal President Biden proposed May 31. Talks over that proposal have been stalled.

Problem is, it appears that Hamas, whose chief negotiator was killed in July 31 by an explosive device in a Tehran guesthouse, will not attend.

Phase I of Biden’s deal would have been a six-week ceasefire in which all hostages and detainees were to be released while Israel and Hamas were to negotiate Phase II, a complete and final ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants Israel to resume its war on Gaza after Phase I, if necessary.

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza reported Thursday that the death toll there has topped 40,000. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and soldiers killed, according to NPR.

Competing interests: Haaretz reported earlier this week that while the war in Gaza drags on, Netanyahu is quietly working to advance his overhaul of the Israeli Supreme Court, which would limit its ability to overturn Netanyahu’s decisions it finds “extremely unreasonable.” Biden, on the other hand, hopes a ceasefire will diffuse a movement by pro-Palestinian Democrats to withhold their votes on November 5.

•••

Harris Leads in Battlegrounds – Vice President Kamala Harris leads Donald J. Trump in five battleground states, is tied in a sixth, and is behind in the seventh, in the non-partisan Cook Political Report’s Swing State Project Survey conducted by BSG and GS Strategy Group. In a head-to-head race, Harris leads Trump nationally, 48% to 47%. 

In the Swing State Survey, Harris leads Trump in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They are tied in Georgia and Trump leads in Nevada.

Meanwhile: Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton infamously avoided campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris will not make that mistake. She plans to visit Milwaukee next Tuesday while former President Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (per The New York Times). Harris will appear with running mate Tim Walz at Fiserv Forum, where the Republican National Convention was held last month.

•••

Menendez Sub in Senate – Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy intends to appoint his former chief of staff, George Helmy, to serve out the rest of Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s term this year, CQ Roll Call reports, citing “multiple New Jersey media outlets.” 

Menendez, who was found guilty in July of multiple federal charges, including acting as a foreign agent, steps down from his Senate seat next Tuesday. 

Murphy might have appointed the Democratic nominee for Menendez’s seat, Rep. Andy Kim, but Kim defeated Tammy Murphy, the governor’s wife, in the New Jersey Democratic primary. Kim faces Republican candidate Curtis Bashaw November 5.

--TL

_____________________________________________

...meanwhile... WEDNESDAY 8/14/24

Ukraine Keeps Pushing into Russia – Ukraine hit four Russian airbases with four long-range drones overnight Wednesday, The Kyiv Independent reports, citing a source from the SBU, Ukraine’s security service. It is Ukraine’s largest such attack since pushing into Russia’s Kursk region more than a week ago. 

Earlier, according to the report, Russia claimed it had downed 110 Ukrainian drones in a massive attack. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that the governor of Belgorod Oblast has declared a state of emergency as Ukraine’s military moves into the region adjacent to Kursk.

•••

Omar Survives Primary – Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza beat centrist liberal Don Samuels in Minnesota’s primary election Tuesday, the AP reports. She escapes the fate that befell two fellow “Squad” members, Rep. Cori Bush, who lost the Democratic nomination in Missouri last week, and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who lost the Democratic nomination in New York in June. Samuels, Omar’s challenger for her Minnesota 5^th District seat, is an ex-Minneapolis City Council member she narrowly defeated in 2022.

Reports indicate Omar was not subject to a well-funded opposition campaign by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s United Democracy Project, which is credited with defeating Bush and Bowman.

•••

In Wisconsin – Trump-backed businessman Eric Hovde won the state’s Republican nomination Tuesday to take on two-term Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November, per USA Today. In Wisconsin’s 3^rd House District small business owner Rebecca Cooke defeated state Rep. Katrina Shankland in the Democratic primary to take on freshman Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden November 5. The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates Wisconsin’s 3^rd as “lean Republican,” according to USA Today.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news