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