The optics were perfect. The crowd was large. Media reviews were positive.
But at the heart of Kamala Harris' speech on the ellipse was a fundamental contradiction that virtually no one was talking about.
First, give the vice president his due. It was a well written and powerful speech. It included a significant amount of policy, including Medicare payments for home health care and assistance for first-time homebuyers.
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Harris acknowledged that many voters are just getting to know her. As always, she mentioned her mother and her middle-class education. She said she's not perfect and makes mistakes.
But the core of the speech was an unrelenting two-handed attack on Donald Trump.
Harris compared him to King George III and called him a “petty tyrant.” She called him “unstable” and “frustrated.” She said he wanted “unlimited power” and was “obsessed with revenge.”
So after 100 days on the campaign trail, Harris is still campaigning the same way she quickly won the nomination as an anti-Trump candidate.
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are standing side by side. (AP Photo/Getty Images)
Now, such rhetorical attacks can be traced back to the dawn of the republic. You may not love me, but the other man is worse.
That's why, with the White House in the background, she stood where President Trump gave his speech on January 6, urging his supporters to go to the Capitol, where many rioted.
Are you okay. fair game. Especially for a candidate who is trying to win Republican votes with the support of Liz Cheney, a number of former Trump officials, and, as of yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
However, after that, Veep introduced himself as a unification candidate and tried to create an axis.
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And therein lies a fatal flaw. It's impossible to beat the crap out of your opponent and say you want to unite the country almost in the next breath. You can't have it both ways. You can be an attack dog, but you can't suddenly purr like a puppy if you have your teeth bared.
It's not that Harris didn't have good lines. Trump will have an enemy list and she will have a to-do list. And about his political opponents, he said, “He's going to put them in jail. I'm going to give them a seat at my table.”
Segue: “It's time to stop pointing fingers and start folding your arms.”
But, uh, she spent a good portion of her speech pointing.
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on the Ellipse on October 29, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
And in the second half, she kept going back to Trump, including when discussing abortion rights.
Harris also went beyond political hyperbole. “He tried to cut Medicare and Social Security every time he was president,” she said. That's never true. But she receives little fact-checking.
Despite the conflict, overall the speech was positive for her. But make no mistake, she is running to replace a man she portrays as dangerous.
As the Free Press puts it, “This campaign has always been and always will be all about Trump. And it will always be all about Trump to the end.”
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But Harris' big moment was ruined by Joe Biden (oh, the last time's nominee) to the point where it looks like he's trying to undermine Harris.
“Lock him up,” the president said of his predecessor last week. Harris always says he leaves that to the courts.
And now, referring to a racist cartoon that called Puerto Rico a trash island at a Madison Square Garden rally, Biden said, “The only trash floating over there is his supporters.” spoke.
The president stumbled for a few seconds before adding, “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.”
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Saturday, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Seneta)
boom. too late. Comparisons to Hillary Clinton's 2016 “basket of deplorables” for Trump supporters were immediate.
Biden posted a clarification, saying he was only referring to cartoonist Tony Hinchcliffe. (Mr. Trump says he does not know the performers and has not heard the so-called jokes.)
The White House released records that included apostrophes, such as “those of his supporters,” trying to show he was talking about one person. Who would have thought this campaign would turn on the sneaky apostrophe?
Yesterday, before boarding the 2nd Air Force, a reporter asked Harris about Biden's gaffe.
“He clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly oppose criticizing people based on who they vote for… My job is I believe in representing people, whether they support it or not.”
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Kamala ultimately broke with her boss and wisely distanced herself from the failure. No wonder she resisted his proposal to campaign together. He's done enough damage himself that some experts even suggest it's intentional.
And that gave Trump an opening. “More than anything, Joe Biden calls our supporters 'trash.' You can't lead America if you don't love the American people.”
This is a distraction Kamala Harris didn't need in the final days of her campaign.
