I know Know Donald Trump's Type
Kamala Harris completed a short speech to the Biden/Harris campaign staff with Joe listening in via Zoom or conference call while quarantining. The imperatives of the moment made the content and delivery of the speech fairly critical to re-establishing beneficial inertia. The speech lasted roughly 25 minutes (I joined late, probably about 5 minutes in...). She did very well on all fronts:
* expressed gratefulness to Biden for what he was able to accomplish in one term
* recognized the work to date of the campaign staff by announcing she's keeping the campaign manager
* quickly pivoted away from angst about the circumstances of this shift in candidates
* quickly pivoted TO a concise itemization of the issues in play -- abortion, healthcare, voting rights, etc.
* unveiled a concise, effective summary of her own biography
The core of the speech will likely become a new campaign theme...
I know Donald Trump's type.
Whle reminding voters of her biography, something a VP candidate now at the top of a ticket needs to do, her speech perfectly framed the contrast between her and Trump. She said words to this effect...
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I started as a prosecutor in Alameda County, CA then was State Attorney General for California. In my time, I've prosecuted sexual predators. Donald Trump has been found guilty of sexual offenses in a court. I prosecuted for-profit schools that defrauded thousands of California residents of millions of dollars and got restitution for them. Donald Trump ran a for-profit company Trump University that was shut down for fraud. I've prosecuted public officials for corruption. Donald Trump has been charged with multiple counts of corruption. I know Donald Trump's type...
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She seemed confident and relaxed yet energized... As if she knows having the challenge of campaigning in the second banana role lifted will allow her to aggresively campaign without worrying about outshining the top of the ticket. And here's one for factor for everyone to consider. Unlike a PRESIDENT running for a second term, for now she is only the VICE PRESIDENT. That means Constittionally, she still has very few formal time-consuming responsiblities. She is free to devote 100% of every day to this campaign, something NO sitting President can actually do. This is a dynamic the Republicans have probably not thought much about.
I have no magic 8-Ball to predict any election. From a pure candidate standpoint in a political landscape of twenty years ago, Harris would wipe the floor with a Trump-like candidate. As it stands, facing a world where one of our political parties has gone "Constitutionally rogue" and taken half the judiciary with it, a candidate like Trump is not crippled as much by fealty to facts and reality. Nonetheless, I think Harris has the skills to reach enough of the dis-enchanted electorate to make this a more competitive battle.
WTH
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