Pertinent to ageing and life, Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun; as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday.” So poetically true; caveat being that “middle age” for some, is old age for others. But that is an exposition for another time and place.
Kamala Harris and I are approximately the same age and, given my life experiences, I would hardly call it youth. I have always said to people “it ain’t how new your car is, it’s how many miles it’s been driven.” We’ve all heard about the proverbial “little old lady from Pasadena.” She has a 1960 Edsel (made before I was a mere thought) with 20,000 miles on it, while your 2022 Mustang has already hit 50,000 miles.
I trust you get my point.
The Good News, For Some
Campy vehicular analogies notwithstanding, compared to Donald “Agent Orange” Trump, Kamala Harris resembled the proverbial fountain of youth in last evening’s debate. Even a mediocre litigator, which she is, knows that the death knell in a trial is unpreparedness and she was definitely well prepared. She trounced Trump, but that is a really low bar to clear. Every one of you reading this “piece of work” could trounce Trump and I have supreme confidence in that statement.
Trump was totally outclassed before the first words were spoken by Harris’ handshake alone. He was caught flatfooted in that moment and he stayed on the ropes the duration of the bout. And it wasn’t the rope-a-dope, Trump is not that smart. For those lacking a frame of reference one of my heroes, Muhammad Ali, invented the rope-a-dope. Rope-a-Dope
In litigation there are two types of trials: a bench trial, and a jury trial. Each has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. A bench trial is when the presiding judge decides the case, whereas a jury trial is decided by 12 jurors. Last evening’s debate format was akin to a bench trial given the two moderators and no audience which was a distinct disadvantage for Trump. An audience would have been akin to a jury and Trump both is fed and energized by an audience. Ergo, he came into the front door walking out of the back door.
During the entire debate Trump was unable, or unwilling, to look at his opponent. In one of what I thought was one of the more macabre aspects of the debate, he was less animated in his gesticulations and “accordion hands” than usual whilst maintaining the very facial grimace that was his infamous mugshot. Disturbingly fascinating, it was.
Harris looked like something new, Trump looked like something old; the same juxtaposition he had when onstage with Joe Biden. Those were the optics. However, I am unimpressed by either and see them both, optics notwithstanding, as variations of the same old detritus in terms of downrange political reality. In connection with overall domestic and, most importantly, foreign policy with the exception of Ukraine, (specifically NATO which I call the Nothing but Anglo Terrorist Organization) neither of them represents anything other than an alternative form of a monolithic political theme.
That’s just my unimportant, insignificant, totally subjective and paltry opinion.
The Bad News, For Others
I cannot know what the Harris campaign’s goal was in the debate. Of course, I can make assumptions and it is my assumption that they wanted her to “look presidential.” And as tempting as the rabbit-hole is relative to WTF “looking presidential” means, I will, with considerable angst, avoid the carrot. Here in California we are familiar with Ms. Harris, but the other 49 states are not overall. Therefore, I assume that one of the campaigns goals, aside from “looking presidential” (what a sickening phrase) was to solidify the base of Democrats that were squeamish or unfamiliar with her. Which, in all fairness, may be the sororal twin of “looking presidential.” IF that was the goal, it is my opinion that she achieved it…in spades.
The devil made me do it.
My irreverent sardonicism notwithstanding, Harris may have pulled away some so-called “undecided voters.” A term that I find incredulous. Anyone that is going to go through the Mephisto motions of voting (and only for the third time in my life will I be one of them, for my own reasons) that is still undecided is utterly, and helplessly, confused. Nonetheless, if either candidate pulled away any stragglers it was Harris, for Trump took a dump; all over himself.
The really bad news, for some, is that the debate did not move the needle overall. None of Trump’s supporters and constituents are going to abandon him resultant of the debate. Not a one.
Though Harris may have appeared as something, by comparison to her opponent, fresh and new; though she may have clearly “won” the debate, none of it means she will defeat Trump who has captured the majority of the “white vote” for the past three presidential election cycles. None of it, because winning a debate is not winning an election. And don’t you think there aren’t surprises ahead.
David Mamet once said “Old age and treachery will always beat youth.”
Rohn, we're never going to agree on voting, and as we've both said repeatedly it's because your experience is FAR different, and FAR FAR worse, than mine. Nobody has ever tried to prevent me from voting, or purged my voter registration, or even asked me for "state-issued ID" in order to vote, nor have they asked done that to any member of my family.
::looks at my very light beige skin::
I have no idea WHY that might be, of course....
Thing is, I am voting, and I'm voting for Kamala Harris because She's Not Donald Trump. I think I know some of the reasons you're not, and wouldn't when it comes to her specifically:
• Going HARD against pot after it was decriminalized in the mid-1970s, when I lived in California, is something I'd expect from a Bigoted Far-Right Republican like former LA Police Chief Ed Davis rather than a Black Woman Democrat like Harris;
• Even CONTEMPLATING throwing single-mothers of truant children in jail for their kids' truancy is not only heartless, it's going to pile on top of the reasons why those children are truant in the first place; and
• A big part of me STILL wants to know, "What the Hell, Kamala?" about her backing off prosecuting Steve Mnuchin when he was on OneWest's Board of Directors, and responsible for aggressive foreclosing on houses owned by minorities—then taking political contributions from him!
And I reiterate—"What the HELL, Kamala?!?!?!?"
If the alternative were not "Dictator On Day One" Donald Trump, the Lord High Seditionist who got his mob to attack the Capitol because Congress wouldn't take his slate of fake electors instead of the ones we voted on? I'd be seriously questioning Harris's suitability myself....
But the alternative IS Trump, so I'd vote for any Democrat this side of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mistress of NeoLib Evil and the reason I became an Independent, to see Agolf Shitler kicked out of power and on his way to prison for the rest of his miserable life. But that's me—your mileage may vary.
congrats--she did win. I think Harris is promising more than she can deliver.
But just to note, I am never decided until I cast my ballot. Not for president. I decided in 1984 to not vote for presidents. But I research very assiduously all of my local candidates and after I know who is running, I very decidedly decline to make up my mind after checking out their background and then comparing their 'promises' to their history.
But president who cares? Unless there was a decided difference in the offering, say a Bernie Sanders...well...as you say, the slate at the time is a blank slate.
However, there's a bit of a lie to the above. In 2020 when I was in the hospital from mid -Oct til just before Christmas, the ballot fairy cast my mail-in ballot for Trump. Even though I had previously warned that I have in my lifetime been very "fortunate" to never cast my ballot for a winning candidate in any federal or statewide contest.
No candidate should ever want this old fool's endorsement.
But I'm still hoping for a democratic congressional and state landslide to give them a final chance to quit piddling around with silliness and address justice and the eco-political reform to readdress the real issues before it is too late.