The optics were perfect. The crowd was massive. The media reviews were glowing.
But there was a fundamental contradiction at the heart of Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech on the Ellipse that virtually no one is talking about.
First, I’ll give the vice president her due. It was a well-written address and strongly delivered. It contained a fair amount of policy, such as Medicare payments for home health care and aid to first-time home buyers.
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Harris acknowledged that many voters were just getting to know her. She mentioned her mom and her middle-class upbringing, as she always does. She said she’s not perfect and makes mistakes.
But the backbone of the speech was a two-fisted, no-holds-barred attack on former President Donald Trump.
Harris likened him to King George III as a “petty tyrant.” She called him “unstable” and “consumed with grievance.” She said he’s seeking “unchecked power” and is “obsessed with revenge.”
In short, after a 100-day campaign, Harris is still running as she did when she quickly seized the nomination, as the anti-Trump.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Getty Images)
Now, such rhetorical assaults can be traced to the dawn of the republic. You may not love me, but that other guy is so much worse.
That’s why she used the White House as a backdrop, standing at the spot where Trump gave his speech on Jan. 6, 2021 urging his supporters to go to the Capitol, where many proceeded to riot.
Fine. Fair game. Especially for a candidate who’s trying to win some Republican votes, aided by Liz Cheney, a number of former Trump officials and, as of yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But then the veep tried to make the pivot, presenting herself as the candidate of unity.
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And therein lies the fatal flaw. You can’t beat the crap out of your opponent and, in practically the next breath, say you want to bring the country together. You can’t have it both ways. You can be an attack dog, but if you’re baring those teeth, you can’t suddenly be purring like a puppy.
Not that Harris didn’t have some good lines. Trump has an enemies list and she’ll have a to-do list. And of political opponents: “He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table.”
The segue: “It is time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms.”
But, um, she just spent a good chunk of her speech pointing fingers.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally on the Ellipse on Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
And then she kept circling back to Trump in the second half, such as when discussing abortion rights.
Harris also went beyond political exaggeration. “He tried to cut Medicare and Social Security every year he was president,” she said. That is simply not true. But she gets very little fact-checking.
Overall, the speech was a plus for her, despite its clashing ideas. But make no mistake, she’s running as the alternative to a man she paints as dangerous.
As the Free Press put it: “This campaign is and always has been all about Trump. And it will be all about Trump all the way to the finish line now.”
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But Harris’ big moment was marred by President Biden – the, ah, previous nominee – to the point where it almost seems like he’s trying to undermine her.
Last week, the president said of his predecessor, “Lock him up.” Harris always says she’ll leave that to the courts.
And now, referring to the racist comic at the Madison Square Garden rally who called Puerto Rico an island of garbage, Biden said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president stumbled for a couple of seconds and added: “His–his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
President Biden speaks at an election campaign event in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Boom. Too late. There were instant comparisons to Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” swipe at Trump supporters in 2016.
Biden posted a clarification, saying he was referring only to comic Tony Hinchcliffe. (Trump says he doesn’t know the performer and didn’t hear the so-called joke.)
The White House put out a transcript that included an apostrophe, as in “his supporter’s,” trying to indicate that he was talking about one person. Who would have thought the campaign would turn on a lowly apostrophe?
A reporter asked Harris about the Biden blunder yesterday before she boarded Air Force Two.
“He clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for…I believe the work that I do is about representing people whether they support me or not.”
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Harris finally broke with the boss, wisely distancing herself from the blunder. No wonder she’s resisted his suggestion that they campaign together. He’s doing enough damage on his own, with some pundits even suggesting it’s deliberate.
And that gave Trump an opening: “Now, on top of everything, Joe Biden calls our supporters ‘garbage.’ You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people.”
It’s a distraction that Kamala Harris didn’t need in the final days of the campaign.