Facing Reality, Again

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

Debates don’t tell us anything about how a president will govern.

I huffed, puffed, and pleaded with my fellow Democrats to focus on the big picture. We needed to win the election.

Yet many of my colleagues did not agree with me. In their eyes, President Joe Biden looked weak and vulnerable. Little by little, we began hearing news reports that prominent Democrats were asking Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

Suddenly, President Joe Biden announced that he was withdrawing from the presidential race. I was shocked. I have been following politics extremely closely for more than 30 years. Lyndon Johnson and George Washington are the only two presidents I can think of who decided not to run for reelection, and their decision was made for the country’s good. Now, three weeks later, I’m still somewhat in shock. Vice President Kamala Harris has instantly become the Democratic nominee.

With the speed of that comic book character, The Flash, Kamala Harris began shoring up support. She reached out to prominent Democrats. She reached out to labor unions. She reached out to the delegates.

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, NJ Sen. Cory Booker, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom all endorsed Kamala Harris. Hillary Clinton wrote a strong, witty, heartwarming New York Times op-ed supporting Kamala.

I waited; we all waited. Then, I saw it on social media. Kamala Harris was answering her phone. Michelle and Barack Obama were on the other end. This was the endorsement she needed. This was the endorsement that I needed. If Barack and Michelle have reservations, then I have reservations, but this was a ringing endorsement. Now, everything was good. All of the labor unions fell in line, including the UAW.

Brand New Day

In what can only be called an expert jujitsu move, the Democrats have completely turned the tables on the GOP. For years, Fox News, Donald Trump, and others have been hammering Joe Biden about being “old.” When Joe mispronounced a word or misspoke, he was labeled “too old.” We have seen this kind of thing before. This is Benghazi.

If you don’t remember, the Republicans spent over two years shouting Benghazi into any microphone they could find. They were labeling Hillary Clinton as unfit to be president because of the Benghazi incident.

For those who don’t remember the details, in 2012, a group of Islamic militants attacked our embassy in Benghazi, Libya. The US ambassador, Christopher Stevens, along with three others, died in the attack. Republicans relentlessly investigated this and tried to show that Hillary Clinton was incompetent. They launched five separate House investigations, none of which found any fault or guilt by Hillary Clinton. The purpose of these investigations was to erode public confidence in Hillary Clinton, and for the most part, it worked.

Just as the Republicans yelled Benghazi over a decade ago, now they’re yelling “Joe is too old.” Again, the whole purpose is to erode public confidence. But now, Joe Biden has stepped aside. And now, Kamala Harris is in charge.

Kamala Harris is almost 20 years younger than Donald Trump. Now, their whole strategy has fallen apart. Kamala Harris is not tripping over her words. Instead, she has injected much-needed energy into the campaign. The Democrats raised $310 million in July. $310 million!!! Holy smokes. That’s a ton of greenbacks.

Rope a Dope

Just before President Biden announced that he would not run for a second term, The Washington Post reported that the Republicans were set for every contingency. It was one of those articles that paint the picture of the GOP as extremely smart, a party that plans, and a party that won’t be surprised.

Well, nothing could be further from the truth. The Republicans had no contingency plan. They’re still scrambling, three weeks later, to find some strategy to attack Kamala Harris.

Years ago, the famous boxer Mohammed Ali used to invoke a crazy strategy in the boxing ring. He called it “rope a dope.” He would verbally taunt his opponent while protecting himself. He would let his opponent punch him and punch him until his opponent was tired out. Then, Mohammed Ali would strike.

This worked against George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. Midway through the fourth round, Mohammed Ali used his rope-a-dope strategy. He taunted George Foreman throughout the fifth round and allowed George Foreman to pound away. Then, with George Foreman tired out in the sixth round, a series of well-timed counterpunches landed him on the mat.

Could it be that the Democrats outsmarted the Republicans? Did the Democrats use their own Rope-a-Dope strategy? Could Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have their own contingency plan? In this scenario, Donald Trump was hammering away round after round at Biden, only to discover that his real opponent was Vice President Kamala Harris.

I don’t know, but it’s a thought.

A Month of Mediocrity

Donald Trump and the Republicans had their convention. Typically, after the convention, you should have enthusiasm, momentum, and a significant poll bump. Donald Trump had neither.

His pick of JD Vance, senator from Ohio, was met with some excitement on the right, and then JD Vance gave his convention speech. It was a big, fat, nothing-burger. Even Sarah Palin gave a better vice-presidential acceptance speech. Sure, she didn’t make any sense, but she put enough one-liners into her speech that she energized the crowd. JD Vance was just, dare I say it, weird. (Tim Walz coined the use of “weird” to label Trump and Vance. The term has gained acceptance. There are now several popular social media memes pointing out how weird JD and Donny are.)

So, as Donald Trump and JD Vance are stumbling around and trying to get some traction, someone in Donald Trump’s campaign decides it would be an excellent idea for Donald Trump to speak in front of the National Association of Black Journalists. What the heck? I don’t understand why anybody thought this would be a good idea. Donald Trump is a racist. This is not conjecture. This is a fact.

He started by telling one of the interviewers that she was rude because she didn’t start by saying, “Hello, how are you?” He then added, as every racist does, “I love the Black population of this country.” He repeated the nonsense that he was the best president for the Black population since Abe Lincoln. This, of course, drew laughter from the audience. But the best, without being prompted, was his question about Vice President Kamala Harris’s ethnic identity. He stated that Harris was “Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person.”

On one hand, I feel sorry for Donald Trump. There was nowhere to hide. He was and is Archie Bunker from the famous TV sitcom All in the Family, without Archie’s lovable side. But as he’s always been, Donald Trump is a liar.

Harris has always embraced her multicultural background. She went to Howard University, a historically Black college. In law school, she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, my mom’s sorority, a Black sorority. As a senator, she was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Kamala Harris didn’t suddenly turn Black. She didn’t suddenly turn Indian, either. She is both. She has always been both.

It is hard for a racist to understand that you can be both. But don’t get me wrong: I don’t feel sorry for Donald Trump. Not a thimbleful. He has brought his misery upon himself.

Where Do We Go from Here

For reasons I don’t fully understand, Democrats have to be “motivated” to get out and vote in large numbers. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota and Kamala Harris’s new running mate, are charged with keeping the momentum going. This must continue.

Education

Democratic enthusiasm comes from youth. It comes from college students. Harris and her team need to develop a concrete agenda for college students. We need to talk about more than just abortion and forgiveness of student loans. We need a concrete plan to make college more affordable.

As governor, Tim Walz signed two higher education bills in 2023 and 2024 that covered tuition costs at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities for students whose families earn less than $80,000 annually. All tuition costs. That’s a great plan; let’s hope a Harris-Walz Administration can make it a national one.

Jobs

We need to make jobs available once these college students graduate. We need to have more than jobs; we need good-paying jobs. The Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act have all begun to create those jobs in rebuilding the nation’s bridges, highways, and water systems by reestablishing the United States as the leader in cutting-edge technology and through efforts to ameliorate the effects of climate change. There’s no doubt a Harris-Walz Administration will build on those efforts.

Fairness

We need to figure out how to return fairness to the American people. Somehow, the American people believe that the system is rigged against them. A former prosecutor, Kamala Harris, must develop a way to level the playing field. She and Gov. Walz have shown in their careers that they believe in fairness for all of us. That work needs to continue.

Also, we need to look internationally for fairness. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is something the youth care deeply about. Vice President Harris needs to clearly articulate our love for Israel while condemning the ongoing destruction of Gaza. This is a balancing act. This is a ballerina/gymnast-type balancing act, which I believe Vice President Harris is more than capable of.

Opportunity

No corner of American society should be overlooked. Harris has already energized women and the Black community—including suburban white women who support her stance on reproductive rights. Her optimism and sense of fair play are reaching the Hispanic community and the Southeast Asian community. She’s won the endorsement of almost every major labor union because she supports the right of collective bargaining, workplace safety, and equal opportunity.

Democrats must also fight for the white male vote, long a bastion of conservative Republicanism. Already, she’s benefited from a “White Dudes for Kamala” web meeting that drew 190,000 participants and raised $4 million in three hours!

We have two great candidates, and we need to fight for every vote. This is how we win in November.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.