When President Joe Biden recently stepped down as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections to be held on November 5, 2024, the political reset was swift and sharp. First, Republicans caught somewhat with what the British would call, "their trousers" down, quickly recovered and did what they do best - political hyperbole, grandstanding, character assassination and lies. Their red-hot vitriol was leveled at 59-year old United States Vice President, Kamala Harris, the first female and Black VP in United States history who Biden endorsed to replace him as his party's candidate.
As I write this article, public opinion polls in the wake of Biden's historic decision, show that Harris is doing just slightly better in a match up with Donald Trump. And the GOP enablers of Trumpism and MAGA, in and out of the U.S. Congress, have wasted no time in shouting foul and accusing Democrats of thwarting the will of the over 4,000 delegates who voted for Joe Biden in the recently concluded Democratic Party primary elections. This is rich coming from a party that sought to jettison the 2020 election results with an insurrection in the nation's capital, and who tried to coerce Trump's vice president Mike Pence to break the law.
But as the GOP snake thrashes about and lashes out, it knows that Ms. Harris will be no easy pushover. Her record of achievements and political savviness, not to mention her thick political skin, makes her a real nightmare for former President Trump who was crowned King Donald by a Republican Party now effectively part of his MAGA movement.
These attacks are not new to Ms. Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. For example, as a candidate for vice president, she was the target of an intense barrage of GOP conservative attacks that claimed, among other things, that she slept her way to the political top something that is still a common slur against Black women, and women in power generally. Here's right wing all-American sleazebag and political GOP Neanderthal, Matt Walsh, on X, formerly Twitter: He first reminded his 2.9 million followers on X that Harris had "got her start in politics by sleeping with Willie Brown." He went on: "She became Vice President because Biden needed a non-white female on the ticket. Now she likely becomes the Democratic nominee for president because the guy at the top of the ticket has dementia. She's made a career out of begging for hand-outs from powerful men. A thoroughly unimpressive human being." Of course, he provided zero evidence to substantiate his claims and curiously made no mention of Trump's 34 felony convictions for sleeping with an adult porn star who he paid off to remain silent as he ran for the POTUS. Or this $83 million judgement awarded to E. Jean Carroll that he was accused of groping and raping. According to the Wilson Report, as a U.S. senator Ms. Harris accounted for a whopping 78% of verbal sexual abuse, disinformation, and racist stereotypes on Twitter. Now, as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, she's taken the first incoming salvo of what is expected to be a nasty, scorch-earth campaign with Republicans coalescing around their anointed political messiah. They will try to tear her down, float the idea that America is "not ready for a female POTUS" WITHOUT SAYING the term "BLACK FEMALE," and throw racist red-meat to the rabid MAGA dogs. But they must be careful. Trump is a convicted felon and Ms. Harris was a hard-nosed, bulldog of a former California prosecutor. She is not noted for backing down when challenged, and she mopped the floor with former Trump Vice President Mike Pence during an historical debate. Ms. Harris is a formidable debater and Trump has ready signaled his fear of a one-on-one, head-to-head public debate, stating that he wants it to be on Fox 5 News - his favorite right wing MAGA television outlet instead of a neutral TV station.Yes, Donald Trump is skilled at both character assassination and political self-defense. Together, they translate into an exceptional ability to defeat his political rivals once they enter the presidential campaign arena. But Ms. Harris also has sharp rhetorical skills that could make this a fierce election fight. Trump is also highly skilled at both channeling white working-class anger and anxieties into political support for himself as he did in 2016; but failed to do in 2020.
He's also good at convincing his supporters to disregard his own well-chronicled and documented professional and personal failings and short-comings. This has resulted in him and the GOP's inability to grow and expand his narrow base of support. If Ms. Harris and the Democrats can energize women voters, independents, and Black and Brown populations Trump could be in for a rude awakening.
The problem for the wounded, but still dangerous, GOP snake is that Ms. Harris knows well its venomous bite very, very well - she's been on its receiving end many times before and always prevailed. Trump, now the oldest nominee from both parties, picked an ill-prepared VP that will have an exceedingly difficult time with Ms. Harris's VP pick. She will hang anti-abortion and women's rights round the necks of both Trump and his VP pick, JD Vance. Ms. Harris will publicly prosecute the former candidate in public - something that Joe Biden either could or would not do. This presents a very clear and present danger for the former president whose penchant for lying, brow-beating and bullying his opponents just got seriously clipped.
A skilled former prosecutor against a convicted felon
So, here are the facts: With Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential campaign, political developments suggest Trump may be in for a taste of his own horrid medicine. Ms. Harris' previous career as a US senator who challenged Trump administration officials, and the former president's judicial nominees, demonstrates that today she is among the most effective Democratic officeholders when it comes to holding Republicans accountable.
Next, her career as a state attorney general and prosecutor removes the GOP's hitherto control of the "law and order" meme, and allows her to use this to attack America's first convicted felon former president. With Joe Biden out there is another major opportunity for Ms. Harris to reset the character assassination narrative, as the focus on age can now boomerang against Republicans and Donald Trump.
Finally, Ms. Harris can tout the Biden-Harris record of lowering unemployment, booming job growth, infrastructure projects, dropping inflation, and boosting retirement accounts. More importantly, she can hang around Trump's bovine neck the over 1 million American COVID-19 deaths and the former president and his administration's inept, incompetent response, and callous disregard for American lives, and putting his own narrow political survival over protecting the American people.
2
1
1
