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ChrisWeigant

(966 posts) Fri Aug 2, 2024, 08:26 PM Aug 2

Friday Talking Points -- Weirdos Versus Childless Cat Ladies

It certainly already feels like a lot longer, but we aren't even done with the second week of Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. She hit the ground running in a big way and is already doing a fine job of drawing the distinction between her and the bizarreness of the other side. Meanwhile, Republicans are out there insulting "a bunch of childless cat ladies" as well as pretty much every minority group they can think of. Two weeks in, the race is now being defined between the childless cat ladies on one side and the total weirdos on the other. In other words, Silly Season has begun in a big way.

Silly Season got its name for the period in August (and, increasingly, beyond) when Congress decides to give itself five or six weeks off to enjoy in the sun somewhere, and when all the hapless political reporters have nothing much in the political arena to report on. So they usually develop a monomania over some bizarre or trivial thing and that's all we'll hear about for weeks.

This year, of course, is an election year. And the race for president is certainly enough to fill in the congressional gap, even with normal candidates. With Donald Trump, we'll all have plenty to talk about all month long, that's our guess.

The "childless cat ladies" comment came from JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate. When confronted by his words, he apologized. To cats. Reporters then began digging and found plenty of other sneeringly dismissive comments from Vance toward people who don't have children:

"There's just these basic cadences of life I think are really powerful and really valuable when you have kids in your life, and the fact that so many people, especially in America's leadership class, just don't have that in their lives, you know -- I worry that it makes people more sociopathic and ultimately our whole country a little bit less mentally stable," [JD Vance] said on the "Chris Buskirk Show."

"You go on Twitter and almost always, the people who are most deranged and most psychotic are people who don't have kids at home," he added.

His underlying point, of course, is not just a total lie but one designed to turn the tables on political reality. Vance explained: "The left has increasingly become explicitly anti-child and anti-family." Except, of course, it is the Republicans who don't support family-friendly policies. Here's a Washington Post headline from just last week proving this: "Senate Republicans Block A Child Tax Credit Expansion." Vance made up a lie out of whole cloth that Kamala Harris somehow wants to abolish the Child Tax Credit, when actually he and his fellow Senate Republicans are the ones standing in the way of making it more generous to parents. And that's on top of Republicans standing in the way of parents getting expanded child care and paid family leave, as well as plenty of other family-centric policies Democrats have championed for years.

There's something rather weird about Vance's position, don't you think? Well, Team Harris certainly thinks so, and they have been leaning in hard to the word "weird." Political journalists delightfully picked up on this emerging meme, so I would expect it to become a mainstay in Democratic campaigning from this point on. Some think the word "weird" is too silly and juvenile, but so far it seems to be working like a charm.

While "weird" was the silliest of political news, the Harris campaign is certainly making plenty of other news as well. They just announced they had raised a whopping $310 million dollars in July, propelled by the $220 million that came in the week after Harris was anointed heir apparent to the Democratic nomination. Today, Democrats made it official -- Kamala Harris is now the party's presidential nominee. The "veepstakes" will be over early next week, and Harris is planning on campaigning with whichever Democrat she chooses to share her ticket.

Harris held a rally in Atlanta this week, and 10,000 people showed up to see her (and got to watch Megan Thee Stallion as well). The new infusion of energy on the Democratic side is palpable, and momentum is everything in politics. The wave might peak too early, of course, but this one feels like it has some staying power. Harris has taken to campaigning against Trump like a fish to water -- her big line in Atlanta was a complete taunt: "Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage. Because as the saying goes: 'If you've got something to say, say it to my face.'" But Harris also knows how to pick her battles, which leads us right into discussing what Trump has been up to....

Donald Trump has apparently settled on the campaign strategy of trying to annoy as many people as possible. It's always rather amusing when Republicans try to do "minority outreach," because the chance of them completely and offensively blowing it is always sky-high. And that's just normal Republicans, mind you -- Trump's in a stratospheric league of his own in this regard. This week, Trump's team somehow thought it would be a good idea to send him to a gathering of Black journalists, for what was supposed to be an hour-long on-stage interview with three Black women as hosts. Trump refused to even answer the first question, and instead immediately began attacking and belittling the journalist questioning him. Things went downhill from there.

Over the course of the next half-hour, Trump: refused to answer why Black voters should trust him when he's dined with a white supremacist at his golf club (the very first question -- the one he ignored); questioned the racial identity of Kamala Harris (Trump thinks a person can't be both Indian-American and Black at the same time, which is just downright weird); and tried to pit minorities against each other by saying he wanted to stop "people at the border from taking Black jobs." GOP minority outreach at its finest, folks! Trump also didn't directly say whether he thought JD Vance is ready to be president or not. The whole event was just a complete Dumpster fire, from beginning to end. After only 34 minutes of the promised hour, Trump's handlers shut down the interview.

The whole thing is worth watching, if you can stomach it. As usual, even though it was a short appearance Trump managed to lie his face off so many times it was tough to keep track of them all.

Here was the worst-of-the-worst moment from the interview:

I've known [Kamala Harris] a long time indirectly, not directly very much. And she was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?

In the annals of Trump saying stupid things about race, that one stands out (even though it has plenty of competition). Trump rose to political prominence, please remember, for his birtherism campaign against Barack Obama. So of course he was going to say some highly offensive racist things about Harris. And we're just getting started, folks -- this is after only two weeks of the campaign!

Harris very wisely refused to get down in the mud and wrestle with Trump. She gave a speech later that day and merely said Trump's comments showed "divisiveness and disrespect" and concluded: "The American people deserve better." If Trump keeps beating the same drum, Harris could decide to confront his racism later on, but for now she just brushes him aside. This shows an ability to pick her own battles, which probably bodes well for the rest of the campaign.

Her campaign is growing in energy and size by the day. More and more groups have made presentations online supporting Harris, from every walk of life. The most amusing title for one of these groups was "White Dudes For Harris," which raised $4 million for her just in one virtual meeting.

The Harris excitement is growing so fast we have no idea where things will be after another week campaigning. But so far, it's been a pretty wild ride. Next week we'll all get to see who Harris picks to run with her, and that should build a certain level of excitement on its own. And then soon after, the Democratic National Convention will meet. All around, August is already looking like a pretty good month for Harris.

There's really only one possible choice for Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week. Kamala Harris made history by becoming the Democratic Party's official presidential nominee. And she's been knocking it out of the park ever since President Joe Biden passed the torch to her.

That line from the Atlanta rally -- "Say it to my face!" -- is the best example so far. Harris is right -- Trump is already waffling on his promise to attend a second debate. He's scared, and for good reason. She's going to make mincemeat out of him. The problem with watching that Black journalists' interview is that while the women did try to counteract Trump's lies with some truth at times, Trump just steamrolled over them with more loud blather, so it's hard to even make out what they're saying in response. But things won't be like that at the debate -- Trump's mic will be cut off while Harris is speaking. He will have to listen to someone hit him with some truth. And ex-prosecutor Harris is fully capable of doing so. No wonder he's already scared!

Donald Trump is also scared because he is always terrified of powerful women -- especially powerful minority women. He always gets down into the gutter and attacks them with the most outrageous language he can think up, and he's just getting started. He was actually making some inroads in getting Black voters to support him, but the more he keeps it up the more of these possible Trump voters he is going to lose. To say nothing of how his support will further disappear in one other demographic (that Republicans have seen slip away from them ever since Trump hit the scene): suburban women. The more racist and bigoted and vicious Trump gets, the more of these voters he's going to lose as well.

And Kamala is going to be right there to pick up all these voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris has so far done a fantastic job of being the Democratic standard-bearer. And it's only been two weeks! We can't wait to see what is coming next....

[Congratulate Vice President Kamala Harris via the official White House contact page, to let her know you appreciate her efforts.]

It's been such a good week that no Democrats have actually disappointed us. So unless someone's got a suggestion of their own, we will put the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week back on the shelf.

Volume 761 (8/2/24)

Another mixed bag this week, with one that is just downright frightening and repulsive (the quote it's based on, not the talking point itself).

Arbiter of Blackness?

If Kamala Harris won't, other Democrats should step up and challenge Trump's racism directly.

"I'm sorry, but who appointed Donald Trump the official arbiter of Blackness? Did I miss that memo or something? Here's a news flash, Donnie: people can be more than one thing at once. Being Indian-American is not mutually exclusive with being Black. It doesn't work that way, and anyone who thinks it does just shows his own ignorance by saying it. You know who gets to determine her own racial identity? Kamala Harris. Not Donald Trump. I mean, seriously, what century is he living in?"

Black jobs

Hit him hard on this one too.

"What is Trump even talking about when he says the phrase 'Black jobs'? Excuse me? Black jobs? I mean, a very long time ago, there were indeed jobs that went to Black people exclusively. Those were racist times. Here and now, anyone who is qualified can work at any job they like. That's equality. So the next time Trump mentions 'Black jobs' I wish some reporter would fire back at him: 'Black jobs? You mean like president or vice president of the United States? Are those the kinds of jobs you are talking about?'"

Born versus turn

This one goes right to the heart of the matter.

"Donald Trump somehow thinks Kamala Harris, quote, turned Black, unquote, at some point in her life. Hey Donald, here is the major difference you are missing: a person is born Black, but people have to turn racist. See the difference, there? Nobody's born a bigot, they have to turn into one at some point, as you so obviously have proven."

Well stop being weird, then!

This one is already getting under their skin.

"Donald Trump, JD Vance and the rest of the Republicans are annoyed that Kamala Harris and Democrats are calling them weird. They want us to stop. Well you know what? There's an easy way to fix this. Just stop saying, believing, and doing weird things, and we will all stop calling you weird. How's that for a bargain?"

Vance lies worse than Trump does

Don't let him get away with this malarkey (as Joe Biden would say)....

"JD Vance told a whopper of a lie the other day, accusing Kamala Harris of trying to get rid of the Child Tax Credit in the income tax code. This isn't just a lie, it's so far from the truth it's not even funny. Harris (along with most other Democrats) has long been for the Child Tax Credit and fought to expand it. You know who opposes this? Republicans. If JD Vance wants to make the Child Tax Credit better, then all he's got to do is convince his fellow Republicans in the Senate to support it. Because they are the ones fighting against it, not Kamala Harris."

Think we're overstating the case?

Waiting for Republicans to condemn this, but we're not exactly holding our breath.

"Patrick Byrne just threatened law enforcement officers and prosecutors with horrific death. Byrne used to lead the company Overstock, and he's been a major contributor to the efforts to undermine the 2020 election. In a recent interview, he threatened the people prosecuting a former county clerk in Colorado who is facing election-tampering charges with, and I quote: 'facing a piano wire and a blowtorch before this is over, if I have anything to do with it.' He went on to repeat this and even admitted that, quote: 'I don't care how many felonies I've committed and I don't care that I'm committing felonies by threatening you.' This is where the MAGA movement now is, folks. Threatening to torture and kill law enforcement officers. There is only one political party left in America who stands for the rule of law, and that is the Democrats -- obviously."

America deserves better

From Kamala Harris's response to Trump's race-baiting comes a brilliant rallying cry that could wind up defining the whole race. It's short, it's sweet, and it's to the point. All Democrats should start using this line whenever Trump or Vance's name comes up. Echo Harris in response:

"The American people deserve better. Better than Trump. Better than Vance. America deserves better than this."

Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com
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