Vice President Kamala Harris is already behaving like a superb Madam President

President Joe Biden Made Trump Bigger. But Vice-President Kamala Harris Makes Him Smaller. Opinion by Ezra Klein published in The New York Times

Kamala Harris has a very different theory about the 2024, election than President Joe Biden did.

In 2020, and then again in 2024, Biden ceded the battle for attention to Donald Trump. 

Whether as a matter of strategy or as a result of Biden’s own limitations, Biden adopted a low-key campaigning style, letting Trump dominate news cycle after news cycle. 

Trump wanted the election to be about Donald Trump, and Joe Biden wanted the election to be about Donald Trump. On that much, they agreed.

In 2020, when Trump was the unpopular incumbent, that strategy worked for Biden. In 2024, when Biden was the unpopular incumbent, it was failing him. It was failing in part because Biden no longer had the communication skills to foreground Trump’s sins and malignancies. It was failing in part because some voters had grown nostalgic for the Trump-era economy. It was failing in part because Biden’s age and stumbles kept turning attention back to Biden and his fitness for office, rather than keeping it on Trump and Trump’s fitness for office.

Then came the debate, and Biden’s decision to step aside, and Harris’s ascent as the Democratic nominee. Harris has been able to do what Biden could or would not: fight — and win — the battle for attention. She had help, to be sure. Online meme-makers who found viral gold in an anecdote about coconuts. Charli XCX’s “kamala IS brat.”  (The Guardian explains:  ‘Kamala IS brat’: Harris campaign goes lime-green to embrace the meme of the summer. Charli xcx’s album has taken pop culture by storm". After Kamala Harris announced her bid for president, she reportedly raised a record-breaking $81m💲 donations in just a day – but her most culturally powerful endorsement may have come from a single tweet. by the British pop singer Charli xcx, who tweeted, 'kamala IS brat'.
That’s high praise from the musician, who released her album, also titled Brat, last month..."

Strategy and talent❗ Harris holds the camera 📸 like no politician since Barack Obama. And while Harris’s campaign is largely composed of Biden’s staffers, the tenor has changed. Gone is the grave, stentorian tone of Biden’s news releases. 

Harris’s communications are playful, mocking, confident, even mean. Trump is “old” and “feeble”; JD Vance is “creepy.” Her campaign wants to be talked about and knows how to get people talking. It is trying to do something Democrats have treated as beneath them for years: win news cycles.

There are many reasons Walz was chosen as Harris’s running mate, not least the chemistry between the candidates. But he was on the shortlist in the first place because he proved himself able to do what Harris wanted done: Get people talking about the thing he wanted them talking about.

“A message is like a baton: It needs to be handed from person to person to person,” Anat Shenker-Osorio, the founder of ASO Communications, a progressive messaging firm, once told me. “If it gets dropped, it’s not persuasive. Unless you’re testing for what the base — what I think of as the choir — is willing to sing, then you’re going to be hard-pressed to get the middle to hear that song, to get the congregation to hear that song.” Walz got Democrats to sing.

Not all elections take place in new media environments. But elections that do are often won by the candidate who best understands the way attention is changing. Franklin Roosevelt understood radio in a way that Herbert Hoover didn’t. John F. Kennedy understood television in a way that Richard Nixon didn’t. Obama rode the early wave of social media. Trump mastered the algorithmic era of social media, where outrage and controversy cashed out as engagement. The platforms have changed again, chasing TikTok’s dominance, and now memes and clipped and remixed videos rule.

Biden was adrift in that medium. His age and instincts left him bereft of the moments that now ricochet across social media. Biden was getting mauled so badly on TikTok that I often heard Democrats wondering if the platform’s Chinese owners were tilting the algorithm against him.

August 10, 2024

I don’t hear Democrats worrying over that anymore. For very different reasons, Harris and Walz are both eminently meme-able, clippable, remixable. And the campaign has decided it wants to be memed, clipped, remixed. After Charli XCX called Harris “brat,” Harris’s team refashioned their social media header in the acid-washed chartreuse and lowercase font of that musician’s new album. Walz, in his first speech as Harris’s running mate, winkingly alluded to the (yes, baseless) memes about JD Vance’s affection for sofas. It was as clear a signal of the instincts of this ticket as could be asked for, a tip of the cap to the campaign’s army of posters.

This can go too far and often does. It’s easy for political movements with chaotic online energy to mistake what plays to the comment section for what plays to the electorate. This is the root of Vance’s weirdness: He’s a product of online MAGA subcultures that Trump inspired but doesn’t fully understand or reflect. He was reportedly pushed on Trump by Don Jr., Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk — the most terminally online of Trump’s supporters. Vance’s off-putting talk about punishing the childless and winning America back from the cat ladies is common in these circles but repellent everywhere else.

So far, Harris and Walz have been disciplined. The left’s 2020 energy, in which there was pressure for ever more self-destructive displays of purity, has given way to an on-message ruthlessness. “Kamala is a cop” became a slur in 2020. “Kamala is a cop” is closer to a slogan in 2024.

There’s been little pressure for Harris to move left and easy acceptance of her swings back to the center: In a matter of days, she disavowed past support for fracking bans, single-payer health care and redirecting funds for the police. One of her first ads frames her as “a border-state prosecutor” and focuses on the human traffickers she’s jailed and the thousands of additional border agents she’s promised to hire. The spot ends: “Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris.”

The result is that Trump is starved for the resource he craves most: attention. As is often the case when he loses control of the headlines, he’s making loonier and more self-destructive arguments — that “nobody knew” Harris was Black, that his crowds stretch past 100,000 people, that Biden has changed his mind and wants to wrench the nomination back from Harris. And now, increasingly desperate, he has agreed to the ABC News debate he’d previously backed out of, and proposed additional debates to be hosted by Fox News and NBC.

Two months ago, Trump had control of the attentional field; now he’s struggling to get a word in edgewise.

American voters cannot be distracted from the threat of a fascist Trumpzi danger

Cliché for today:  The more things change the more they stay the same....warning 101....⚠️

Echo opinion published in the Boston Globe: "I can imagine Kennedy and Churchill teaming up to write an updated version of their original essays and titling this version, 'Why and While America Slept'.”

Eighty four years ago, the book version of John F. Kennedy’s senior thesis at Harvard was published. 

John F. Kennedy as a Harvard student, with a copy of his book, "Why England Slept".

Titled “Why England Slept,” it built upon a work written by Winston Churchill in 1938, titled “While England Slept.”

Both works explored why so many in Great Britain ignored the rising threat posed by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, as they attacked and occupied one European country after another in the wake of Hitler becoming chancellor in 1932.

Both JFK and Churchill lamented that by the time Great Britain woke up to the threat Hitler and the Nazis posed to British democracy, it was almost too late.

I recently reread JFK’s “Why England Slept” and as I read his thesis, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why are so few Americans alarmed by the threat Donald Trump and his neo-fascist MAGA political enablers and cult followers pose to our constitutional republic?”

This year’s election is undoubtedly the most critically important the nation has faced since 1860, and its outcome will determine what kind of country America will be for years, perhaps generations, to come.

Yet many, if not most, people seem oblivious to the dark political clouds gathering all around us and the threats they pose to all that Americans claim to believe in and hold dear.

I can imagine Kennedy and Churchill teaming up to write an updated version of their original essays and titling this version, “Why and While America Slept.”

Let’s hope enough Americans wake up between now and Novenber 5th, to avert a political disaster the likes of which the world has not seen since Hitler became chancellor.

From Michael Cook in Gloucester, Massachusetts

Donald Trump's apprenticeship: failed on the job empathy training

President's find their leadership stride during times of crises. It's unfortunately a somber right of passage. They are remembered by how they lead during trials and tribulations. 

President Franklin Roosevelt reached out to the hearts of Americans during his fireside chats. President John F. Kennedy showed strength during the Cuban Missile Crises. President William Clinton provided inspirational bereavement to the survivors of Oklahoma City's domestic terrorist bombing. President George Bush '43, spoke to the American people during the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks. President Obama spoke eloquently and compassionately at more funerals than most people attend in their lifetimes.

In comparisom, it is a tragic lack of leadership in Donald Trump, that prevents him from finding his stride. Consequently, he isn't credible in any leadership capacity.

Moreover, as the cynical writer Andy Borowitz wrote, Donald Trump appeared to read his "post-post Charlottesville Virginia speech", where he was supposed to condemn white the supremacists, like he was a hostage, a person who was being recorded under duress.

CNN reports how Donald Trump is missing a key ingredient to being a successful president

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Tue August 15, 2017

Evidently, Donald Trump has a major empathy problem.

That's not new -- but it is very, very important both to understand his reaction to Charlottesville, as well as his presidency going forward.

Way back in May 2016, Chris Cillizza wrote this:

"As the nation turns its eyes to the general election, I have one question that continues to nag at me as I think about the possibility of Trump in the White House: Can he be empathetic? Like, at all? And does he need to be?"
Watching Trump fumble his initial response to the violence following white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, I was reminded of that question. 

Trump ran as an unapologetic tough guy. But, what happens when you need a softer touch -- in moments like the one that transpired in Charlottesville over the weekend?

"Ultimately, I think a lack of empathy is just one piece of a portrait of a person who is unbalanced and damaged," Stuart Stevens, a Republican consultant who has long vocally opposed Trump, told me of Trump at the time. "He has spent his life in a bubble, surrounded by hired yes men and women who have never told his inner child to grow up."

Unfortunately, the 2016 voters who supported Donald Trump appeared to want a US  leadership change, more than they wanted a leader who cared about them.

That may be an overly-harsh analysis. But, it's hard to dispute Stevens' assertion that Trump's capacity for empathy is extremely low and, when he is required to reach out to people who he doesn't know or who don't support him, he is extremely uncomfortable and often simply unwilling to do it.

Trump's two Charlottesville speeches are prime evidence. In his Saturday remarks, Trump seemed to be entirely focused on ensuring that people didn't blame him for these violent acts and making clear that protesters "on many sides" were responsible for what happened.

On Monday, Trump, defying all political logic, started by touting his many accomplishments as president before turning to denounce the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups responsible for the violence -- which left a woman dead and dozens injured -- in Charlottesvile.

Particularly in Monday's speech, it was clear that Trump was checking a box that his advisers insisted he needed to check after swinging and missing so badly Saturday. They told him to read the speech, so he did. But, he quite clearly didn't feel as though it was necessary to do so.

Ask people close to Trump and they will insist he is a kind and understanding person.
"He is a compassionate person," said ousted White House communications director -- and longtime Trump pal -- Anthony Scaramucci in an interview with Stephen Colbert on Monday. (See! Told you!)

And, there is little question that Trump is extremely close and fiercely loyal to his family and a very small inner circle of friends. But that is a very different thing than being empathetic about the struggles of people you've never met or who you know didn't vote for you or don't like you.

For Trump, being president has always been about kicking ass and reasserting America's spot at the front of the line. It's sort of like this moment at a NATO summit at the end of May (where he bullied his way to the front row of dignitaries- such an ugly display of ignorance!)

And, it worked for him during the campaign! People -- especially Republicans -- were sick of politics as usual. The color-within-the-lines politicians hadn't done much of anything they liked so they were willing to take a chance on someone who didn't sound or act like anyone who had ever run for president before.

The 2016 exit poll bears this out. Of the 15% of voters who said knowing the candidate "cares about me" was the most important trait in making up their mind who to vote for, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 23 points. 

Among the 39% of the electorate who said a candidate who "can bring change" was most important, Trump won by 68(!) points.

People didn't think Trump really cared much about them. 

But they wanted change more than they cared about being cared about.

The problem for Trump -- as so starkly exposed by his response(s) to Charlottesville -- is that being president is a very different thing than running for office. 

Where a lack of empathy doesn't stand out all that much as a candidate -- there is a president in place doing that empathizer-in-chief job -- it stands out hugely when you are actually the President and the country turns to you for unity and inspiration.

And when you deliver a speech in which you cast an incident of white supremacist violence that left a woman dead as a both-sides-do-it situation, you lose credibility even with people who want to believe you have it in you to be more and better than you were as a candidate.

Empathy is not usually the sort of thing you can just start having. 

And it's not something that Trump even seems terribly concerned that he lacks. But, as president, empathy matters. There will be more moments over these next three and a half years where Trump will be called on to recognize and identify with the real grief people are feeling while also reassuring them that better days will come. After what happened over the last 96 hours in Charlottesville, it's not clear Trump has it in him to do that.

MaineWriter addendum: 

Being the leader of all Americans is not "on the job training".  

In fact, the 6 months leadership probationary period is ended. Donald Trump isn't an apprentice anymore. It's time he is removed from his job.

Beginning with George- President's private lives are irrelevant

Vulgarian-Trumparians are vainly trying to intimidate Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, based on past issues with President William Jefferson Clinton's private life. Nevertheless, the fact is, private lives are irrelevant when evaluating political leadership.

Obviously, I'm not a Presidential historian; but just a lay person who reads a lot of history. But, here's what I know about presidential sexual (and anecdotal) history:

"George Washington Slept Here" is often a joke, but we just don't know much about his life away from Mount Vernon. Who cares?

1.  George Washington (1732-1799):  There are lots of jokes about "George Washington slept here", because he was a very mobile Colonial Revolutionary War General. Nevertheless, we don't know who General George may have "slept" with, if anybody. Rumors are, George's times away from his wife Martha at Virginia's Mount Vernon, may not  have been celebate. Frankly, "who cares?".  

2. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): Author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the United States had a long affair and children with a slave lady named Sally Hemings (born in 1773, in Virginia, worked on the Monticello plantation of Thomas Jefferson). After decades of questions about their relationship, the children attibuted to this affair were confirmed by DNA analysis. At the end of the day, "who cares?".3. Warren Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923):  Was 29th President of the United States- fathered a "love child" named Elizabeth Ann Britton Harding Blaesing (October 22, 1919 – November 17, 2005) was indeed the daughter of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, and one of his mistresses, Nan Britton.  Harding and Britton, who each lived in Marion, Ohio, began their affair when he was a U.S. Senator and it continued until his sudden death, during his presidency.

4.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945):  Married to Eleanor, the mother of his six children. Yet, the popular President, who was leader of the US during the Great Depression and World War II, had a long love and affair with Lucy Page Mercer Rutherford (1891-1948), who was with the President when he died in Warm Springs, Georgia.  Does anybody really care?  

5.  Dwight D. Eisenhower- was very close to Kay Summersby (23 November 1908 – 20 January 1975). Although there's no confirmation about a sexual affair between the two, nobody really knows.  Probably, Mrs. Mamie Eisenhower, the President's wife, knew a lot about the relationship, but, frankly, "who cares?".

6.  John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) - seemed to live a double life, if all the sexual liaiasons he experienced are to be believed. Nevertheless, President Kennedy was married to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Onasis) until her husband was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Whatever sexual affairs President Kennedy had during his marraige, they are truly irrelevant today. Who cares?

7.  William Jefferson Clinton and Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton - (yawn)...."who cares?".

Of course, news about sexual affairs among the rich, famous and powerful are always titilating. They are the subjects of endless best selling books and movies.  Nevertheless, at the end of a leadership career, what counts are the attibutes and successes of the person who frames an era.  

In other words, what happens in a marriage, famous or otherwise, stays in the family.  Let's allow Mrs. Hillary Clinton to run for the office of President of the United States without having to answer for the indescretions of her husband. Frankly, the Clinton's marriage and what goes on in it are entirely their personal and private business. What Americans must care about is competent leadership. Obviously, Mrs. Clinton is a humanitarian world leader and, therefore, whatever happened in her past personal life, frankly, is none of our business.

Thank You Mrs. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg

Caroline Kennedy will continue a family legacy of humanitarian and diplomatic public service when she become US Ambassador to Japan, as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

Caroline Kennedy will be nominated to be ambassador to Japan, announced Wednesday.  

Although her nomination creates unnecessary controversy, her dedication to continue her family's legacy in public service is highly commendable. Those who unjustly criticize her appointment as being more political than based on qualification are overlooking or ignoring her bravery for becoming her family's  standard bearer since the death of her Uncle Ted Kennedy.

All the Kennedy's, collectively, have demonstrated their patriotism and dedication to helping others.  In spite of the family's notorious and often salacious private lives, the fact remains that their public faces are a united reflection of highly commendable public service. 

It's simply not fair to cast Caroline Kennedy as being somehow a political opportunist in her selection for the Japan Ambassadorial position.  She certainly doesn't need the job. On the contrary, she doesn't seek publicity (she appears to disdain publicity) and achieving political clout isn't among her career objectives. 

In other words, Caroline Kennedy is a successful woman without any titles attached.

Her willingness to serve America as our nation's ambassador to Japan is a wonderful continuation of her family's legacy of service. This patriotic story began with the service of her grandfather, Joseph Kennedy Sr., who served as Ambassador to England prior to World War II.  This service continued with death of her Uncle Joseph in an air crash while serving with the US forces in World War II coinciding with her father's heroics in the Pacific theater as the captain of the PT 109 in 1943.  Of course, President Kennedy's stand in support of Civil Rights and then, tragically, his untimely death in 1963 qualifies him as an American martyr.

The Kennedy family's accomplishments are well documented in dozens of books, hundreds if not thousands of newspaper and magazine articles and in the Presidential Library Boston, MA. 

Caroline Kennedy's dedication to offer her considerable influence to become an international foreign service official should be profusely thanked. Her willingness to serve is motivated by the best of intentions, supported by American patriotism, as evidenced by her life experience and upbringing.

Those who criticize Caroline Kennedy's appointment should look to how they or their families have given back to our country.  Few American families come close to visibly demonstrating love of country in the way of the Kennedy legacy.  

It's time for the American media and right wing critics to stop criticizing the Kennedy's. Instead, let's all reflect on how Caroline Kennedy represents Americans and the meaning of patriotism. Thank you Mrs. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Ambassador elect.