Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president with a speech delivered in the guise of her old job, a prosecutor with a multi-count indictment against her November opponent, Donald Trump.
- Spot Silver Jackpot Call By Neal Bhai [22 August 2024]
- Nifty Auto index uptrend hits a speed bump, falls 4.3% in August
- Sovereign gold bonds: How a well-intentioned Scheme is Emptying the Government Coffers
- Gold Nears Record high as Fed lowers Fuel Rate Cut Expectations
- Crude Oil prices tick down as hopes of Middle East ceasefire eases supply worries
In the decade since Trump landed on the political scene, Democrats have struggled to find a way to effectively confront and condemn him in the eyes of American voters. Hillary Clinton tried belittling him as morally unfit to lead. Joe Biden made gauzy paeans about preserving the character of American democracy.
Harris took a different tack, using her time before a national audience to arraign the former president on a laundry list of offenses. Some involved actual legal cases, such as his New York felony convictions, a civil judgment that found him guilty of sexual abuse, and his efforts — still to be litigated — to try to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
Others were presented as political and policy offenses: Harris charged Trump with trying to cut Social Security and Medicare, repeal Obamacare, and with successfully constricting reproductive rights by way of a Supreme Court whose conservative turn for which he proudly takes credit. If he returns to the White House, Harris suggested, Trump would be all but unstoppable.
“Consider the power he will have,” she said, “especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled he would be immune from criminal prosecution.
A good prosecutor works to win over every member of the jury.
“I promise to be a president for all Americans,” she said. “You can always trust me to put country above party and self. To hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law, to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power.”
In the moment, the obvious comparison she was drawing was to Trump. But the broader nature of Harris’ appeal to voters last night called to mind another a multi-racial Democratic candidate entering the national spotlight at a time of deep division.
In 2004, then-Illinois senator Barack Obama made an indelible impression at the Democratic convention in Boston with a keynote address lamenting America’s division into red states and blue states and promising redemption. “In the end, that’s what this election is about,” Obama declared. “Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”
The echoes from Harris were unmistakable. “Our nation,” she said, “with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”
Obama’s politics of hope never panned out after he became president. His successor, Trump, took the country in the opposite direction, deepening those divisions.
A major theme of the Democratic convention this week was that a decade of Trump is enough. Harris is betting that Americans agree. Her closing argument was a lengthy refrain that echoed her insistence that America is “not going back.”
Now her case goes to the jury, which will deliver a verdict on Nov. 5.
Key Reading:
- Harris Accepts Historic Nomination Vowing Fight for Middle Class
- Harris’ Vibes-Heavy, Policy-Lite Run Leaves Businesses Guessing
- Harris Defies Doubters on Road to Presidential Nomination
- Trump Threatens Tariffs on Nations That Don’t Take Back Migrants
- Democrats Avoid Gaza in Convention Push to Unify Behind Harris
What’s Next
The Fed’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation is reported on Aug. 30.
The House and Senate are on their summer break and aren’t scheduled to return to Washington until Sept. 9.
Harris and Donald Trump are scheduled to debate on Sept. 10.
The next meeting of Fed policymakers takes place Sept. 17-18.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and his Democratic counterpart Tim Walz are set to debate on Oct. 1.
Source: Bloomberg
