Kamala Steps Forward

Democrats have been on a roller coaster ride recently. Emotions ranged from despair and distress before President Biden announced he would not seek the nomination again, then rebounded to elation and excitement as Vice-President Kamala Harris stepped forward. She announced she would seek the nomination and earn it from the state and super delegates. She started working the phones shortly after she received the call from the president about his decision. (Biden, in a second announcement a few minutes later, endorsed Harris.) Within 72 hours, she had received committed support from the required number of delegates as state party after state party met and gave her their endorsement. And..the money started pouring in!

According to NPR: (Press notice truncated.)

"A week since announcing her bid for president, Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $200 million dollars, according to her campaign.

To put that figure in perspective, it's four times what the Biden re-election effort raised in the entire month of April. Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump's campaign said he raised nearly $112 million in the month of June, Politico reported.

The Harris campaign said 66% of the donations came from first-time donors. Along with fresh dollars, the campaign has signed up over 170,000 new volunteers since President Biden announced he would step down and endorsed her to be the Democratic nominee last Sunday. That energy is much needed for the vice president who, as of Sunday, has just 100 days until voters hit the polls. This weekend alone, the Harris campaign has scheduled over 2,000                                                                                                                                                                                                              events in swing states."

"The momentum and energy for Vice President Harris is real – and so are the fundamentals of this race: This election will be very close and decided by a small number of voters in just a few states," the campaign's communications director, Michael Tyler, wrote in a memo.

The vice president has already secured commitments from enough democratic national convention delegates to lock up the nomination, with elected Democrats and grassroots groups rallying around her.

On Saturday, during a fundraiser in the Berkshires, Harris told supporters that she was the underdog in the race, but was heartened by the overwhelming support she has received. Roughly half of the money raised in the first week came in the first 24 hours after Biden endorsed her. That was a record-breaking pace.

"And since then, in battleground states, people have been flooding our offices around the country to volunteer," she said in Pittsfield, Ma. "This is good. We've got momentum."

"One key aspect of her campaign remains to be seen: Who Harris will choose to be her running mate? The process for a VP pick would normally take months. But for Harris, her deliberation period can best be measured in days."

(Harris indicated she planned to have her selection announced before the delegates vote. SD)

"One source familiar with her thinking said Harris was looking for a vice president with executive experience and someone who could be a governing partner with her, among other considerations."

Current candidates are rumored to be:

Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former astronaut, and husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt.

Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a former Attorney General, who was first elected to his office in 2022.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a successful Democrat recently re-elected in an otherwise red state.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is recognized as smart and particularly eloquent in debates and explanations.

Other names have been mentioned: such as Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, with a large family wealth estimated in the billions, who is also known to be a good fundraiser.

A recent addition to the selection list is Michigan Senator Gary Peters, who has been in the Senate since 2015 and is a favorite of many unions. Many Democrats view Michigan as a must-win state.

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota is not well known, even though he is president of the National Democratic Governors organization. Previously a school teacher, he has a calming, folksy manner that might play well in the Midwest and hit a nerve calling the candidates on the Republican side, ‘just weird’.

Governors Gretchen Witmer from Michigan, Governor Roy Cooper from North Carolina, and Governor Gavin Newsom from California have indicated they are not interested in being candidates. Retired Admiral William Harry McRaven, who was not known to be under consideration, also bowed out.

People from specific interests or racial groups held Zoom calls across the country last week; these calls continued into this week with more calls tonight. As reported by the New York Times, over 60,000 white so-called dudes were on this call. Calls of over 100,000 participants almost broke the Zoom communication cloud/web-based system last week.

These calls collect information on interested voters and work to sign them on as volunteers and contributors. Still, this is a robust start, but keep in mind there were over 154 million votes cast in the 2020 presidential election. Biden won with 81.2 million votes over his opponents' 74.2 million votes.

Democrats expected the Republicans to come up with racist attacks, although the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson,  admonished them against such verbiage. But the new buzzwords Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (or DEI) which were brandished at the Republican Convention, came tumbling out despite this warning. However, as reported by CBS News, Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee, apparently wanting his moment in the sun, immediately went on air protesting the selection of Harris and stating "She was 100%, a DEI hire!"

Wyoming Representative Harriet Hagerman (R) who described Harris as "intellectually the bottom of the barrel," echoed him. A Wisconsin Representative, Republican Glenn Grothman, noted "The Democrats feel they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background."

All of this is quite interesting as CBS pointed out, Kamala Harris won her first election in 2004 and is an attorney who has worked as a prosecutor and was elected to offices as California Attorney General, and US Senator before being elected Vice-
///President in 2024.

I quite like the response from Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who re-defined the DEI acronym as Definitely Earned It!

The head of the Republican ticket had no reticence about calling out his opponent as he loudly mispronounced Kamala Harris, speaking her name deliberately as KAAAMALA instead of Commala or, as some Democrats are saying, 'La!

Of course, he did his riff of "Crazy Kamala", akin to his previous take on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of crazy Nancy. Then, of course, he went on his tear of labels, "far-left California liberal," and "soft on crime Democrat", even though she was a prosecutor for 20 years.

Harris spoke back with memorable phrases, recalling those days as a prosecutor, according to Axios:

"In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain," she said. "So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type."

While attorney general, Harris said she took on one of our country's largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. "Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students," she added.

"As a prosecutor, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse," Harris said. "Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse."

As attorney general, "I took on the big Wall Street banks and held them accountable for fraud," she said. "Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts."

Tonight Harris held a rousing rally in Atlanta, with over 10,00 in attendance, including many celebrities and local officials, where she took on her opponent saying, according to the New York Times,

“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage,” she said, as the cheers grew louder. She appeared to savor the delivery of the next line, drawing it out for maximum effect: “Because as the saying goes, ‘If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.’”

It has been difficult to stay ahead of the changing politics here and try to have my facts timely, but I have done my best, so I hope you appreciate these comments, which are a bit later than usual. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Til next week-Peace!