Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
“Vice President Kamala Harris urged Americans to seize a ‘precious, fleeting opportunity’ to move beyond political divisions and the threat of Republican Donald Trump on Thursday as she closed out the Democratic National Convention.” AP News
The left generally praises Harris’s speech, arguing that she successfully appealed to voters.
“Harris told a story of herself in her biography as the striving child of strict immigrant parents growing up in a working-class neighborhood. She explained her inspiration to become a prosecutor as a desire to protect, growing from seeing a friend confide to her that she was being sexually abused at home. Then she recounted her history as a prosecutor, where she fought big banks and the cartels…
“Harris emphasized popular elements of her program: protecting abortion rights and promising to sign into law the border bill negotiated with ‘conservative Republicans.’ Harris labeled her economic goal ‘an opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed.’ The notion of opportunity, with its implication that people should control their own economic destiny, has long been a conservative one.”
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine
“Much of the evening was clearly aimed at independents and Trump-weary Republicans… Rep. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), a Marine Corps veteran who fought in Iraq, brought onto the stage all the Democratic members of Congress who have served in the military. It was a gaudy display of unapologetic, unalloyed, flag-waving patriotism…
“Perhaps the most important goal the party accomplished in Chicago was to reclaim a powerful word: freedom… [Tim Walz said] ‘No matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life you want to lead.’ Republicans, accustomed to having a monopoly on the ‘freedom’ brand, have not yet come up with any kind of coherent response.”
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
“Harris did mention some specifics in her speech: she’ll push through the recently derailed bipartisan immigration bill, for instance. For the most part, though, Harris pointed to large goals like ending the housing shortage or affirmed general commitments, like supporting NATO…
“[Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz said] that the policy-lite approach has two advantages. ‘One is that you are simply giving your opponents less to shoot at, mischaracterize.’… Schatz also believes that avoiding policy prescriptions is actually ‘a little more honest with the voter.’… Even if Harris wins, her policy agenda will be constrained by the makeup of Congress and committee assignments. Why get into details that won’t matter?…
“But perhaps the greatest advantage of a blank policy slate is that it allows for wishcasting… For the time being, the major factions of the Democratic Party seem to believe that when push comes to shove, they can win out… But how long can [this] last?”
Jerusalem Demsas, The Atlantic
The right is critical of Harris’s speech, arguing that she failed to offer policy specifics.
The right is critical of Harris’s speech, arguing that she failed to offer policy specifics.
“[Harris’s speech] was a paint-by-numbers collection of clichés. She’s from and for the middle class. She’ll be a president for all Americans. She’ll fight for this country. Anything is possible in America. She spoke of policy in only the gauziest of terms, pledging to solve the housing crisis, protect voting rights, and sign pro-abortion legislation…
“The banality of much of the speech underlines how no major-party nominee in recent memory has ever been such a complete cipher…
“Harris was the beneficiary of one of the more extraordinary events in recent political memory — an incumbent president getting dumped from his party’s ticket — and we never heard in her words what she made of it or about her role in the transition. She selected a vice-presidential nominee and didn’t sit for an interview to explain her choice. And now she’s completed her convention, again without an interview or press availability.”
The Editors, National Review
“Kamala Harris’s speech was fine, and delivered with assurance… [But] The text didn’t have the feeling of a story being told from some previously unknown inner depth. It stuck to résumé values and life experiences, rather than a sharing of her thinking. I’m not sure it advanced her position with those who aren’t already with her…
“There is a small but persistent cloud that follows her, which can be distilled down to the idea that she was swiftly and mysteriously elevated to her current position, that we don’t know everything about how that happened, and that people aren’t fully comfortable with it. I don’t think she succeeded in lightening or removing the cloud.”
Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
“The lack of specificity is part of a strategy to separate herself from the Biden-Harris years by calling for a vague ‘new way forward.’ The idea seems to be that the less specific she is, the less chance she will be associated with the unpopular parts of the Biden tax-regulate-and-spend agenda that produced a decline in real American incomes. Until she disavows this agenda, voters can assume they are also her proposals…
“Mr. Trump has let Ms. Harris claim the mantle of change, though she has been Mr. Biden’s sidekick all along. This is political malpractice. He has also given Ms. Harris the chance to sound the notes of optimism that Americans always want to hear from a candidate. Mr. Trump focuses so much on America’s problems—’American carnage’—that Ms. Harris can dominate the field even with generalities like hope and opportunity… Ms. Harris is eminently beatable, but Mr. Trump will need to do more than repeat his stale lines from 2016.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
