Kamala Harris for President appreciation thread

[brainbomb]

Cheers to Kamala Harris! Let us celebrate this magnificent candidate!

[Crazy Anglican]

Yep, but it isn't official until the convention. Don't underestimate the Democratic party's ability step on their dicks. (or somebody else's)

[Jamiet99uk]

Brush your teeth!

[Crazy Anglican]

Jeez, BB We've got some work to do.

[brainbomb]

I enjoy the fact that
A. she isnt old
B. she isnt senile
C. she actually understands the LAW, the US CONSTITUTION, and has dedicated her life to practicing Law as a public servant
D. her actual ideas differ from Biden on healthcare, environmental issues, and immigration.

Also, I think while early numbers indicate she will lose worse than Biden, ultimately I think those numbers will flip in October when people see a fun, energetic diverse candidate running against a crazy person whose only triumph this year was surviving a shooting.

Kamala is also much harsher on gun control than Biden. She is far more of a true democrat, and I think people will appreciate the new face in what was a totally boring election until now.

[brainbomb]

the cons are she ran a failed presidential campaign that lost its message along the way.

she created a law which prosecutes families for truancy which backfired and she openly admits it didnt work out the way she had hoped.

she was brutal on marijuana convictions, and was a pretty hard nosed district attorney. when she was running for president she was my favorite candidate and I am excited to see how she does here, even if she doesnt win. It presents a nice new direction for the country regardless because I sincerely doubt she will just copy paste the Biden Admin Doctrines

[brainbomb]

The most hilarious moment from all of this is that instead of acknowledging we have a new candidate, one that the republican party really wants to defeat; they have focused on why biden isnt stepping down.

You should be aware that if Biden did step down, the candidate you want to defeat so badly, would then be the President, and would be able to have some free on the job training for several months. Where she could already begin to shape her own administration. I applaud Republicans for either not fully thinking this through, or for the fact they truly do think Biden cannot lead at all for the next 4 months. If it is the latter, I agree with Republicans. Lets just make Kamala President now, why the hell not? makes this easier anyway

[Zach0805]

Well as long as she didn’t throw thousands of minorities in jail for just smoking weed while she herself did it, I think she’s got it in the bag

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Kamala is a clear improvement over Biden just by being a sprightly 59.

She is otherwise a problematic candidate for the Dems. She failed to make a splash in her last presidential bid. As VP she was given the uneviable task of controlling the border without any real policy leeway to do anything about it. Many of the woke and minority voters that she's supposed to appeal to will be put off by her background as a prosecutor — maybe some moderate Dems will value that experience?

I'm glad she's replaced Biden, but I don't imagine she'd be the presumptive nominee if there had been an earlier and better planned contest for the role. It's frustrating to see the Dems say "Democracy is on the ballot" but then go down this road where their nominee may not be the strongest possible opponent to Trump.

The early reaction of the betting markets is that she has about as good of a chance to win as Biden did, which is to say a steep uphill battle to winning the presidency. I think she has more upside potential to change minds / votes than Biden would have had he stayed on.

[brainbomb]

The base will vote for her and will undecided voters really choose a felon and a guy who already failed in multiple election cycles?

It seems very short sided to think people know enough about Kamala to judge her for legal cases she tried ten years ago. Shit half the voters barely even remember who was President during covid

[Zach0805]

The undecideds/progressives/young might not show up, there’s the Democrats issue

The big fear of the Democrats was getting enough voters to show up for Biden. Kamala is not a magic bullet to solve that issue despite what you think brainbomb. If anything she’s even more off putting to the people that the Democrats need to show up

So yea, the undecideds might like her more than Trump. But that doesn’t matter if they don’t even show up in November

[Octavious]

If brainbomb is a representative example of a Democrat enthusiast I start to understand why Trump is popular . The sheer contempt for the American voting public is astonishing.

Kamala trumps Biden on the grounds that she's likely to maintain a pulse for the next 5 years, and when she's in a room she generally gives the impression that she knows where she is and what's going on. That this is the bar she had to beat is... beyond remarkable... but she does beat it.

Her strengths at this point include brand recognition and having a united party behind her (united by desperation and inability to pick anyone else as much as by genuine enthusiasm, but for the sake of the election that hardly matters. No one is going to stick the knife in like they did with Biden, regardless of how much they may feel justified in doing so). She also has a decent record in roles prior to her current position, which you can nitpick for various failings if you wish but at the end of the day seems a pretty robust performance.

Her weaknesses include the perception that she is very much a substitute candidate who has been chosen by fortune rather than by winning a hard fought contest, coupled with the fact that when she attempted that hard fought contest a few years back she fell far short of the bar.

Another major weakness is that she's been apparently glossing over Biden's clear problems, repeatedly lying about them to the American people, and in doing so failing in one of her key duties as VP. If Biden's condition deteriorates noticeably still further over the next few months, which is entirely possible considering the extreme stress and emotional turmoil of recent events, then this failure of decision making and assertiveness will be very obvious and very damning.

Aside from her handling of Biden I don't know enough about her day to day performance as VP to comment on it. We don't really pay much attention to that sort of thing overseas. As nothing major has been highlighted over the years I'm guessing she's been fine.

Interesting times ahead

[Jamiet99uk]

The base will vote for her and will undecided voters really choose a felon and a guy who already failed in multiple election cycles?

It seems very short sided to think people know enough about Kamala to judge her for legal cases she tried ten years ago. Shit half the voters barely even remember who was President during covid

The people who will vote for Trump don't believe he is a felon. They believe the court cases are all part of an evil conspiracy against him by a cabal of powerful Americans who hate America.

[Crazy Anglican]

I like how Trump's running mate used to compare him to Hitler, but now says he's gonna save America.

Kentucky's Gov. couldn't resist the jab last night. It seems Vance has no conviction, but Trump has him covered; he's got 34.

[Crazy Anglican]

The undecideds/progressives/young might not show up, there’s the Democrats issue

The big fear of the Democrats was getting enough voters to show up for Biden. Kamala is not a magic bullet to solve that issue despite what you think brainbomb. If anything she’s even more off putting to the people that the Democrats need to show up

So yea, the undecideds might like her more than Trump. But that doesn’t matter if they don’t even show up in November

It might actually, There are more Democrats than Republicans. Remember Trump has never won the popular vote in any election.

Trump tried to be the Law and Order candidate before Jan 6th; now he's a felon facing a prosecutor. No doubt it will be a fight, but raising $81 million in 24 hours looks pretty good for he support. Trump's highest 24 hour haul was like $51 million and he had to get shot to get it.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

It might actually, There are more Democrats than Republicans. Remember Trump has never won the popular vote in any election.

Trump tried to be the Law and Order candidate before Jan 6th; now he's a felon facing a prosecutor. No doubt it will be a fight, but raising $81 million in 24 hours looks pretty good for he support. Trump's highest 24 hour haul was like $51 million and he had to get shot to get it.

It's probably best to steel yourself against this type of analysis. The popular vote is a red herring when it's the electoral college that actually elects the president. Trump beat Hilary with about half the overall fundraising. Fairly or not, the Dems are associated border chaos and major riots during the pandemic — Trump may still look like the law and order choice to many.

The points you raised might be helpful rhetorical tools to help build hype around Kamala, but they're not the best possible indicators of Kamal's chance of success — forthcoming polls in swing states + movements in the betting markets are probably the indicators to watch. So far Kamala seems to be recapturing at least whatever support Biden had at his peak this cycle, which is a pretty good start.

[Crazy Anglican]

No, I a well aware of how the Electoral College works and it's effects. I was merely pointing out that the Republicans need the swing voters to vote Republican since they are a smaller party. It will be a tough race no matter what. I like how Trump is already backing down from a debate with Kamala though.

[Octavious]

No, I a well aware of how the Electoral College works and it's effects. I was merely pointing out that the Republicans need the swing voters to vote Republican since they are a smaller party. It will be a tough race no matter what. I like how Trump is already backing down from a debate with Kamala though.

For clarity, when you're talking about size of party are you talking about registered voters, card carrying party members (if that concept exists in the US), or the way people identify when asked by opinion pollsters?

In the UK the Labour Party is typically double or treble the size of the Tories in terms of membership, the impact of which is pretty minimal when it comes to actual elections.

[Crazy Anglican]

For clarity, when you're talking about size of party are you talking about registered voters, card carrying party members (if that concept exists in the US), or the way people identify when asked by opinion pollsters?

In the UK the Labour Party is typically double or treble the size of the Tories in terms of membership, the impact of which is pretty minimal when it comes to actual elections.

In general terms, there are more democrats in terms of voters, but republicans have more consistent turnout. It isn't that big a difference (at most 5% advantage, but usually more like 1%). It is why the left is bigger on "turn out the vote" efforts. More voters usually means more democratic voters.

[Trigfea63]

Harris is a refreshing change. Now I feel better about voting in this election. My choices two days ago were (1) a man so old he can't even read from a teleprompter any more or (2) a deranged lunatic.

Whether she can win, we'll see. She's a fighter. And she's physically attractive. Since the advent of television, the more physically attractive candidate has won pretty much every U.S. presidential election. For sure Biden was going to lose.