LOTUS for POTUS

I did a lot of ignoring the news while I was traveling. I rather enjoyed that. Even so I did hear about a few things. The assassination attempt and a bit of pundits declaring this and that about how it affects the race. How the Republican Convention was a bore, especially the nasty guy’s speech that set records in length and boredom, and how duplicitous JD Vance is. That Biden kept saying he would not step down and then did (after I got home). The global tech crash, which happened my last night away from home. My phone buzzed at 4 am and I later heard the message that the New Hampshire 911 system is down, call this number instead (I was a long way from New Hampshire). When checking out of the hotel the desk person could not print a receipt. I saw a tweet by Morgan Freeman (sorry, the link was on my tablet) saying during the convention dozens of Milwaukee bars and nightclubs hosted drag shows each night so Republicans had nowhere to party. Another source added a reason for that is Republicans rarely leave a tip. Some thoughts on Biden. Over the last four years I’ve thought of him as a wonderfully decent human and a pretty good president (though not great – he didn’t get the Voting Rights Act and a few other democracy protecting bills passed and only now is presenting ideas on Supreme Court reform). See more below. I felt Biden was the one to beat the nasty guy. I have doubts Harris can do it. And there’s this: wwallace of the Daily Kos community wrote – before Biden dropped out of the race – that the calls for Biden to step aside was not about the debate. Yes, I’m aware this is an opinion piece from a person of unknown credentials. What it was about is rich people wanting Biden out because if his calls to raise taxes on themselves. All the talk about the rich wanting Biden out to protect democracy doesn’t pass the smell test. The author provides plenty of quotes to support his view. Since writing it the author added an update about Biden dropping out and Harris is now the likely nominee. She deserves our full support. But the author doesn’t answer the question of whether Harris supports and will push for tax increases for the rich. Before I leave discussing the rich... Pat Byrnes posted a cartoon showing the income gains of the top 1% rising high from 1980 on, then down to the line for the lower 20% not rising at all. A man looking at the lines says “One more tax cut for the rich should do it. Then something is sure to trickle down at last.” On to what has happened since Biden’s announcement. There was fear that going into the convention the delegates Biden released would become so fragmented there would be a fight over the nominee, which in the past has usually meant that party lost in the General. Mark Sumner of Kos reported that won’t happen. Potential challengers – Josh Shapiro of PA, Gavin Newsom of CA, Wes Moore of MD, Gretchen Whitmer of MI, Andy Beshear of KY, JB Pritzker of IL, Pete Buttigieg of Transportation – instead united behind Harris. Sumner then wrote about the huge amount of money that was donated to the Harris campaign in the first day. Also ten governors, twenty senators, one hundred thirty representatives, and others (including the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund) had endorsed Harris by 10 am Monday, less than 24 hours since Biden withdrew. Later on Monday Sumner reported the Harris campaign collected $81 million in the first 24 hours, the largest 24-hour haul in the 2024 race, beating the $52.8 million the nasty guy campaign pulled in when he was convicted on 34 felony counts. More money also came in for Democratic candidates in other races. A massive Zoom call organized Win With Black Women required the COO of Zoom to raise the participation limits. That also raised cash. On Monday evening an Associated Press article posted on Kos reported that Harris had the support of 2,471 convention delegates. She needs 1,976 to receive the nomination. At 2:00 pm Tuesday Joan McCarter of Kos reported the Harris campaign had received more than $100 million and had 1.1 million donors, 62% were first-time, in 48 hours. Also, all 23 Democratic governors had endorsed her, plus 43 senators, 191 representative, 10 unions, and 2,887 delegates. Number of criminal convictions (or even charges): 0. Another AP article reports that Harris is polling quite well among Democrats. On to how this changes the campaigns. McCarter reported that Harris is much better at articulating why abortion rights are necessary (Biden seemed afraid of the word) and what the nasty guy did to get us into the current abortion rights mess.

Republicans and anti-abortion groups think they can paint her as extreme, though. As soon as Biden announced he was ending his presidential campaign, the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group issued a statement. “While Joe Biden has trouble saying the word abortion, Kamala Harris shouts it,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president. What they don’t get is that that’s what women want to hear. Even 53% of Republican female voters in the critical 18-49 age group want a law that guarantees a federal right to abortion. And this is what those women will hear from Harris: “We trust women to know what is in their own best interest. And women trust all of us to fight to protect their most fundamental freedom.”

Sumner discussed that another theme of the campaign will be Prosecutor vs. Felon. She had been a prosecutor, then California attorney general, then a senator grilling judicial and Supreme Court nominees (a clip of her going after Brett Kavanaugh is getting airtime). The party of Law and Order will be shown as nothing of the kind. A campaign ad that Harris made for her 2019 campaign will be hitting the airwaves soon. She reintroduced it with a tweet:

I prosecuted sex predators. Trump is one. I shut down for-profit scam colleges. He ran one. I held big banks accountable. He's owned by them. I'm not just prepared to take on Trump, I'm prepared to beat him.

Sumner wrote:

Now Trump is off balance, facing someone who is everything that makes him uncomfortable all rolled into one: a Black woman prosecutor.

He won’t handle it well. On Monday Sumner reported the nasty seems to not accept he’s no longer running against Biden. Some of his tweets suggest he’s begging Biden to reconsider. In a pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev included several good quotes. First, from Michele Norris of the Washington Post commenting that over the last few weeks Harris has been both resolutely supporting Biden and quietly auditioning for his job. “Let’s just concede that walking that tightrope was not easy.” Haili Blassingame of The New Republic says the idea of a Kamala Harris – Gretchen Whitmer ticket was proposed quite quickly.

Elections aren’t endings; they’re beginnings. A two-woman ticket would demonstrate that Democrats believe there is an after-election world that they will be relevant in shaping. The slogan practically writes itself: a historic team in a time when history is being made in all the wrong ways.

I’m not sure it’s good or bad that Whitmer isn’t interested. I’d like her to stay in charge of Michigan. Jon Meacham of the New York Times and friend of Biden wrote:

Here is the story I believe history will tell of Joe Biden. With American democracy in an hour of maximum danger in Donald Trump’s presidency, Mr. Biden stepped in the breach. He staved off an authoritarian threat at home, rallied the world against autocrats abroad, laid the foundations for decades of prosperity, managed the end of a once-in-a-century pandemic, successfully legislated on vital issues of climate and infrastructure and has conducted a presidency worthy of the greatest of his predecessors. History and fate brought him to the pinnacle in a late season in his life, and in the end, he respected fate — and he respected the American people.

In the comments Denise Oliver Velez posted cartoons celebrating Harris. Charles Jay of the Kos community reported that Indian-Americans, in rallying around Harris, have created a few memes. Her ancestry is half Indian. Jay wrote:

It turns out that in Sanskrit, the name “Kamala” means “lotus.” So Indian-Americans have created this meme: “LOTUS for POTUS.”

Kamala is also an alternate name for Lakshmi the Hindu goddess of prosperity, good luck, and beauty, often portrayed as holding a lotus flower. C. Vuksinich tweeted:

The lotus flower can be a metaphor for human life, as its emergence from murky waters can represent overcoming difficult times with dedication and resilience.

In another pundit roundup for Kos, this one by Greg Dworkin, quoted Frank Bruni of the NYT discussing Bidens decision to withdraw.

In the hours and days to come, many political observers will say that President Biden was backed into a corner and had no choice but to end his re-election campaign. His limitations had been laid painfully bare. He’d lost the confidence of the Democratic Party. And he was staggering toward an increasingly ugly revolt within it or a potentially harrowing defeat by Donald Trump. Bowing out wasn’t an act of grace. It was a saving of face. All correct. But that’s not the whole truth. Not the full story. It misses the bigness of what Biden just did — its historical rarity, its emotional agony, its fundamental humility.

In the comments are several more cartoons celebrating Harris and imagining her facing the nasty guy. There’s also a meme: “‘Let’s Go Brandon’ merch now 90% off” And a tweet by Catherine Rampell showing the iconic image (borrowed from Norman Rockwell?) of a black girl walking to school in the time of desegregation. In this updated image we see the little girl is a shadow cast by Harris. DeathMetalViking tweeted: “God wanted Donald Trump to live so he can lose to a black woman.” Now the other half of the story. Another AP article describes the process of Biden deciding to drop out of the race. I’ll let you read it. Sumner discussed the amount of time and money Republicans, headed up by Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan, wasted in trying to find something for which to impeach Biden. They didn’t even give the nasty guy something to campaign against. At least they showed they were under the nasty guy’s control. Not at all surprising (but still highly annoying) B sides of the Kos community posted that Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has introduced a resolution calling to impeach Harris because she “has demonstrated extraordinary incompetence in the execution of her duties and responsibilities.” That’s all related to her failures at upholding immigration laws at the southern border. Hey guys, the vice president doesn’t actually have any power, at the border or anywhere else. Finally, Sumner discussed all the good things Biden did as president, who Sumner called, “simply the greatest progressive president of our lifetimes. Full stop.” Of course, Sumner didn’t stop, but went on to list several areas where Biden made great improvements: Pulling us out of the pandemic and the nasty guy’s mismanagement. Built up manufacturing and business creation and avoided a recession everyone kept predicting. Restored international faith in America, expanding NATO and leading help against Ukraine. Took big steps towards fighting the climate crisis. He guided a time of declining crime, declining gun sales, and rising opportunity. He showed compassion. He start improving national infrastructure. “For the first time in 23 years, our nation is not at war.” He did more in one term than other presidents did in two.

It's easy to diminish Biden. It’s easy to brush him aside as someone who isn't a great orator, a visionary leader, or an object of veneration. He doesn’t stride across the stage like a giant. He doesn’t deliver speeches that will be the subject of analysis for decades to come. Biden is an everyman. And he'd be nothing but flattered by that term.

I’m feeling better about Kamala Harris for president. My vote for her won’t be just to keep the nasty guy out of the Oval Office. It will be a vote to put her in it. Four years ago I though she wasn’t ready. But in those for years she has had an excellent mentor.