Harris speech … a collection of platitudes and fairy dust
Vice President Harris appears to have had three goals in her acceptance speech – and she was successful in accomplishing them. There were to (1) brag about her past experience (as would any politician), (2) make unspecific commitments to solve every problem while giving the American people everything on their wish list, and (3) avoid … avoid … and avoid anything about her past record of accomplishments(?) as Senator and Vice President in addressing – much less solving – any of the critical issues of concern to the voters. And certainly no reference to her past positions on such things as fracking and abolishing all private health insurance.
Overall, I would rate her as an okay, but not a great, orator. In terms of delivery and stage presence, Harris was outperformed by several earlier convention speakers, including Vice President nominee Tim Walz, Oprah Winfrey and several others.
Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki, said Harris has “magical charisma.” WHAT? I understand pumping up the pr for your candidate but let us not get utterly ridiculous. Psaki sounded like a mother’s praise after her child had a mediocre performance at the sixth grade piano recital. In terms of presentation, I give Harris a “C.” The speech was more typical than exceptional.
In terms of the “who I am” portion of the speech, Harris has a good life history to tell, and she told it well. She is an example of the American dream – the child of immigrants who rises to great success. I give here a sold “B” and a nomination for a Horatio Alger Award.
Harris’ next mission was to lay out what she would do as President. On that subject, Harris picked up on the President Biden approach — promise everyone everything, including a lot of things she has no power to deliver. It was platitudes over policy (as was much of the convention). In terms of substance, I give Harris a “D-minus” and the Snake Oil Salesperson of the Year Award
Harris speech was drenched in the Democrat convention “we love America” theme. I found that particularly interesting. Harris’ speech, the convention rhetoric and the major theme of the 2025 Democrat campaign is to wrap themselves around the flag as super patriots.
This is not a new theme. Those with memories are longer than a gimme putt will recall that the same theme was used very successfully in the 2008 Obama campaign. The Obama commercials and his speeches could have been selling Ronald Reagan’s “morning in America” campaign.
At the time I credited the genius of political consultant David Axelrod for making the candidate most unlike any past President (Obama) look and sound more like a President than the guy (Senator John McCain) who really looked like every past President.
This play for patriotism is important. It pushes back on the perception of the Democratic Party being less than American cheerleaders. That anti-American perception – and arguably reality – of the Democratic Party is conceded even by such folks as Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. They say it has now been put to rest. But perhaps not entirely in view of the left-wing protestors outside the convention hall. (If you are not aware of the occasionally violent protests, you obviously watch MSNBC or other left-leaning networks that censored that portion of the news as a favor to Team Harris.)
Yes, the convention hall was filled with American flags and the rafters shook in response to the chants of “USA! USA!” What it has not drowned out are the Biden/Harris (now Harris/Walz) policies that have weakened America as a world leader in commerce, military and democracy.
There is no need to question Harris as a loyal American, but one can question whether her policies are good for America – and we the people. That is the question Harris has avoided in her speech — and hopes to avoid for the next several weeks.
In terms of the attempt at making Democrats the super patriots, I grade Harris’ speech as a good effort, but she gets an “F” for plagiarism – automatically making her a recipient of the Joe Biden Award for Literature.
What we got from Harris is a lot of political fairy dust designed to blind voters to the political realities – the issues that most concern the public. You might say that we the people have been Puck-ed. (If you do not get it, read Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.)
So, there ‘tis.
Acceptance speech? Running a little slow aren’t we?
Compared to death and destruction in a failed nation that Trump unveiled, I will take it.
Please clarify what you mean here!!
Katie … Good question. I too have not idea what he is talking about.
Gee, Horist with no idea. Hmmm. The speech was over a week ago, you seemed to noodle this one a bit. Thus the ” Running a little slow aren’t we?” Seems Horist may still be a bit slow… but that might just be me.
I do have to pull back the second statement; I apparently listened to left-wing pundits and, having read the transcript, if that’s what he said and I think it is, it really was not gloom and doom and there was a lot of unity, peace, etc. preached although I question whether he means it. But he did say it, and there is less gloom and doom than his 2017 inauguration debacle. So, my mistake, my bad, should of followed my own advice to second source, or read the damned thing, and I apologize for my misstatement.
There were a lot of lies though. Some really obvious ones too except for the oblivious who believe them. He did boldly lie a lot, more than reported, where no politician would dare to lie before. But that’s yesterday’s news and the same old lies that no one cares about.
I did a random selection of “trigger” words for fun. Does not mean much, but it does show how Trump focuses on aggression, frustration, and fears.
Trigger words for the mob:
Border – 21 times
Inflation – 14 times
China – 14 times
Invasion – 13 times
Jobs – 13 times
Worst – 11 times
Bullet – 11 times, wow
Fight – 10 times, once every ten minutes
Attack – 8 times
Immigration — 9 times
Family – 9 times
Weapon, izing – 9 times
Russia – 9 times
North Korea —4 times
Israel — 4 times
Incompetent – 3 times
Peace — 2 times
Women – 2 times (that men should not play women’s sports)
Abortion – 0 times
Unemployment – 0 times
Gaza – 0 times
Palestine – 0 times
Obviously the bullet references how much time he spent on the assassination attempt. Gotta let that one go, must have really psyched him out, would have kept me off the stage for a few weeks. The border and inflation seem to be the biggest fears he looks to stoke. Also, note the attention to fight, focus on boogiemen like China, Russia, etc. right up there with inflation and immigration. Then look at the bottom for all the things left unsaid: women’s health issues, Gaza, terrorists, look at what gets a passing glance or avoidance. No science here, but interesting.
FYI: inflation and border crossings were severely down at the time of his speech.
Katie and Larry, let me know if you need more clarification. Thanks for reading and being so interested, and interesting. HAGWE.
I thought her acceptance speech was just fine. Much better than Trump’s hour and thirty eight minute wandering rant of sour nothings and fairy diarrhea!
And I am pleased that Larry has given her several rewards. His rewards along with $1.49 cents will buy you a cup of coffee with free refills.
The whole thrust of this article seems a bit old and stale, as her speech was 8 days ago. Makes a person wonder if this was a timing issue or is Larry just running low on topics to criticize Dems over.
Larry, you prize yourself as such a super intelligent being but you cannot understand what Frank is saying when he says, “Acceptance speech? Running a little slow aren’t we?”???? Maybe you are lying about your mental health!!! Sounds like your cognitive skills are lower than you advertise.
Amen! And take it with JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY!!! LOL
I am sorry, Trumps Nation was the best I had seen in my lifetime.
The country was powerful for Killer Biden’s to F it up, and THEY did just that.
I say THEY as Biden has always just been a puppet.
And now they are electing a new Puppet.
The Democrat talking points on this site speak with to much intellect
to possibly be this Stupid!
What gives, there must be something very interesting in your colons’?
My question is (I have asked many times), how can anyone vote for a person who has not listed in writing what her policies are and has done nothing in her nearly 4 years as VP to make America a better place? She failed on the border, she lied about Biden’s health (even up to the final minute before he dropped out), says Bidenomics is working, and picks “Tampon Tim” as her running mate. “Tampon Tim” has lied about almost everything he has done in the past; the most egregious being his Military Record.
Well Katie, I can answer at least your first question. Many of us Independents know what her alternative is, and he has written down his policies which are very similar to Project 2025. So taking Harris at her word and allowing her the time to document some of her policies does not seem like such a stretch. As far as her failing at the border, I questioned Dem policies for the first two years after the end of Remain In Mexico. But after the GOP at the direction of Trump killed the Border Bill, I no longer consider it as her failure alone. On Biden’s health, what evidence do you have to suggest that she lied? On Bidenomics, well the name is a GOP label that has failed because the truth is that Biden’s economy has far exceeded Trump’s economy. Certainly we can talk inflation which both are responsible for, but it is indisputable that markets have never been higher, and jobs created have never been more. As far as Tim Walz is concerned, he has not lied about his military record – that is a GOP misinformation based on their lack of understanding of the timeline of Walz’s career, and in particular with respect to his intentions to run for the governorship of MN. Specifically, what lies are you talking about? May I ask why you are calling Mr. Walz “Tampon Tim”? That seems very disrespectful, why???
Katie, The same way you took a gamble on Trump in 2016, not to mention that his written plan is pretty unfinished today.
What do you think a VP should do? Because Pence’s last act to defend the Constitution got him fired. Beyond being the poster boy for the vaccine until it went well and Trump pushed him aside, what else?
No, a VP’s JOB is to be in waiting for what we hope will never happen. They are expected to agree with the President and do whatever tasks assigned.
She was never tasked with the border. She was tasked with root cause for THREE COUNTRIES only which was a failure too. But not the border, that’s Republican myth for PR purposes. You have not a clue about her, Biden’s health, whatever — just rumor and conjecture.
Bidenomics, statistically, on the numbers is working. Not perfect, aka inflation, but still working. Walz is a great American and the most plain speaking of either party’s candidates. He fucking did not lie about his military record and you demeaning a person for serving his country is bogus and just plain wrong. You should be ashamed to sink so low.
How about this: YOU are a great reason to vote Harris, vote often :>)
I do agree that we will vote Harris only to find out later what she means and who she is. But that’s because you are running Trump who offers me nothing but pain and frustration. His chaotic management style, his nepotism, his complete bungling on the covid response, his lack of spine to knock down vaccine lies and misinformation, he fucking got his vaccine once in secret, had to be outed to say he got it. And his economy: great, if you like debt fueled economics where he printed money like no other President in US history. The largest deficit ever —- Biden won’t be that bad. The largest debt ever to that date. Yes, Biden will surpass that but Bident tapered the deficit, brought down the debt/GDP ratio statistic and is putting the brakes on Trump borrowing excesses. Trump may piss all over China, but he has his hand out for debt coverage every fucking year he was in office. He did that before and during covid.
Don’t listen to Trump or his acolytes; they lie. Run the economic statistic numerical comparison yourself to see how Trump, the man who can only succeed in business and politics by lying and cheating, fails as managing the US economy. The actual numbers say it all, loud and clear.
Of course, it could be a grand conspiracy against Trump and all the bean counters are in on it. All the institutions are playing along. The financial press could also be in conspiracy cahoots. And, of course, I am the Deep State. I even know the secret handshake and password: “AOC forever.”
But I do not think so. Tell us what you find.
Katie,
Or put it this way: if you ran Halley, I might have agreed with you on Harris. Especially given the recent flippy flops. Not that they are not correct, IMO, but the timing is in the area of pandering for votes. But you stuck with Trump, the oldest candidate in US history for President. Old, rambling, sweaty, Trump. Whose best move is the fist pump, screaming fight, fight, fight. Always a good ice breaker for unifying different groups and opinions. Like watching some jock ape their victory over the vanquished.
Good point about Trump and 2016. Trump had no policies, just a lot of bluster and promises he did not keep. Point is that many of us, including me, were duped by Trump in 2016 and should have required documented policies. But we did not. Me personally, I was not as duped as I was against the Clinton machine and did not want to see Hillary in office at all costs. Not sure if that was a good decision or not, but it does not matter anymore. Time has moved on. And now we have Trump’s record, we see all of his broken promises, we hear more future broken promises, we see Project 2025, we watch Trump flip flopping his ass off, Tik Tok, Bitcoin, abortion, and he is attempting to flip on his harsh view of our military, and we can hear his lunacy on TV.
So how, knowing all of this can anyone want such a lunatic!?? At this point, the election parameters and contestants are set. There is no going back. We know Trump. As an Independent, I am willing to afford Harris all of the same breaks I afforded Trump in 2016.
Project 2025 will be very harmful to many in the USA. It must be stopped at all levels of government.
Tom, old friend and not a clone, that was an inspired insight that explains well how my friend, not my doppelgänger, has come to his conclusion on all this. Not my doppelganger in that we differ madly on topics like immigration, alternative lifestyles, and women’s rights for reproductive healthcare, we both come together for abt. But you arrived after the experience and I was there as a Democrat but also from previous experience with this guy.
It really explains your evolution and how you may evolve back if Republicans can renovate and remodel their house. Likewise, if they had put Halley up, I may have jumped as I did decades ago for the first coming of Reagan.
Nice pick up on the Trump flippy flops as he panders for pecuniary pelf (ha, makes Horist’s mendacious look pugnacious….) from billionaires.
Great explanation, rationalization, great response.