It’s heated and muggy in Atlanta, where I live and where our first round of elections took place this week. Normally we would have a longer break between the second round and the overall victory, but the Covid-19 pandemic changed the date. Now there are less than three months left until the presidential elections. Hold on tight; it’s gonna be a wild ride.
The announcement this week by former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, of selecting California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate puts all the key people in the race. The matchup is set: President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence versus Biden and Harris. The election of Harris, who is clever and tough and uses the skills she acquired as a prosecutor, gives the Democratic Party a warrior candidate who not only claims to be a warrior, but backs it up with her style. It will be a demanding fight until the end.
Harris, a former attorney general of California and district attorney of San Francisco, is the daughter of immigrants. The aspirational and inspiring tone of her background is clear. Her mother emigrated from India, her father from Jamaica; they met during protests at school. They divorced when Harris was youthful, and she spent her middle and high school years in Canada. While her story may be American, her experiences growing up were not. However, as we all know, narratives often matter more than facts.
Harris studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
Harris is both a former prosecutor and an alleged change agent in the criminal justice system. She will continue to have to deal with the disconnect between her past achievements and her current position. If you’re curious, watch the video of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii asking Harris during a July 2019 debate about her prosecutorial record. Gabbard won. But the Biden campaign is used to dealing with the same schism with Biden himself. Their attention is solely focused on the narrative. Harris’ criticism will not be met with an explanation, but with a rejection that it is racist or sexist.
The Democratic National Convention begins next Monday and runs through Thursday, with a primarily remote/online event. Announced speakers include: former first lady Michelle Obama, former president Barack Obama, former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, New York Republican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The surprise speaker announced this week will be former Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Biden will deliver the welcome address from his home in Delaware, which should be an straightforward feat for him considering he has spent most of the last few months broadcasting from his basement. His recent performances have left many wondering whether he suffers from dementia or other cognitive issues. Take care of yourselves; is often inconsistent.
Last week, when asked by CBS News national correspondent Errol Barnett, who is black, about taking a cognitive function test, Biden replied: “No, I haven’t taken the test. Why the hell would I take the test? Come on, man,” he said. “It’s like telling you before you got on this program, ‘Will you take a test and whether you do cocaine or not?’ What do you think? Are you a junkie?” Now imagine what the mainstream media coverage would have been like if Trump had reacted the same way.
My guess is that Biden will spend most of the coming week rehearsing. However, even if he makes a major blunder, it may not prove fatal. This is because mainstream media coverage will shift from focusing on what actually happened to focusing on the narrative of the historic nature of the Biden-Harris ticket.
The Republican National Convention will begin a few days later, and President Trump will deliver his acceptance speech on August 24. Judging by his performances so far, the speech will be fantastic and will resonate with most Americans. However, the mainstream media will ignore the content and focus on something else that fits their narrative.
The debates will begin a month later, with the presidential debates taking place on September 29, October 15 and October 22. The vice presidential candidates will debate on October 7. The mainstream media will focus on personal attacks and insults. We will be inundated – on TV, radio and online – with negative advertising that again focuses on these sound bites.
Then, less than a month later, on November 3, elections will be held. It might seem like lithe years away. Let’s just hope that there will be a clear winner then. Hold on tight; it’s gonna be wild!
