This past week I had lunch with my friend, John, who told me though he is a Republican, he considers Mr. Trump an anathema. There are probably a lot of people that view the current state of politics and the upcoming election between Trump and Harris similar to the way John sees it. A few weeks ago, Christopher T. Sununu, governor of New Hampshire, wrote an article published in the New York Times with the title: My Fellow Republicans, Stop the Trash Talk. Sununu pointed out in his article that Independents, straddling the fence as to whom they will support, are not likely to be moved by character assassinations. Trump’s assertions to a group of Black journalists in Chicago, that Ms. Harris only recently claimed status as a Black woman and not just an Indian, was more likely to alienate this bloc of voters than gain their support. Moreover, Mr. Trump has not heeded Sununu’s warning, but rather he has resorted to name calling and attacking Harris with such barbs as: “wack job, real garbage, dumb as a rock and bum.”
Trump’s vulgar comments directed at Harris are hardly what Mario Cuomo had in mind when he compared campaigning to poetry and governing to prose. Former presidents, such as Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, understood the meaning of those words when they went on the road to campaign, prior to each election, to the American people. They both had an ease with language when they communicated with the different constituents, they hoped they would someday represent as their president. They carried themselves with a certain amount of charisma and mystique that made people want to listen to their message. But even more impactful was that Reagan, especially, projected an optimistic view of what America represented in the eyes of foreign nations. He engaged the American public with an enticing smile whose message to them was please join me on our mutual journey to make America greater than it already is.
Vice-President Harris, to her credit, has ignored Trump’s attacks on her character, in her campaign stops. In fact, rather than Trump’s view of the current political atmosphere as American carnage, she has taken on Reagan’s mantle of optimism, and similar to Obama, has campaigned with the hope of improving and bettering the lives of Americans that are struggling. There is a certain irony to the way the campaigning is going for both sides: The more Trump blurts out incoherent nasty statements, the less Harris has to say about anything because the undecided voters, who may be Republicans, like my friend John, may very well be turned off by Trump’s vicious attacks on a a woman that he himself has admitted is very attractive.
But this is where Harris finds her greatest problem. The American populace really doesn’t know where she stands on certain issues and where she will go if elected president. Regarding the impression Kamala Harris has made on the American public, Bill Maher, the T.V. comedian, said “she is quieter than an electric car.” David Brooks has said that continuously reminding us of January 6th and/or referring to those that represent the Republican party as “weird” will not help Ms. Harris gain votes. Moreover, although this type of criticism is far more civil than Trump’s style, it still resembles his ugly mode of campaigning.
Brooks believes that for Harris to preside over the coming election she will have to make a case, especially to working-class voters, for a better life. But one of Harris’ suggestions to alleviate those having a difficult time financially, by employing price controls, runs contrary to the way many economists think. Past efforts to utilize price controls have invariably caused shortages, supply chain disruptions with the result leading to higher prices. Hopefully, she will drop this idea as she did with her earlier view on fracking that she indicated she is no longer against. This is not to say that Trump’s idea of tariffs is any better. When Trump implemented this measure while president, the net effect was no new jobs and prices considerably higher for consumers due to employers counting on foreign steel.
I credit Ms. Harris for not playing the race card in her acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention. This is wise and lives up to that famous quote from Martin Luther King that “my children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Whereas Ms. Harris has lived up to this standard in her campaign, Mr. Trump has eviscerated it.
Stay tuned for the presidential debate coming.
Dr. Bernard F. Natelson 