‘We’ve Got A Big Night Ahead, Something Wonderfully Magical Is In The Air’: Michelle Obama Drums Support For Harris
The Oasis Reporters
August 23, 2024
Before our two ponderous takes on the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, it would be ideal to recall the first journey of Mrs. Hillary Clinton who made a spirited bid for the US presidency as a woman.
Then the talk she gave in support of Kamala Harris on making a big dent in the glass ceiling that had prevented women from attaining that exalted office.
And also, the passionate support given by Oprah Winfrey.
First, here’s what Foreign Policy has to say:
Trump has been trying to make inroads into the Democratic dominance of African American voters by arguing that undocumented migrants coming across the southern border are taking “Black jobs.”
The former first lady brought the house down when she said: “Wait, I want to know – who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs?’”
Obama’s endorsement of Harris was equally steely, lifting up the Democratic nominee whom Trump has slandered as not really Black.
Democratic ground operatives will meanwhile delight at the former first lady’s searing warning against voter complacency and admonition for everyone who fears the prospect of a second Trump term to “do something.”
Former President Barack Obama, no mean rhetorician himself, quipped: “I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”
He had a point.
And from the Economist, their cover story this week comes from the Democratic convention in Chicago.
“It has been a joyous, heady celebration by a political party that only a month ago thought it was staring at defeat. I have listened to one speaker after another tease Donald Trump for being mean-minded, complaining, selfish, negative and annoying—like your neighbour’s incessant leaf-blower, said Barack Obama; and they have contrasted him with their own nominee, Kamala Harris.
The convention was all about her character and her life-story. Americans now know not only that she’s brave and kind and dedicated to public service, but also that she worked at McDonald’s and that every year she teases her husband by playing the rambling voicemail he left asking her for a first date.
So far, it’s working.
Since Joe Biden stepped back, near-certain defeat has turned into a race that is too close to call. But we argue that Ms Harris needs more.
To strengthen her claim to the White House she should also unspool a single thread running from her life-story to her principles and to show how that leads to a programme for government.
She has reasons for building her campaign around personality. Her overriding task is to defeat Mr Trump, and it is a vital one in which guile and cunning are permitted. But you can be desperate for Ms Harris to win against Mr. Trump and still wonder how good she would be in office.
Credits:
Foreign Policy
The Economist
