Six feet separated Vice President Kamala Harris from Trump Tuesday evening on the stage of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for their first and perhaps only presidential debate. But they were leagues apart when it came to their visions. Kamala closed some of that distance at the very start when she walked across the stage and shook his hand.(And they stood a little bit closer the next day at a ceremony in the city as the nation honored those killed on 9/11 twenty-three years ago.)
Much of the drama you expect in a debate was minimized by muted mics and the absence of an audience. Even so a contentious exchange of words prevailed and Kamala got the best of him with substantive answers, particularly on abortion, Russia and Ukraine—some of which were ladened with nice one-line zingers. She reminded Trump again and again that he was running against her and not Joe Biden.
One of her most telling blows came during her comments on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that with Trump as president Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his next move on Poland. “And why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch,” she asserted.
Kamala was well prepared and ready to deliver a barrage of counterpunches, which in the end were not necessary since Trump hardly landed a blow or sustained any sort of plan or attack. She summoned her prosecutorial memories and hammered away at the convicted felon, and millions watched as he squirmed and tried to ward off the fusillade of truths, and none resonating with such precision as her recounting Trump’s racist past, his father’s discriminatory denials of African American renters, Trump’s full page ads calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five all of whom were exonerated after serving long prison sentences. No apology has ever been uttered by Trump for this.
Millions and millions were Trump’s operative words and Kamala had own litany of numbers, impaling him with the fact that 81 million Americans had fired him, in the same way he claimed to have fired the former employees and associates, including military personnel, many of whom Kamala noted now view him as a disgrace.
Kamala lambasted him with facts and her plans as president, and she brilliantly recounted her meetings with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, and what could be done to offset or counter the Russian attack. It was a splendid recitation of chapter and verse on that ongoing conflict. She was equally adept in her response to the war in Israel, smartly finding a way to keep her allegiance to the Biden doctrine and at the same time address the countless number of Palestians killed in the pursuit of Hamas terrorists. She told Linsey Davis, who along with David Muir were ABC’s moderators, that the solution in Israel “must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and in equal measure for the Palestinians. But the one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve.”
Most rewardingly in the so-called debate, which was, in effect, a one-sided slam dunk, was to hear Kamala’s plans for middle Americans on jobs, housing, medical care, and what the Biden administration has already accomplished. Among the concerns voiced by many Americans via the polls, was that some 30% wanted to know more about Kamala. Well, we think if they were paying attention, especially those sitting on the fence and still undecided about their vote, they got a full dose of where she stands. To paraphrase Gamble and Huff’s song recorded by Harold Melvin and Blue Notes, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” if they don’t know who she is by now they never, never will know who she is. We certainly know who she is and who she will be come Nov. 5—the president of the United States!
I realize you wrote this nonsense before the election, ” Slam Dunk “.
.Oh you bet it was, say hello to your new President Trump.