Things are looking good for the Kamala Harris – Tim Waltz ticket. However, Harris has continued to point out that they are the underdogs in the race for the White House. They are the underdogs because Trump and his supporters have continuously found a way to win by hook or by crook. Don’t underestimate them.
Trump is taking Harris’ success personally. For Trump, attention is a zero-sum game, and if she has it, he doesn’t. Harris is credited with doing a brilliant job of wrapping up the nomination in lightning speed, unifying the party, hosting one of the best conventions in recent memory, and raising tons of money ($500 million). Harris’s rise in the polls, packed-to-the-rafters rallies, and enthusiastic supporters are keeping the attention on her.
Trump has tried, but can’t find a way to get the spotlight back on him. This is painful for a narcissist. In Trump’s world, and that of his key supporters, they can’t understand how this could be happening at the hands of a woman who he says isn’t that smart. He can’t help but launch personal attacks, because for him this is personal. He will do anything to win, and Democrats need to be prepared for anything.
Trump hasn’t forgotten his criminal indictments and losing means he has a chance to be convicted. Winning the election means the court cases would be pushed back until he leaves office, or they would go away entirely.
It’s not just Trump, but the entire MAGA ecosystem that has a lot riding on November. A prominent Republican group, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA), a 90-year old organization which counts as its members former President Ronald Reagan, founder Phyllis Schlafly, Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist, and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, unanimously adopted a resolution as part of its platform claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris was not a natural-born citizen and was thus ineligible to serve as president under the U.S. Constitution.
Never mind that Harris, the daughter of immigrants, was born in Oakland, Calif.
In support of this claim, the NFRA cited the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v Sandford, which stated that people of black African descent could not be U.S. citizens. In 2020, Trump questioned Harris’s eligibility to serve as vice president, based on a conspiracy theory founded on a fringe legal theory. Never mind the Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th amendments. They proceeded anyway. Birther redux?
What the “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference in The 2016 Presidential Election” by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III and “The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol” showed us was the extent some, in every branch of government, will go to “win.”
We continue to underestimate Trump. Hilary Clinton wanted Trump as the Republican nominee, as she thought he would be easy to beat. We dismissed his 2016 race as largely a publicity stunt only to watch him defeat 16 other candidates, most of which had more political experience and better campaign consultants.
Many were better organized and had more money. Trump has been convicted of fraud, sexual assault, and faced over 90 federal criminal indictments, 34 of which he has already been convicted. It has not disqualified him; it hasn’t even slowed him down. Donald Trump’s ability to win over voters who don’t trust the government nor mainstream media and buy into conspiracy theories, coupled with support from conservative talk radio and cable networks e.g. Fox, NewsMax, OAN, has made him a formidable opponent, not subject to traditional political thinking nor constraints. While his record would make others unelectable, it has proved he is almost unstoppable.
Some seemed shocked, even hurt by Trump’s changing position on abortion and IVF. What did they expect? He is only committed to winning. That is the opponent Vice President Harris is facing. Those who want to defeat him must be willing to work harder and smarter.
Trump wasn’t chastened but emboldened by defeating his first or second impeachment attempts, and those who failed to overturn the election on Jan. 6 have had almost four years to implement “voter reforms” which make it harder for Republican opponents to win.
Are Democrats willing to work harder and smarter to defeat Trump? We will see.
Ed Gaskin is Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and founder of Sunday Celebrations.