It's Friday!

From The Washington Post

November 1, 2024

by Jennifer Rubin.

What caught my eye

I like democracy’s chances this election. Ignoring the polls that are all within the margin of error (and the incessantly inane chatter about small, statistically nonsignificant changes) has its benefits; one can step back to assess the performance of the two campaigns and candidates. Vice President Kamala Harris has been doggedly working swing states; giving interviews to Black, local and mainstream media; slamming her opponent’s racism and fascist ambitions; and driving a large early vote (including a Democratic senior surge). She has come across as warm, sincere and quick on her feet. (She has about a 10-point advantage over former president Donald Trump on favorability.) On Tuesday, Harris held a mammoth and uplifting event on the National Mall in D.C. Standing in front of the illuminated White House on the very spot felon and former president Donald Trump summoned the mob to attack the Capitol, Harris called for unity, vowed to be an inclusive president and implored us to reject another “petty tyrant.” The contrast with Trump’s Madison Square Garden event — a grotesque and vulgar display of racism — could have not been starker. As the campaign has gone on, Harris has become more confident, eloquent and, yes, presidential; Trump has become more crass, unhinged, angry and scattered. I concur with Jill Lawrence’s assessment in the Bulwark that Harris’s campaign is one of the best organized, most effective and most enthusiastic in history. She has elevated the tragic results of Dobbs, put criticism to rest by setting out a robust domestic agenda, made a considerable effort to reach out to Republicans and run to Trump’s right on national security. All of this is even more remarkable when you recall she only entered the race in July. Trump, by contrast, has maintained a leisurely schedule, spent time cultivating the same group of voters and made one offensive comment after another. He seems determined to offend just about everyone (women, minorities, Puerto Ricans, retired generals) outside his base. In the last week of the campaign, his schedule is shockingly light. (Is he exhausted?) He wastes time in uncompetitive states such as California, New York and New Mexico. He lacks a decent ground game to turn out the vote (having outsourced that effort to inept billionaires) and hides from mainstream news outlets. He finally is getting the scrutiny he deserves. This does not mean the race is “in the bag” for Harris, merely that she and her team have done everything humanly possible to maximize the chance of victory. If the Harris voters show up at the polls in numbers the campaign expects, democracy will survive a near-death experience. I also remain optimistic about any post-election fight. Republicans’ pre-election litigations have consistently failed. Unlike 2020, voters in 2024 can rely on a reformed Electoral Count Act to provide further protection against a coup (e.g., empowering governers to issue the certification, raising the threshold for challenges in Congress). In addition, the Justice Department and local law enforcement are prepared for any violence (on Election Day and on Jan. 6, 2025). And certification refusal is not the magic bullet MAGA Republicans imagine. Despite Republican disinformation, the election system is safe, secureand accurate. And outside the swamplands of right-wing media, Republicans cannot overturn results in court without replete evidence of widespread fraud. Americans need to retain perspective, muster up patience, let the vote counting proceed, avoid bestowing MAGA legal challenges credibility they do not deserve and insist on bipartisan recognition of the winner. We can do this, America.

Distinguished person of the week

At a time when so many White evangelical church leaders have jettisoned any semblance of religious values to justify supporting Trump, we got a full-throated, deeply passionate denunciation of hate from the archbishop of Puerto Rico, Roberto O. González Nieves. He responded to the vile insult uttered at the Trump festival of hate at Madison Square Garden, writing: “Puerto Rico is not a floating island of garbage. Puerto Rico is a beautiful country inhabited by a beautiful and noble people … More Puerto Rican soldiers died in the Vietnam War as part of the United States military than soldiers from any state of the United States.” He emphasized that Tony Hinchcliffe’s remarks provoke “hatred” and “do not have a place in a society founded on ‘liberty and justice for all.’” Most importantly, the archbishop demanded: “I call upon you, Mr. Trump, to disavow these comments as reflecting in any way your personal or political viewpoints. It is not sufficient for your campaign to apologize. It is important that you, personally, apologize for these comments.” Trump, of course, will do no such thing. He has consistently refused to denounce white supremacists, violent militia and abject racists in his circle. (Indeed, he lionizes the violent felons who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.) However, the archbishop serves to remind Americans that Trump is responsible for all of this — the hate, the violence, the misogyny, the cruelty. He cannot pass it off as a “joke” nor pin responsibility on others. He is the fount of the disgusting discourse. He and those who support him (or enable him by silence) cannot duck accountability for the bile he spews into our politics.