The Associated Press (!) gives us the contrast between the closing arguments of the Harris-Walz campaign and that of the Malignant Loser and the Junior Demagogue at their "Nazi Coachella"* rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday:
In the shadow of the White House, seven days before the final votes of the 2024 election are cast, Kamala Harris vowed to put country over party and warned that Donald Trump is obsessed with revenge and his own personal interests.
Less than 48 hours earlier inside Madison Square Garden, Trump called his Democratic opponent “a trainwreck who has destroyed everything in her path.” His allies on stage labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and made a baseless claim that Harris, a former prosecutor and senator who is trying to become the first woman to be elected president, had begun her career as a prostitute.
Two nights and 200 miles apart, the dueling closing arguments outlined in stark terms the choice U.S. voters face on Nov. 5 when they will weigh two very different visions of leadership and America’s future.
Trump’s raucous rally, marked by crude and racist insults, highlighted the uglier elements of his coalition. But other parts of it underscored the former businessman’s appeal as someone who vows to fix the economy and the border, and as a political outsider eager to defy any and all conventions despite the risks.
Harris, the vice president for the last four years, chose a more formal setting — the grassy Ellipse near the White House — to underscore the seriousness of this moment in American history and the threat Trump poses to democracy. She faced a massive audience in the same place where Trump addressed thousands of his loyalists on Jan. 6, 2021, before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in one of the darkest days of modern history.
But more than simply reminding voters of the danger that Trump poses to U.S. democracy, Harris’ remarks were designed to highlight her opponent’s record of prioritizing his personal interests instead of the nation’s.
“Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That’s who he is. But America, I am here tonight to say: That’s not who we are,” Harris said. “I pledge to be a president for all Americans — to always put country above party and above self.”...
That's all one really needs to absorb, especially those "feels" vs. real voters who make their decisions based on their perception of the zeitgeist. It's been made simple. It's "freedom" vs. "tyranny." It's "prosecutor" vs. "felon." It's "joy" vs. "hate." It's "the future" vs. "the past." It's "us" vs. "us vs. them." But if those contrasts don't matter to an exhausted electorate, well ...
BONUS: Here's the Vice President's speech ICYMI (start at the 1:35:04 mark).
BONUS II: Here's the scene at last night's Harris closing argument rally on the Ellipse in Washington, DC, where an estimated 75,000 people showed up there and in the overflow area around the Washington Monument. Now that's turnout! --
More than 75,000 people. This is what turning the page looks like. pic.twitter.com/g3LeHcRNCY
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 29, 2024
This is what democracy looks like.pic.twitter.com/bOw6aHG6tU
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) October 30, 2024
* h/t LGM.
(Photos: top, Kent Nishimura/ Getty Images; bottom, Evan Vucci/ AP)
