January 21, 2019

"[Kamala] Harris chose to enter the race on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, an overt nod to the historic nature of her candidacy..."

"... and her timing was also meant to evoke Shirley Chisholm, the New York congresswoman who became the first woman to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president 47 years ago this week. In addition, Ms. Harris will hold her first campaign event on Friday in South Carolina, where black voters are the dominant force in the Democratic primary, rather than start off by visiting Iowa and New Hampshire, the two predominantly white states that hold their nomination contests first. She will hold a kickoff rally Sunday in Oakland, Calif., her hometown.... Ms. Harris made her announcement on 'Good Morning America' and also released a video aimed at supporters and other Democrats. 'The future of our country depends on you, and millions of others, lifting our voices to fight for our American values,' Ms. Harris said in the video. She also debuted a campaign slogan that played off her background as a prosecutor: 'Kamala Harris, for the people Let’s do this together: For ourselves, for our children, for our country'...."

The NYT reports just now in "Kamala Harris Joins Democratic Presidential Field." I'll watch the video and update this post.

ADDED: Here's the video:



The persistent drumbeat had unfortunate resonance with the Covington Catholic boys story that the mainstream media embarrassed itself with over the weekend. I'm not sure I noticed anything about what Harris actually said in the video, because there was the distracting, puzzling drumbeat and because the whole thing started with flashing block-letter words at us. I remember that words were there, not what the words were. Was it "truth," "justice," and something else that made me say — as a Baby Boomer raised on the "Superman" TV show — "and the American way"? Without watching it again, all I remember is that Harris looked pleasant but spoke in a slightly stilted way and that she wore a gray jacket over a gray top. Bottom line: I heard no message at all other than that she's got an upcoming event in Oakland.

66 comments:

rhhardin said...

Wait a minute, didn't MLK have #MeToo moments.

rhhardin said...

There ought to be a pageant choosing the candidate. We need somebody beautiful and accomplished. Where is Caitlin Upton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Ask economics questions too.

Greg Hlatky said...

Harris has thrown Willie Brown's mattress into the ring.

Greg Hlatky said...

She's appealing to the all-important Catholic-hating community.

rehajm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

Here's the video:

She speaks like a child.

rehajm said...

Democrats tell us we’re a nation of sexist racists and therefore promote a minority female candidate.

rhhardin said...

The video is aimed at women. The majority of them anyway.

Improved, more woman-friendly truth, justice and the American way are being sold.

rhhardin said...

As for minority, she can pass for white. Where's the jargon from the hood.

Temujin said...

Everything, virtually everything she has done or uttered in the last 4-5 years has been played out and pre-directed to this moment. She is all about Her becoming President. Her questions at most Senate hearings made no sense and would have most people staring slack-jawed at her for even asking the questions she did. But if you look at them through the light of someone trying to appeal to far left voterbots in a future Presidential election, the questions make sense.

She's going to be a good candidate for the Left, but ultimately, she's got a nasty side to her. She's not as cool as Obama and tends to overplay the-strong-woman-in-your-face role. It'll get irritating before they get too far into this thing. In the end you have to be likable. For her that's work. I don't think it comes naturally to her. And in the end, that'll be a problem.

As for her and Trump in a battle- it would be great entertainment.

The Bergall said...

There's a new cliche - "For our Children"..........

traditionalguy said...

She wants the mantle of MLK Jr.. But that may not have the magic powers that it had when Obama used it. He exhausted the store of white guilt in the mantle by being a total fraud.

But she is the "chosen" one for the Destroy America cabal.

David Begley said...

Truth? Justice?

When does CBF get indicted for perjury?

David Begley said...

On GMA, KKH said she would see us and fight for us.

The same stuff Crooked Hillary said.

Marcus said...

It's an ambulance chaser commercial: "Morgan & Morgan -- for the people."

THEOLDMAN

chickelit said...

What does she think of the drummer in DC? Just on account of the drumbeat resonance, I think that’s a fair question right out of the gate.

I can see her being the Dem’s chosen one, especially if California changes it’s Primary date.

David Begley said...

On CNN, an absolutely giddy female reporter with the last name of Reston said KKH hoped to do okay in NH and Iowa but she plans to focus on SC because of the large Black vote.

rhhardin said...

The best lawyer ad is reasonable doubt at a reasonable price.

rwnutjob said...

OK, do the math. How many other States have a majority of black people who vote in the primary?

rhhardin said...

Armstrong and Getty say we have too many kinds of moons. The super blood wolf moon did it.

Maybe the same cynicism will work with candidates.

Earnest Prole said...

As a Californian I'm already aware of the awfulness of Kamaltoe Harris, but until Althouse posted the 1950s Superman video I didn't know the American Way depended on an elderly man wearing diapers.

tim maguire said...

She is not the first African American candidate, she is not the first female candidate, and, as the story itself notes, she is not even the first female African American candidate.

So what's historic about it?

Darrell said...

and the American way

Nope.
The new Democrat platform is "no border, no wall, no America at all."

Kevin said...

KKH hoped to do okay in NH and Iowa but she plans to focus on SC because of the large Black vote.

Are the white Dems intolerant of Harris because she’s black? Or are black Dems intolerant of other candidates because they’re white?

chickelit said...

rwnutjob said...”OK, do the math. How many other States have a majority of black people who vote in the primary?”

I don’t think Harris sees it as s popularity contest. She just want to shout down/shut down her Dem rivals. The machine will put her in place, especially after the CA primary. Harris wants it to be Harris v. Trump because she thinks she’ll win that one.

Kevin said...

Any candidate running on a platform of “Trump is the problem and when he’s gone I’ll bring the country together” has already proven themselves unqualified for the office.

The real question is how we’re going to live together in a severely divided country that’s creating more divisions every day.

Humperdink said...

Hold on Kammy, we've already had our first black president and he was married to some lady named Hillary.

Kevin said...

Harris wants it to be Harris v. Trump because she thinks she’ll win that one.

The media has convinced every Dem they’re running in a gerrymandered country— win the primary and the Presidency will be handed to them in the general.

By, like, 50 points.

Chris of Rights said...

I'm less interested in the historic value of a campaign than in its substance. And I find it rather appalling that view isn't more widespread. I guess I just don't understand why a voter should feel better about "making history" with their vote than electing a quality candidate. I guess ideally you would do both. But if you have to choose between the two, the choice seems obvious, no?

Hmm...looking at recent elections, I guess the choice was obvious after all.

Kevin said...

Have any of these candidates considered what losing to Trump will do to their careers?

Either the answer is “no”, or they’ve irrationally discounted the chance to something too insignificant to worry about.

gilbar said...

tim maguire said...
She is not the first African American candidate, she is not the first female candidate, and, as the story itself notes, she is not even the first female African American candidate.
So what's historic about it?


she'll be our First Asian-American President!
That's why she's starting in South Carolina; all those Indian's there!

iowan2 said...

I suppose I have been sensitized to the racism, but what the NYT piece qouted from told me, is that the White people of Iowa and NH are of no consequence to KH because she is, by this example, kicking off her campaign for President, going to focus on Blacks and ingnore Whites.

Great message to start of a Nation Wide Campaign.

I'm not the Racist, But the candidates choice, is.

Eleanor said...

It doesn't matter. This next election the Democrats only need a throw-away candidate. Someone who needs a turn, but they really don't expect to beat Trump, and the candidate is disposable. By 2020 the media will have lost any credibility they have left, and the Democrats have already overplayed their hands at cheating. Trump will get a second term.

gilbar said...

Eleanor said... they really don't expect to beat Trump, and the candidate is disposable.

That's why i think it will be Kamela and Spartacus; then they'll blame the loss on Racism

Big Mike said...

@gilbar, well why not? No less a political expert than Morgan Freeman claimed that the only reason for opposition to Obama’s policies was “Racism, straight up.”

Maillard Reactionary said...

Towlette Harris will make the same kind of history in 2020 that Hillary did in 2016.

Clyde said...

"Kamala Harris: The Racial Healing of Obama, The Vagina of Hillary!"

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I can't bring myself to play the video.

But I have a really strong opinion about it.

exhelodrvr1 said...

"she plans to focus on SC because of the large Black vote."

That's rude! How many large blacks are there in South Carolina?

Wince said...

Althouse said... "and that she wore a gray jacket over a gray top".

More specifically, it was a lighter gray jacket over a darker top.

Speaking of old black and white TV, it's a cool look that I always associated with Herman Munster.

(The jacket had a different hue in the color Munster movies.)

mccullough said...

No one without kids is getting elected President.

Childless Kamala with the cracker husband.

Birkel said...

Kamala Harris promises to protect children.
But she never bothered to have any of her own?
Does anybody else have an uneasy feeling at that?

Bay Area Guy said...

Obama 2.0 - but with a vagina, and less charm.

Michael said...

I can hardly contain my enthusiasm.

MadisonMan said...

Is it really a good idea to launch during a long weekend, when most people aren't paying attention to anything?

Birkel said...

MadisonMan,
I think black folks pay attention on MLK, Jr Day.
Her intended audience may not be you.

Unknown said...

Worst kept secret

chickelit said...

Play the video people. It resonates with Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey"

Oh Kammy, you're so fine, you're so fine, hey Kammy!

Unknown said...

> There ought to be a pageant choosing the candidate. We need somebody beautiful and accomplished

The main ambitious Dems come off as poor actors, Sparty, Ro-beto, Pocahontas, and this San Francisco prosecutor: too phoney to earn a nickname.

Closeted Barak was disciplined in hiding his intentions: one feels Kamala will slip up with a Deplorables outburst. Or at least wear us out playing the woman card and the black card.

She offers absolution to descendants of white oppressors willing to vote for her double "minority" status. Will they go for that twice in their lifetime?

Candidates run on "change". What will she change us to?

chickelit said...

Candidates run on "change". What will she change us to?

California politics gone wild?

Skeptical Voter said...

Oh frabjous day! I can hardly contain myself---at an opportunity to not vote for Kamala Harris.

Wince said...

Doesn't the freeze frame of that Kamala Harris video show a young black girl separated from Kamala Harris by a crowd control barrier fence?

rcocean said...

The drum beat at the end sounded vaguely samba like or Latino.

Which was no doubt intentional.

That will be the Harris campaign. Attacks on Trump, empty platitudes, you-go-girl rhetoric, and not to subtle appeals to African Americans to vote for one of their own.

Booker, will face great pressure to drop out or not run, so the AA vote can solidify around one black candidate.

rcocean said...

If you're Black or a minority or a feminist, or a minority, why would you vote for Slow-Joe Old white male Biden over Harris.

He doesn't have a chance.

rcocean said...

Look for the media to harp on she's the first AA women running for POTUS to win this primary or that primary.

chickelit said...

Black Histrionics Month is right around the corner.

WA-mom said...

I agree with Ann. They need to redo the audio track. The spot comes off as different, but not good different.

Not Sure said...

I heard no message at all other than that she's got an upcoming event in Oakland.

Every political message is the same: "I'm on your side." Preferably accompanied by a closed right fist with thumb sticking up, moving through the air like a fucking hammer.

n.n said...

No diversity. No color judgments. Historic, politically. Traditional, in some, many cultures.

chickelit said...

Is that really how Harris pronounces President -- "Press-dent"?

I guess that's from watching the press try to dent reality.

Chuck said...

I cannot stand this woman. I reach for the mute control within seconds of hearing her voice.

But I’m very sorry to say that her chances cannot be discounted. If she is successful in turning out just 10% more of the black vote in Michigan than Hillary did, she would have taken the state’s electoral votes, beating Trump.

Curious George said...

It would nice if she could win. It would be a shame to have taken all of that old man cock for nothing.

Rosalyn C. said...

Harris's announcement "beats" the one by Kirsten Gillibrand, no doubt a low bar when the candidate needed to hold hands with Stephen Colbert to announce her intention to form an exploratory committee. My racist impression of Harris's announcement is that she has a white person's vibe, not a black vibe. Perhaps the rhythmic beat was meant to evoke some blackness?

I have a suspicion that Harris has been running for president since her freshman year in college, if not sooner. She is Obama-like in that he decided he wanted to be president in elementary school. He spent his childhood with Indonesians and Hawaiians, had white girlfriends in high school and college, and only became involved with the black community after college. Harris had super brilliant and high achiever parents and probably had limited contact with the black community as a child, her parents divorced when she was seven and she went to live in Montreal with her Tamil mom. I'd guess Harris could have gone to any college of her choice but decided to go to Howard University where she became involved in student government and sorority life.

Will she appeal to the black voters? I know blacks were thrilled and inspired by Obama's presidency but were disappointed by his lack of attention and accomplishments for them as president. The 2020 election could be an interesting campaign with Kamala Harris as candidate.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck: "I cannot stand this woman. I reach for the mute control within seconds of hearing her voice."

LOL

The jig is long, long up for you #StrongDemDefender.

DavidUW said...

Really? I thought it was to bring to mind the execution of King Louis XVI on this day in 1793, demonstrating her 1) disregard for the law and 2) support for the mob.

DeepRunner said...

Meh. Beto without the charm.