In accepting the Democratic vice presidential nomination, Sen. Kamala Harris relied heavily on platitudes. That’s because Democrats are not eager to highlight their radical agenda.
As is typically the case in vice presidential acceptance speeches, Harris was heavy on biography early on, understandably trying to introduce herself to a national audience that may not be as familiar with her background.
But as the speech veered into a few minutes of what was supposed to be substance, it fell flat. And it wasn’t just because it was delivered from a lectern in Wilmington, Delaware, before a few people spread apart on a set meant to look like a shrunken convention floor.
“This virus — it has no eyes,” Harris said in a riff on structural racism and the coronavirus. “And yet, it knows exactly how we see each other and how we treat each other. And let’s be clear. There is no vaccine for racism.”
Like a college freshman attempting a creative writing assignment on metaphors, Harris’s line is meant to sound profound, but it does not make much sense. What does it mean to say that a virus knows how people treat each other? And what would a vaccine for racism even mean? Would patients subject themselves to racism, or spend a limited time in the Ku Klux Klan, to inoculate themselves?
Other somber catchphrases included, “None of us are free, until all of us are free,” and that old election year standby that “we’re at an inflection point.”
During her own presidential campaign, Harris ran to the extreme left. She was an original co-sponsor of the $93 trillion “Green New Deal” in the Senate, which would seek to move to 100% renewable energy by 2030, thus destroying every job in the coal, oil, and natural gas-related industries within a decade. Speaking of eliminating things, Harris declared she wanted to “move on” from private insurance that covers nearly 180 million people. She also advocated mandatory gun buybacks — a fancy way of describing the confiscation of legally owned firearms. And in the Senate, she has displayed anti-Catholic bigotry, suggesting by her questioning of a judicial nominee that membership in the Knights of Columbus should disqualify a candidate from the federal bench.
Since clinching the nomination, Biden has moved decidedly leftward on economics, healthcare, and climate policy, and there is every reason to believe that Harris would push him in that direction were they to take office. But that reality has been largely obfuscated as Democrats attempt to appeal to a national audience.
As she wrapped up, Harris said, “So make no mistake, the road ahead is not easy. We may stumble. We may fall short. But I pledge to you that we will act boldly and deal with our challenges honestly.”
Harris’s extremism is especially relevant given Biden’s advanced age. Were he elected, he would be older on day one than Ronald Reagan was on the day he left office. By the middle of his first term, Biden would surpass 80. Given the rigors of office, it isn’t crazy to imagine that Harris will be a uniquely influential vice president. It should come as no surprise that much of the actual agenda was missing from her pitch on Wednesday night.
