Today, before the start of the Republican National Convention, news broke that Donald Trump has announced he will nominate Ohio’s junior senator, JD Vance, as his running mate. Up until the announcement, there was speculation about who it might be, with the odds almost even. Vance could be considered a surprise candidate given his low tenure as a senator, but he has shown in that time that he can express himself well and is able to hold his own in front of the press.
Articulate. Now there is something that the Biden campaign may have wanted to think about a little bit. I say this in featherlight of the fact that Vance was selected immediately after the announcement and the news went out to the press that Vice President Kamala Harris had issued a “challenge” She told the newly crowned vice presidential candidate that she was looking forward to participating in a debate.
“The vice president will take it to JD Vance,” said Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Biden campaign advisory board and senator from Massachusetts. “She is strong. She knows what she is talking about and she is not giving an inch.”
[NOTE: Professionalism and decorum precludes commentary on that last phrase.]
It’s pretty obvious that this is just posturing by the administration. Vance wasn’t even introduced at the convention, and here they make it sound like Kamala is the forceful, reserved figure.”Urges Vance to debate“?! Really?
A vice presidential debate is a fairly standard occurrence in any general election, but here USA Today dutifully makes it look like Kamala is a force of nature. The report says that Kamala promised a debate with CBS News months ago, but the GOP side, one is led to believe, declined the offer – “Trump’s campaign team has never.”
To reiterate, Trump’s nonexistent running mate has not committed to a debate in May and has not yet confirmed it, even though it was only just announced and he is not yet officially on the ballot.
After the Republicans were chosen, Biden’s campaign re-opened the challenge and gave Trump’s campaign the responsibility to accept. “The vice president is fully prepared to take him on,” said Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo.
She is fully prepared to face the man she learned hours earlier would be her opponent.
What is really amusing is the exaggerated persistence of the Democratic sycophants who claim that Kammy will spin a web of talk around Vance, leaving him speechless and stammering because her oratory overwhelms him.
I am extremely excited to see Kamala Harris outshine JD Vance.
She has more experience, more vision, more empathy and more integrity in her little finger than he has or ever could have.
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 15, 2024
That’s a joke, right? Vance graduated from college in two years and went on to become editor of the Yale Law Review. Oh, and he was a bestselling author whose “Hillbilly Elegy” was both a bestseller and a movie. I’d say JD has a better grasp of the gift of verbal communication than the woman known for her salad-spinning aphorisms like this one:
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“We invested another $12 billion in community banks because we know that community banks are in the community and understand the needs and desires of that community and the talent and capacity of the community..”
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“We also recognize that, just as in the United States, for Jamaica, the pandemic has been one of the problems that has emerged as an economic problem.”
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“So we know there are still millions of Americans who are not vaccinated, even though they could be vaccinated. And we urge them to get vaccinated because it will save their lives.”
And of course there is the Harris classic:
Kamala Harris waits for the debate like a child eyeing a candy store
— Jen “I disagree” Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 15, 2024
Um, Jenny? Do you really think that resorting to a tired cliche that makes Harris out to be a child is the way to go? I mean, points for accuracy – since Kamala is basically someone who needs an adult to get her the things she wants – but does that impress anyone?
Who else can’t wait to see Kamala Harris DESTROY JD Vance in a debate? pic.twitter.com/evMP6UTijp
— Jack Cocchiarella (@JDCocchiarella) July 15, 2024
(In Kamala’s voice:)
“Shredding is something people do with a variety of items they want to shred. One thing people shred is paper they no longer need. People also shred mountainsides. And wheat!”
To get an idea of the verbal fireworks to expect from Harris, one only has to look at her last debate to realize her awesomeness in this regard: The only thing anyone remembers from that debate was the fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head.
Checking the tapes. The fly appears on Mike Pence’s head at 10:17:08 and doesn’t disappear until 10:19:10. MORE THAN TWO MINUTES! Here is the exact moment, Zaprudized, when the fly takes off and leaves the debate. pic.twitter.com/OSfSjjBlfX
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 8, 2020
