KAMALA

KAMALA

 

But Palestinian Americans like me are discovering something this year: the Democratic Party will bomb your homeland, kill your family, use your own money to do it, and still expect your vote.  More than that, Democrats will curse and shame you if you push back. 

-      _Democrats Need to Stop Trashing Palestinian Voters if They Want to Win, The Nation

 

By Gregg Wall (8-17-2024)

 

On July 21, 2024, Biden dropped out of the race.  And good riddance.  Biden’s inability to read the room, the nation, or barely a teleprompter seems to be key factors in his most timely political demise.  That and Biden’s inability to deliver much of anything for the people, but a failed status quo:  more welfare for the rich; shiny new wars in the Ukraine, Gaza, a Cold War with China; and a near complete failure on BBB.  Much like the multinationals & oligarchy that supported the president to the bitter end, Biden was a man entirely unsuited for the times and the nation’s needs.  Biden was quickly replaced by Kamala Harris.  Kamala’s rise is remarkable in that she dropped out of the 2020 race without a single delegate, with campaign money drying up, and obviously, very little support for her campaign.  But the party elite, the donor class, and multinationals clearly saw something in Harris, and she was appointed vice president (in support of the oldest president in the nation’s history).  

 

What did party eminentos see?  Clearly, judging from Biden and Trump, someone who is highly attentive, compromised, and flexible when it comes to addressing the needs of AIPAC, billionaires, Silicon Valley, and Wall St.  Let’s face it, as Kamala is only one demented heartbeat away from the top slot, the oligarchy wasn’t going to pick just anyone.  They needed someone who would not rock the boat, someone who would carry out the billionaire enriching status quo, and ignore a plethora of promises to the American people in 2020 and 2022; and yet, could hold her own against the GOP.  Kamala -- as an avowed defender of Israel’s right to genocide, a law & order prosecutor, and a mass incarceration attorney general -- clearly fit the bill.  And so, it came to be, without winning so much as a primary vote from the nation, Kamala was picked by party cadres and placed in nomination to replace Biden.

 

It's remarkable, the degree and role progressive politics and policies have played in getting every Democratic president elected post-Clinton.  Given progressive policies win elections, they are truly America’s ideological center.  As critical and essential as progressive policies are, it’s also equally remarkable that the Obama and Biden both tacked to a corporatist, neoliberal agenda once in office.  Obama’s signature achievements, include for-profit Obamacare, bailing out Wall St, expanding significantly oil & gas production, and a failure to wind down America’s wars on terror and perpetuating the empire.  Biden’s signature achievements, include spending record sums on fossil fuels infrastructure, swiftly discarding the bulk of Build Back Better, expanding significantly oil & gas production, and starting up new wars around the globe. 

 

Kam, continuing the trend, and further revealing how starved the American people are for public services and a functioning, well-funded regulatory state… once again, revealing America’s true ideological center… has chosen a progressive running mate.  Governor Walz from Minnesota not only talks the talk, but actually walks the progressive walk.  Doubling down further, Kamala announced a number of agenda items on Friday, among them:  building further on Biden’s BBB agenda; the elimination of medical debt; ban on grocery price gouging; caps on medicine; a child tax credit of $6,000 for babies; and a $25,000 subsidy for first time homebuyers.  Harris also talked up freedoms: reproductive, same sex marriage, and voting rights. But details on all these positions are scant with more to follow.  Given Obama’s and Biden’s track record, this all has a sense of déjà vu… wildly popular progressive policies, with little detail, particularly on the moves a Harris administration would make if congress stonewalls.  Kamala calls this the ‘opportunity economy’ because after all guaranteeing a worker’s economic right to a job, medical care, and a roof over their head smacks of socialism… and Americans all know, only billionaires and Wall St. receive guaranteed outcomes and socialism. 

 

At this point, Kam’s biggest obstacles -- going into the Chicago convention next week and with election a little over two months away -- are: affordability and greedflation, Biden’s failure to deliver on the preponderance of his BBB agenda, the border, and the war and genocide presently underway in Gaza.  Despite Biden, the Federal Reserve, and MSM desperate to declare inflation dead, millions of Americans know better, gas is 45% higher, rents 35% higher, and food is up dramatically.  Failure on BBB should cause prospective voters to ask what Kam intends to do in the face of congressional stonewalling to implement her agenda, as is almost certain to occur.  Most harmful to Kamala’s prospects is the genocide with photos and videos revealing the extent of the catastrophe and murder showing up in many social media platforms.  Endless ceasefire negotiations increasingly look like cover or an excuse for more genocide, more weapons for psycho, Bibi Netanyahu.  But so far, Kam is firmly committed to Israeli leadership and an arms embargo or cutoff is not in the cards.  We’ll see how firm Kam remains as November 5^th draws closer, a close race may cause Dems and Kam to reconsider.  In the meantime, Kamala is covered in blood. 

 

Further adding to the threat to Kam’s presidential aspirations are third party challengers, like Green Party candidate, Jill Stein.  If Jill picks up disaffected Muslim and Palestinians voters, or uncommitted voters, Jill could do serious damage.  Hence, Dem efforts to shut down democracy and Jill in a number of states. 

 

 

Lastly, there’s Trump, who, having campaigned all these many months, increasingly looks his age and somewhat winded.  Americans, the majority, don’t want a dictator, more welfare for the rich, theocracy, and kowtowing to President Netanyahu.  Americans also do not want congress owned by a foreign power.  And there’s something more, many Americans believed that Trump was an outsider in 2016, who would protect their interests.  But we’ve seen Trump in action and his policies were, and remain, more of the same.  The same neoliberalism as Trump’s predecessors, the same globalization, spoils system governance, and a wartime economy.  American lives didn’t get better under Trump.  The economy is more consolidated than ever with fewer and fewer well-paying jobs.  Now, in 2024, Trump is and often admits he’s captured by financial backers and interests, like his sudden fondness for Mr. Musk and EVs.

 

Trump is struggling to connect or come down hard on policy against Biden and Kamala, because the Biden administration actually adopted many of Trump’s policies and their fundamental economic policies are mostly the same.  Instead, Trump has largely avoided policy and policy details (instead, running on culture wars, immigration, personal grievance, and xenophobia) … rather than running a substantive campaign, Trump has pivoted to ad hominem attacks, personal invective and venom, racism, and McCarthyesque demagoguery.  (Why?  Because Trump and his wealthy backers like a crony, failed status quo just fine... thank you very much.) 

 

It's all a sure sign that Trump is no longer confident or in his stride, now that the Biden piñata has suddenly vanished. 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2024