Progressive Perspectives on the Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination last night during the final evening of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Following are progressive perspectives on various aspects of this historic event from six people – Barbara Ransby, Richard Eskow, Katie Herzog, Kyle Kulinski, Emma Vigeland, and Marianne Williamson.

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[Kamala Harris’ nomination is] a historic moment in a lot of ways. Certainly it breaks a barrier. I never thought I would see a Black woman nominated.

. . . I was glad to hear her mention the suffering of the Palestinian people, but, of course, it didn’t ring true. It rang a little bit hollow, because the Biden administration could stop much of that suffering by not sending 2,000-pound bombs and $3 billion a year to the Israeli government. So if it would have been backed up by action, if it would have been backed up by allowing a Palestinian speaker to speak in their own terms, that part would have resonated.

But, of course, talking about Israel’s right to defense disguises the fact that this is an offensive war, offensive on every level. And the United States is facilitating it. . . . [So] it was not enough. It was the wrong message. And, you know, a throwaway line about Palestinian suffering does not get it.

– Barbara Ransby
Excerpted from “'Historic Moment': Barbara Ransby on the
Symbolism and Shortcomings of Kamala Harris’ Nomination”
Democracy Now!
August 23, 2024

I reviewed the Democratic Party platform for 2024 and found something interesting: When it comes to economic policy, this year’s platform is less progressive and less ambitious than it was four years ago. Democrats have tacked right or retreated on health insurance reform, drug prices, Medicare and Social Security expansion, poverty, labor, taxes, Wall Street, and the minimum wage.

Why become less ambitious on economic issues, especially when public confidence in the economy remains low? Is it the influence of big donors? Is it the willingness of the party’s internal left to back its candidates without first demanding policy concessions? Is it both?

Lobbying certainly played a part. 2024’s scaled-back health proposals, for example, are a big win for the for-profit health sector and its massive lobbying investment. Health corporations spent $751,540,000 (more than three-quarters of a billion dollars) on lobbying in 2023 alone. They employed 3,344 lobbyists, which is more than six lobbyists for every member of Congress. (Source: Open Secrets, using Senate records.)

My economic views are well to the left of the Democratic Party’s, even in its best years. But these changes don’t just repudiate the left. They defy public opinion on one issue after another, driving the party backward even as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris runs as the candidate of change

This year’s platform also undercuts a favored argument from the Democratic Party’s left wing: that Joe Biden has been “the most progressive president since FDR.” That’s always been debatable. Biden has been anything but progressive on military issues (including the Gaza genocide). By contrast, Lyndon Johnson’s domestic achievements included Medicare and Medicaid, major anti-poverty legislation, and the Voting Rights Act.

Biden did notch some progressive achievements, however, and would have had more had he not been hamstrung by Congress. A party in this situation wouldn’t normally lower its ambitions. It would raise them, pledging to do more if given full control of Congress.

Again, why? Democrats may be operating under the misguided notion that these proposals are “too far left” for voters, which polling tells us is wrong. It may also feel that it no longer needs to appease its own left flank, which is probably true. But even if the party’s internal left has fallen in line behind its leaders, key voting blocs still need and want more than this platform offers.

The race is still close. Democrats are less likely to win it with a platform that reflects the politics of caution – which, for voters, means the soft despair of the status quo.

– Richard Eskow
Excerpted from “Why Has the Dem Platform
Veered Right on the Economy?”
Common Dreams
August 23, 2024

Bio part [of Harris’ speech] was strong, Trump attacks were brutal and accurate. Foreign policy part was absolute trash. In terms of the normie reaction, I think they’ll like it and she’ll get a bump coming out of the convention. I can’t get over both sides [supporting] a genocide and basically committing to arming Israel/Netanyahu in perpetuity no matter what. Disgusting.

– Kyle Kulinski
via social media
August 23, 2024

The most boilerplate Democratic Party speech she could have given. I understand the short-term strategy of Walz, as a white guy, taking bigger swings on progressive economic policy in his speech, but Harris needs to identify herself with those policies for sustained success.

– Emma Vigeland
via social media
August 23, 2024

[A]fter four days of nonstop Democratic Party boosterism, I’d been so inundated with the message that Kamala Harris is the most qualified candidate to ever run for president, one who will usher in a new era of prosperity, that by the time she took Doug’s hand and retired backstage for a drink and a smoke, I almost, for a second, believed it.

But then I remembered that politics is theater, that Joe Biden stepped down only because Nancy Pelosi held a gun to his head (and would have pulled the trigger), and that Harris was cast in this role not because the people choose her, but because Biden needed a brown woman to appease activists and then his brain turned to mush. A month ago, the only thing left of the KHive was four gay guys in P-Town snorting Adderall off a wicker coffee table; now it’s half the country! Whoever scripted this deserves an Oscar.

– Katie Herzog
Excerpted from “TGIF: We Are Not
Going Back to What Has Been”
The Free Press
August 23, 2024

And finally, here is author, activist and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson being interviewed earlier today by Fox News’ John Roberts.





NEXT:
Breaking Down Kamala Harris’
DNC Speech on Gaza

Related Off-site Links:
Kamala Harris Accepts Historic Presidential Nomination, Says Election Offers “Fleeting Opportunity” to Move Past “Bitterness and Cynicism” – Melissa Quinn (CBS News, August 23, 2024).
“Two Faces of American Capitalism”: Juan González on What the RNC and DNC Reveal About U.S. Politics – Democracy Now! (August 23, 2024).
Democracy Despises a Coronation – Hamiliton Nolan (In These Times, August 15, 2024).

UPDATES: AOC Gaslights on Gaza, Kamala’s “Lethal” Military; Green Party Reacts – Bad Faith (August 26, 2024).
Muslim Voters Evenly Split Between Jill Stein and Kamala Harris, New Poll Finds – Umar A Farooq (Middle East Eye, August 29, 2024).
Kamala’s DNC Coronation – Glenn Loury and John McWhorter (The Glenn Show, August 30, 2024).
Who Is Kamala Harris? Aggressive Foreign and Military Policies – Joseph Gerson (Common Dreams, September 1, 2024).
Kamala Faces Backlash From Supporters – Sabrina Salvati (Sabby Sabs, September 1, 2024).
Chris Smalls Blasts Biden/Harris So-called “Pro Union” Administration – Briahna Joy Gray (Bad Faith, September 12, 2024).
Are Obama and Harris Relevantly Black? – Irami Osei-Frimpong (The Funky Academic, October 31, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Progressive Perspectives on an American Coronation
• Voices on the Issues That Really Matter
• Active Hope
• Marianne Williamson on ABC News Live – 8/20/24
• Peter Savodnik: Quote of the Day – August 22, 2024
• History Matters
• Marianne Williamson: I Hope I Will Hear Things from Kamala That I Can Full-on Support
• John Cusack: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2024
• Memes of the Times
• On This Momentous Day in U.S. Politics, a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Progressive Perspectives on the Crisis in U.S. Electoral Politics
• Something to Think About – August 15, 2024
• Just Imagine
• Marianne Williamson: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is Not Enough to Win”
• Centrist/Corporatist Democrats Have Just Launched “Left Punching” Season
• Marianne Williamson, the Ceasefire Candidate

Image: Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. (Picture: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)