Kamalapalooza is everything the Trump campaign isn’t – The Washington Post

CHARLOTTE — Of the many untrue declarations former president Donald Trump made during his debate last week with Vice President Kamala Harris, his claim that no one attends her rallies is a standout. The demographic landscape of Planet Kamala is many-hued, not very old and wild as vacationers during Beach Week. I haven’t seen such mass exuberance since a 1970 Led Zeppelin concert in this city, and the congregants at that event were likely dosed with, shall we say, mood accelerants. Outside, vendors peddled buttons, banners, stickers and T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as “We’re not going back” and “I’m speaking,” referring to Harris’s 2020 comment to then-Vice President Mike Pence when he tried to interrupt her during their debate. Advertisement As the, ahem, most mature member of the audience (I’m pretty sure), I’ve needed some help getting up to speed on Kamala Culture. “Brat” is a thing, as they say, or rather a meme in the 2024 election. According to KnowYourMeme.com, the “Kamala Is Brat” meme began on June 30 — and I have to quote here because I understand nothing of what follows — “when TikTok user @temhota36 posted a video that applied the Brat Summer aesthetic to Kamala Harris’ famous Fell Out of a Coconut Tree quote. The video, which used the song ‘360’ by Charli XCX and applied the lime-green filter to the clip, was the first meme to recognize Harris as part of the brat movement, but it wasn’t the last.” Follow Kathleen Parker Follow Feeling old yet? Harris is nothing if not hip, which is fun in a Taylor Swift sort of way. (Swift’s endorsement of the Harris-Walz ticket resulted in 400,000 visits to Vote.gov.) Everyone who spoke — all of them politicians running for office in hopes of turning North Carolina, an important swing state, blue — seemed to be literally running. Each hit the high and low notes of the Democratic Party playlist, including abortion rights (yay), Trump (boo), affordable housing, better schools and teacher pay, and tax cuts for the middle class. Advertisement The star of the warm-up show was Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who jogged onto the stage, ran a lap around the perimeter and, when finished with her remarks, jogged offstage. If she’d promise not to run fast, I’d follow her anywhere. At this juncture, just days from early voting in some states, it’s not implausible that Harris could win, even if the general election is a squeaker — and despite all the legitimate ifs and buts. Harris has made her share of statements that aren’t quite true, including references during the rally to Trump’s “abortion ban.” As most readers of the opinion pages understand, Trump nominated justices to the Supreme Court, who were then confirmed by the Senate. Trump had no role in that process, though he sometimes likes to claim credit for ending abortion. And, of course, sometimes he doesn’t. Her record is far from moderate, especially in light of a recent CNN report about an ACLU questionnaire Harris filled out in 2019. Among her responses, she approved of providing taxpayer-funded transgender surgery for prisoners and detained immigrants. He proved this when he refused to accept the legitimate results of the 2020 election, even posting on Truth Social that “False & Fraudulent Elections” should be grounds to terminate the U.S. Constitution. He has also said he’ll be a dictator (only) on Day 1, then he’ll close the border and start drilling. Oh, and he’ll prosecute and imprison his political opponents while pardoning the “political prisoners” serving time for attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/13/kamala-harris-energy-enthusiasm-moderate-politics/