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Real 11 Dimensional Chess [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-10-24  

Over the last day or so I think I am beginning to recognize a likely outcome of Harris’ campaign that goes beyond simply winning. An outcome that I am only now beginning to suspect has been a very intentional part of the Vice President’s strategy from the start. Shortly after winning in 2020, I recall Harris being asked about facing Trump again in 2024. Her response was something like “We should be so lucky.”

Most of the rest of us have feared Trump running and having any possibility of returning to the Oval Office. I think Harris has never feared it. Instead she has always viewed it as an opportunity to unite Americans in a fight against fascism. And that is happening. Look at all these GOP conservatives saying Hell no to Trump Part 2.

Look, I can’t envision a scenario where I would vote for Liz Cheney against any Democratic candidate for President. But I will always remember, respect and admire her being on the right side when it mattered most. And at considerable risk to her and her loved ones. Same for these other GOPers who are coming out for Harris or publicly declining to support Trump. I will value their good faith as fellow Americans in a way I have not since 1980 when I began voting. That’s a healthy and very good thing.

Obama and Biden talked about it and have been very sincere in their efforts to bridge the political divide that has been manufactured to win elections, and is now way out of control. They even managed to get some critical legislation passed. But neither of them, despite their continued attempts, really made much progress on the simple idea of respecting opponents and engaging in good faith debates to come up with optimal solutions to the nation’s problem.

Harris is setting the stage to make that progress. And I believe it is because while most of us see Trump as a scary threat, Harris has always viewed him as a useful tool she can employ to show us what we as Americans have in common, our love for freedom and the importance of being able to participate in making the rules that govern our lives. It’s not an accident. She saw four years ago the opportunity Trump presents to make better what most of have come to accept as an intractable reality. And she is taking advantage of it to not only win but to make more manageable the job of governing after she wins, and to put a stake through the heart of Nixon’s Southern Strategy and Reagan’s politicization of religion both of which have served mainly to divide this country for the past 50 years. When Americans decide to self-correct, which is usually after having run every other option to ground, things can change very fast. Harris I believe recognized early on that Trump leaves anyone who loves this country with no other option but to support her.

Now I do not believe the hard core Trumpists are ever going to get on board, they will, like they always do when overwhelmingly rejected by the rest of us, politically hibernate, nurse their wounds, and spend the next generation or two plotting their comeback. But after Kamala Harris wins we will have to look at many GOPers in ways we haven’t in decades, as first and foremost our fellow Americans. As crazy as it seems and as hard as it may be to believe and write down, by using Trump Harris may be ushering in an era of good feeling we have not seen in decades, perhaps even a century or two. It won’t last but for as long as it does I think I am going to enjoy it. And if I am right about what we all have been watching, Kamala Harris is going to have a golden oportunity to get some real good and long overdue stuff done.

Yup, the more I watch her campaign the more I appreciate how very smart our soon to be first woman President is.

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