Vice President Kamala Harris visits Sycamore and Oak in Southeast D.C. on Aug. 4 to announce funding for Black businesses and historically underserved entrepreneurs. (WI File Photo/Cleveland Nelson)
The first debate of the 2024 general election in June is behind us – one which, because of his disastrous performance against former president Donald Trump, led President Joe Biden to remove himself from the race for president.
However, like the proverbial ram in the bush, Vice President Kamala Harris has surprisingly emerged as a competent, if not an even better, candidate for the Democrats who hope to maintain control of the White House.
Few would dispute that since Harris received Biden’s endorsement, followed by a surge of support from Democratic “superpowers” including former President Barack Obama and record-breaking financial donations, the vice president has shown that she’s ready, willing and able to take on Trump.
Now, after both Trump and Harris have chosen their running mates, and given the latest polls, it looks like this will be an election that will go down to the wire. In fact, Harris stands a good chance of making history and to become the first woman elected president of the United States.
But one step at a time.
On Sept. 10, ABC News will host a presidential debate between Harris and Trump, moderated by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis.
Both journalists have moderated presidential debates in the past – Muir holding his own in primary debates in 2016 and 2020 and Davis handling presidential debates in 2019 and 2020.
Their experience is critical because as we saw in the June debate, the candidates have no problem making specious claims – that is, lying.
Both Trump and Biden made claims during CNN’s presidential debate earlier this summer that were either false or misleading. However, Trump – to no surprise – made far more false claims – more than 30 in all.
However, CNN failed to do its due diligence as it did not provide live fact-checking that would have helped viewers emerge from the fog of ludicrous, unsubstantiated statements.
This time, the issue of age will not be the issue, unless Harris chooses to point out the fact that she, at 59 years old, is a generation younger than Trump who is 78 and now counts as the oldest presidential candidate in U.S. history. This time, we hope, what will transpire will be a real, honest debate between the two candidates, without finger-pointing and false statements.
Presidential debates can make a difference in the outcome of general elections as history confirms – most notably the first televised debate in 1960 between then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, the former underdog, who upended then-Vice President Richard Nixon.
Nixon was the better-known candidate nationally but he failed to win over voters who finally had the opportunity to both see and hear from the candidates.
So, in less than a month, Harris and Trump will stand before the American public and present their respective platforms and cases for why they believe they are the best candidate for president.
We just hope that two mature adults will show up – willing to “tell the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Americans deserve nothing less!
Reprinted from the Washington Informer