"Do you think Donald Trump is afraid to debate you?" Kamala: "He should be."

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chris evans @notcapnamerica 1h1 hour ago
@jemelehill asks Kamala Harris: “Do you think Donald Trump is afraid to debate you?”

“He should be.”



Here are just a few gems from Sen. Kamala Harris’ talk with Jemele Hill:

Why She Decided to Run

The thing that really at the end of the day compelled me to make the decision to jump in this race and I was talking to my sister about it, is I felt so strongly and really quite emotional. And what this is what I said: “If I don’t get in this race, there is a voice that will not be present on that stage and a voice that needs to be heard.”

Why She Wants to Include Bills Like Rent and Utilities in the Credit Score

So here’s the thing, credit score is your credit score. If it’s good or bad, we’ll determine whether you have access to capital, whether you have access to loans. One of the things that we don’t measure, which I intend to change, is we don’t really have [an] accurate measure of people’s financial responsibility. For example, in your credit scores, they’re not measuring the fact that you pay rent on time. Let’s measure that. Let’s measure the fact that people pay their phone bill on time. Let’s measure the fact people pay their utilities on time because that’s an indication of financial responsibility, which is the whole point of it. Are you financially responsible so that I loan you this money? Well, so I want to change it.

Breaking Down the Gender Wage Gap

We’re talking about things like equal pay. The equal pay act was passed in the United States of America in 1963 we’ve been talking about this and talking about this and talking about it. Well, fast forward to the year of our Lord 2019 and women are still paid 80 cents on the dollar, black women’s 61 cents on the dollar, native American women, 58 cents, Latinas, 53 cents. I’m done. Like we don’t need to debate the question any longer. Are women paid equally for equal work? It’s a non debatable point. The question becomes what are we going to do about it?

Creating True Pay Equity for Women

So here’s what I’m prepared to do. I’m prepared to say I’m going to shift the burden from that working woman to prove to the employer that she’s not getting paid the same amount for the same work and shift the burden to the corporations to prove that they are paying women equally for equal work. If they are not, they will have to pay a fine, which will be for every 1% differential between what they pay men and women. It will be an equal 1% of their profits from the year before. That’ll get their attention.

listen to short excerpt:

Link to tweet

watch podcast: https://t.co/GCwYMBYo6T

[Snackshack]

1. The more I,

Read, hear about and listen to Harris the more I like her. I think she would be a very good President of the United States. Both Harris and Warren are impressive

[TexasTowelie]

2. I suspect that out of the four top tier candidates,

Kamala Harris is the one that Trump would like to debate the most since the debate will concentrate about race and the economy. Trump believes that both of those issues are winners for him and he will be able to rally his base to support him.

[bigtree]

3. biggest mistake for our party would be to neglect to take on this issue directly and forcefully

...indeed, this election will be a contest between a rejection of racism and bigotry and a full embrace of it.

[TexasTowelie]

6. While I agree that racism and bigotry are big problems in this country,

the majority of this country is okay with those issues as long as their own personal finances are doing well. Trump's supporters will take a public stance that they are as concerned as Democrats about those problems, but once they are at the ballot box they will vote for their economic interests first. Some of Trump's supporters are so blindingly loyal that they will ignore their own financial difficulties just because they will refuse to vote for a black woman.

Back in 2012, I was talking with my brother and the neighbor in the front yard about something completely unrelated to politics. A woman that knew my neighbor was out for her evening walk and since she saw three white middle-aged men in a middle class neighborhood she felt safe to assume that all of us were Republicans so she turned the conversation to politics and blasted President Obama with racial insults. I was polite and let her continue without interrupting, but you know what they say about people that assume things. After she finished, my brother and the neighbor let her know that there was a Democrat in the group and she left in embarrassment. I never saw that woman walk on the street again.

[bigtree]

11. yeah, racists are everywhere

...but again, Trump is going to hammer our nominee and party with a constant barrage of racism, bigotry, and hate, no matter what Democrats do.

I damn sure better not see our party retreat from this fight.

Trump hammering away, and our response is going to be downplaying it, or pretending we don't notice? I'll tell you one voter who wouldn't take that laying down. How do you tell the victims of these attacks to stifle because of political considerations?

If we don't confront this head-on, as a country and as individuals, we will continue to lose ground, and have only ourselves to blame for thinking that shoving these issues to the side is going to advantage us in some way or form.

It's a mark of the times that I have to explain this on a Democratic message board.

BY the way, I heard the exact same cynical warnings both of Obama's winning elections.

[StarfishSaver]

8. What's wrong with those issues being debated?

They're two of the most important issues facing the country right now.

[TexasTowelie]

10. There's nothing wrong with those issues being debated.

However, believing that Kamala will automatically win if those issues are debated is not guaranteed. We (as Democrats) tend to believe that we are always correct while ignoring the fact that nearly half of the country disagrees.

About 90% of the voters are so firmly entrenched in their beliefs that the debates don't matter. That leaves about 10% of the voters that each side will try to sway and if the Democrats concentrate on racism and bigotry it can turn off many in that group as being divisive. We can easily construct a bubble taking the moral high ground on those issues while ignoring other issues that might be more important to voters. It's a risky strategy and if the voters in the group that can be swayed have a similar racial background as the remainder of the populace, the group that is up for grabs will be composed by a white majority which means that it is an uphill battle.

I believe in equality and justice because I was exposed to those concepts by my high school civics teacher (a Hispanic male) and my college government class instructor (a white Marxist male). However, most of the people that I associated with are not as open-minded to those concepts and some of them have accused me a traitor to my own race because I make an effort to develop friendships regardless of race. I've struggled through my adult life to overcome the prejudices that were ingrained into me by other family members and the social groups I associated with, yet I recognize that some of those prejudices still exist and I admonish myself for those residual beliefs. At least I'm willing to concede that I've failed to be the best person that I should be--most people don't find any fault with their racist beliefs though and some even brag that they are racists.

I'm living in a woefully uneducated town that is 30% black and the two closest relationships I've developed over the past five years are with two other white men that have doctorate degrees, retired from jobs at the local college, and that are reliably liberal. However, both of them have made biased references that made me cringe. Both of them made negative references about Kamala Harris to me after the debate. If we are having difficulty with people that should be setting examples of tolerance and open-mindedness within the community, then I don't even want to think about the prejudice and outright hatred that other people in this town have regarding race. I've even heard a younger man use the n-word despite the fact that he is the father of a mixed race child.

The point that I'm attempting to make is that prejudice is nearly impossible to eliminate. Basing a political campaign on the issues of race and prejudice doesn't appear to be a winning strategy, particularly since Trump appears ready to exploit those issues. I hope that there will be a time when we can overcome prejudice and preconceived notions about race, but I don't see it happening in the short term.

[StarfishSaver]

12. Who said it's guaranteed "Kamala will automatically win if those issues are debated"? I didn't

Because that's a ridiculous proposition - just as ridiculous as saying she shouldn't be the nominee because race, bigotry and the economy will be the topics of debate.

And your insistence that Kamala is "basing her campaign on issues of race and prejudice" has no basis in fact nor is there any evidence that it's more likely to become an issue if she runs than I'd a white candidate is nominated.

It sounds like you're trying to say without actually coming out and saying it that the issue of race and racism is too hot to bring up in a presidential campaign (even when running against a virulent racist), that a black candidate is more likely to bring it up than a white candidate (ignoring the fact that Biden, Warren and Buttigieg and others talk about it all the time, probably more than Kamala does, to their credit) and that we shouldn't run a black nominee because Trump will rally his racist supporters to vote against them. All of those arguments are non-starters for me.

The people you're talking about likely won't ever vote for a Democrat, regardless their race and, even if they might, I'm not interested in trying to appeal to voters who would call me "nigger" when they think I can't hear them. I certainly am not interested in being told to stop talking about issues if paramount importance to me and the country or to watching a black woman being told to stay in the back of proverbial political bus because if she stays in the front - or God forbid, drives it - it might discourage knockle-dragging bigots from climbing on the bus with us. I don't WANT them on our bus and neither should anyone else. There are plenty of ways to fill the bus without having to share our seats with ignoramuses who hate half the people on it.

[TexasTowelie]

15. My apologies for not responding earlier.

I've been fighting with my brother over the past week and it got to the point that it has moved from verbal abuse to physical violence. I slept about 15 hours on Saturday and collapsed on the kitchen floor as I was looking for food to feed the cat and laid there for about 45 minutes attempting to find the strength to get up. It looks like I'll be homeless again within the next few weeks if my brother doesn't kill me first or I become suicidal again. I've tried to seek help from various sources in the community, but there isn't much more assistance that I can receive to get into a better situation. I have a long employment gap on my resume and various medical issues that will eliminate me from being considered for most jobs so for all practical purpose I am unemployable, but not disabled enough to receive SSDI.

I will confirm that I think that the issues of race and racism are too hot to bring up in a presidential campaign as a primary focus and that Democrats will likely end up on the losing side if it becomes the focus in the general election regardless of who is our nominee. While the other candidates speak about those issues, from my perspective the only two candidates that are capable of flipping enough states to win the Electoral College are Biden and O'Rourke. Of the remaining candidates, I see Warren as the best choice because of her skills developed during her teaching career. I don't see Buttigieg, Harris, or Sanders winning a presidential election although I will vote for them because I despise Trump.

I know some of the people that I mentioned are so brainwashed that they will never vote for a Democrat, but the two people that I mentioned as being reliably liberal are willing to vote for Democrats. They might vote for Kamala too because they also despise Trump, but I certainly sensed their lack of enthusiasm for her. However, I could also see them not voting in the presidential race and voting on the rest of the ballot if Kamala is the nominee.

FWIW, nobody should be using derogatory or demeaning language such as "nigger", "beaner", "faggot", "wetback", or "queer". There are times when I've spoken up when people have used that language, but I tend to avoid conflict since I am dependent in some aspects from the people using that language. It boils down to me lacking the strength to keep fighting those battles since I know that I won't ever convince those people to change.

[StarfishSaver]

16. You need help

I don't know where you are so I can't recommend any place, but please call your local police, hospital or social service agency. They can help you or direct you to someone who can.

Your situation sounds very serious and distressing, but there really is help. Please reach out to someone who knows what to do and they'll help you with the rest.

Take care.

[Kind of Blue]

14. To paraphrase Maya Wiley, "Then I don't know what we're fighting for."

In what I think is a powerful discussion on Chris Haye's All In the other night, Harry Seigel, senior editor of The Daily Beast, Zelinda Maxwell and Maya Wiley spoke to a lot of what I think are your concerns, TexasTowelie. And I don't mean concerns in a sarcastic way at all. But please have a listen to Zerlinda Maxwell and Maya Wiley's responses to his fears about dealing with racism now. They speak for me and I think for a lot of people who are not afraid anymore. The panel discussion, imho, is excellent. But my focus here starts at about 11:37 to about 19:20. I think at the end, unless I'm terribly mistaken, Siegel could only summarize the situation but had no good response, again imho, to the case Maxwell and Wiley make.

I did the best I could with the transcript following this video.

Hayes: What's the right way to characterize a crowd that-- overwhelming a white crowd, not exclusively but overwhelmingly a white crowd chanting "Send Her Back," about a black woman who is a U.S. congressman and U.S. citizen?
Seigel: Racist, xenophobic, cruel, un-American. The question is what the rest of us are going to do about this as these animal spirits, if you like, have been unleashed. Look, Trump won a very weird-- had a very weird path to victory. In a lot of ways he did not win the popular vote and he's aiming for that same path again. Except now he has a tremendous war chest and the power of the incumbency that the further excites all of these people who, if they thought these ways weren't chanting for the most part, were quiet about it. I think it's going to take a tremendous political force and the next year and change to hopefully get us back to that sort of moment. But people are not ashamed of shameful behavior right now, they're chanting it.
Hayes: Yeah, I mean it's-- I also think it's-- well, there's two things here. I think he's radicalizing people. I mean it's happening in real time like we're watching it happen. it shows up in the public opinion polling data. The antecedents were there. we know they were there. It's not like Donald Trump invented racism and even his tactics if you read "Nixonland," Rick Perlstein's great book about Nixon, like it's just kind of a dumb, more vulgar version of Nixon. It's not that-- it's not something like--
Wiley: Well, actually he broke Nixon's playbook because remember, Nixon was the Southern Strategy done right. And the Southern Strategy done right was we will code it. We will not be explicit. In fact, we think explicit racism is the third rail. We won't touch it because we'll be electrocuted. What we will do is veil it so that it's acceptable. And what Trump has really done is said if we pair economic populism with racism, overt explicit, we think we win and that's what we have to say no, you don't.
Hayes: But he's also making-- I think he's making people worse. He is making-- like there's an idea that there's a sort of question of like is he just unleashing what people want to do anyway or is he-- and I think he keeps setting a bar for people and leading them towards things that--
Maxwell: I mean the saddest thing is when you have this conversation, I'm sure all of us have this week in particular with white people who are like, well, you know, the economy is doing great. You know,, they don't want to jump into this conversation about racism. But when are we gonna have it? Because black people are being shot by the police, nobody is getting in trouble. Eric Garner was just-- that case just-- the Justice Department just decided they're not going to pursue it. And that's just a reminder to people of color in this country that our lives are not as valuable as everyone else's. And I'm tired of being reminded of that. I'm tire of being reminded by the president of that every single day from his tweets and from his words. And so, I think this is a come-to-Jesus moment for the country. Are we gonna deal with racism or not?
Seigel: I am worried that if we deal with racism that we are gonna end up with more Donald Trump. I think that's absolutely right that these aren't things you can just put off or be patient or let's just wait until a few more people get shot. But Hillary Clinton ran a campaign where she was bringing up mothers who've lost their children. She went as far in that direction as any mainstream Democrat at that point and Trump was American carnage and there was a response to that. And I don't know where the--
Wiley: But that’s not why she--
Maxwell: We won the popular vote so the ting that I think about all the time is that when people say, "This is why Trump won," every single reason listed is correct on that front. But, again, he won by such a slim margin with so many weird factors in this election that I don't know that we can then predict out that, you know, the racism is working for him as if we're not an emerging majority of people of color in this country.
Wiley: What are we trying to win? I think fundamentally we're trying to win democracy. And so where I get concerned is both these points, which is to say we have to recognize we're talking about all of us but that can't exclude people of color. And I don't think that was Hillary Clinton's mistake. I think I was to --
Maxwell: We could have went further.
Wiley: We could have gone further. Remember that Wisconsin was fundamentally about voter suppression and trying to bar black people from the ballot and Latinos and others. We're seeing that now in the citizenship fight, the Muslim ban. Everything we're being told is about who is America and I think it isn't working and that's part of what we saw in the in the 20--
Hayes: 2018.
Wiley: 2018 midterms and we shouldn't forget the call to our better angels. And if we don't my concern is I'm not sure what we're fighting for.

[saidsimplesimon]

4. The man is a mental midget

incapable of debate. He uses his well honed bully persona trying to make fools of us and the media in order to amplify his vacuous rhetoric. Say it anyway you wish.

The media is trying to deliver the message (sometimes). I'm watching and loving every soul who speaks their mind, including Steve Kornacki with whom I have nothing politically in common.

[msongs]

5. the rent issue is rather complicated IMO. landlords are severely restricted on what they can say

current tenants and those that have moved out. perhaps if you are a corporate property manager like coldwell banker it is simpler but if you are a small time owner with one or two rentals tenants can and will sue for just about anything.

[NBachers]

7. I'd love to see it happen but, unfortunately, I don't think he'll do any debates next time.

[StarfishSaver]

13. I agree. He'll make up some excuse about how "rigged" they are

He won't go near any debate with any Democratic nominee.

[saidsimplesimon]

9. Don't plan on a debate with a grifter.

Make sure the moderator gives you time to express your views. Rumpie wants a Jerry Springer hillbilly brawl (I can say that).