Late Thursday evening, the official Twitter account of Google Trends delivered an update on the trop trending candidates during night number two of the first Democratic presidential debates.
After reporting some statistics, Google replied to itself. “@KamalaHarris is actually the top trending topic in search on all of Google in the US right now”, the reply read.
That was the kind of night Kamala Harris had.
Harris, thanks in no small part to an extremely risky gamble, delivered a masterclass, roundly besting rival Democrats and accomplishing what no other candidate in the absurdly crowded field managed to do over two nights: Make a splash.
Joe Biden – who appeared ill at ease throughout – was the target of one of the more pointed and deftly orchestrated political attacks in recent memory.
When the debate turned to the issue of race, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was asked to address the recent shooting death of an African American by a white police officer whose body camera was turned off. As moderators turned to Biden and the candidates jostled to get a word in, Harris stopped the show.
“As the only black person on this stage I would like to speak”, she said. The stage fell silent.
“I will say that – that, in this campaign, we have also heard – and I’m going to now direct this at Vice President Biden, I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground”, Harris began.
“But I also believe, and it’s personal – and I was actually very – it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country”, she continued, referencing Biden’s ill-fated remarks about “civility” between himself and James O. Eastland and Herman Talmadge. (Earlier this month, Biden attempted to make a point about overcoming political differences in the interest of “getting things done”, but his choice of two segregationists to illustrate was, for many, an unforgivable gaffe.)
Having set Joe up, Harris delivered a haymaker.
“And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing”, Harris said. “And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”
(If the video does not load, please refresh your page)
Waylaid, and seemingly on the verge of tears, Biden tried to fight back. “It’s a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I did not praise racists. That is not true, number one”, he said, clearly floundering. “Number two, if we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether I did or not, I’m happy to do that.”
But he wasn’t happy. Nor was he prepared. It was the closest thing to a knockout blow that Harris could have delivered so early in the campaign and she landed it on the frontrunner.
Bloomberg described the exchange as “deeply personal”, and it was. But it was the contrast on display at a time of racial division in the country that will be seared into voters’ minds. It was, as Bloomberg goes on to flatly note, “a confrontation [that] pitted a 54-year-old daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants against a 76-year-old white man [who] fondly recall[ed] his civil relationships with segregationist senators in the 1970s and 1980s”.
At 10:11 PM, Harris’s Twitter account sent this tweet:
There was a little girl in California who was bussed to school. That little girl was me. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/XKm2xP1MDH
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 28, 2019
The image is already emblazoned on t-shirts and is sure to feature heavily for the remainder of the 2020 campaign.
“I think the moment will resonate with voters not only because of how powerful and deft Harris was but equally also because how ill-equipped Biden was in his response”, political operative Patti Solis Doyle told the Daily Beast.
In her only public TV appearance following what was almost universally recognized as an indelible performance, Harris did not back down. “It was about just speaking truth and as I’ve said many times, I have a great deal of respect for Joe Biden… but he and I disagree on that”, she told “CBS This Morning” on Friday.
Since the beginning, Harris has polled well, all things considered. It’s true the Senator has had the same problem as every other candidate not named “Biden”, “Warren” or “Sanders” when it comes to distinguishing herself in a crowded field. But she’s never been relegated to true “long-shot” status and her candidacy has never been derided as an exercise in futility like so many of the other would-be contenders. Now, Harris is gunning for the lead.
In FiveThirtyEight’s endorsement tracker, she trails only Biden. RCP’s average of national polls has Harris fourth (behind Biden, Sanders and Warren), but one imagines that might change. At the least, the gap will likely close.
“Harris showed a sharp intellect, charisma and a talent for prosecuting a case. She dominated the debate with smart policy takes, memorable one-liners and a deft ability to confront her opponents”, Solis Doyle said Thursday. “I think voters will say to themselves, if she can do that to Biden, imagine what she can do to Trump”, she later told the media.
To be clear, Harris still faces an uphill battle to cement herself as the nominee. One debate is just one debate, and even if Biden stumbles, she’ll still need to knock off Warren (who relishes a fight) and the irascible Bernie, who escaped from Thursday night’s proceedings largely unscathed by simply playing what, in his mind anyway, are his greatest socialist hits.
The exchange with Biden wasn’t the only standout moment for Harris. At one juncture, she quite literally stepped in to silence her Democratic rivals when they took to talking over one another. “Hey, guys, you know what? America does not want to witness a food fight, they want to know how we’re going to put food on their table”, she said.
Trump noticed, although he avoided mentioning Harris by name, presumably in an effort to avoid giving her even more momentum. “I heard it was not a good day for Sleepy Joe or Crazy Bernie”, the president said. “One is exhausted, the other is nuts – so what’s the big deal?”
The “big deal” is “that little girl” who won her Senate seat the same night Trump was elected.
Full transcript of the Harris-Biden exchange
HARRIS: Growing up, my sister and I had to deal with the neighbor who told us her parents couldn’t play with us because she – because we were black. And I will say also that – that, in this campaign, we have also heard – and I’m going to now direct this at Vice President Biden, I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground.
But I also believe, and it’s personal – and I was actually very – it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing.
And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.
So I will tell you that, on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among Democrats. We have to take it seriously. We have to act swiftly. As attorney general of California, I was very proud to put in place a requirement that all my special agents would wear body cameras and keep those cameras on.
RACHEL MADDOW (Moderator): Senator Harris, thank you. Vice President Biden, you have been invoked. We’re going to give you a chance to respond.
BIDEN: It’s a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I did not praise racists. That is not true, number one. Number two, if we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether I did or not, I’m happy to do that.
I was a public defender. I didn’t become a prosecutor. I came out and I left a good law firm to become a public defender, when, in fact – when, in fact, my city was in flames because of the assassination of Dr. King, number one.
Number two, as the U.S. – excuse me, as the vice president of the United States, I worked with a man who, in fact, we worked very hard to see to it we dealt with these issues in a major, major way.
The fact is that, in terms of busing, the busing, I never – you would have been able to go to school the same exact way because it was a local decision made by your city council. That’s fine. That’s one of the things I argued for, that we should not be – we should be breaking down these lines.
But so the bottom line here is, look, everything I have done in my career, I ran because of civil rights, I continue to think we have to make fundamental changes in civil rights, and those civil rights, by the way, include not just only African-Americans, but the L.G.B.T. community.
HARRIS: But, Vice President Biden, do you agree today – do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose busing in America then? Do you agree?
BIDEN: I did not oppose busing in America. What I opposed is busing ordered by the Department of Education. That’s what I opposed. I did not oppose ––
HARRIS: Well, there was a failure of states to integrate public schools in America. I was part of the second class to integrate Berkeley, California, public schools almost two decades after Brown v. Board of Education.
BIDEN: Because your city council made that decision. It was a local decision.
HARRIS: So that’s where the federal government must step in.
BIDEN: The federal government ––
HARRIS: That’s why we have the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. That’s why we need to pass the Equality Act. That’s why we need to pass the E.R.A., because there are moments in history where states fail to preserve the civil rights of all people.
BIDEN: I’ve supported the E.R.A. from the very beginning when I ran for ––
CHUCK TODD (Moderator): Vice President Biden, 30 seconds, because I want to bring other people into this.
BIDEN: I supported the E.R.A. from the very beginning. I’m the guy that extended the Voting Rights Act for 25 years. We got to the place where we got 98 out of 98 votes in the United States Senate doing it. I’ve also argued very strongly that we, in fact, deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box. I agree that everybody, once they, in fact – anyway, my time is up. I’m sorry.
I would pay good money to watch Harris reduce Trump to pitiful puddle of tears on national television.
Tom ….I think you should have said Rational television…lol
Need you be reminded of what good it did for Hillary Clinton to eviscerate Trump in three successive debates?
We live in a world of mass marketed products, and one of achieving maximum sales based on the most effective messaging and marketing of said products. Likewise, politicians now receive the most votes based on who has the most effective mass marketing techniques. Sorry, but thats the world we live in, so get used to it.
The debates don’t really move the needle in the general. Most people who watch them already have their mind set
~
apropos of nothing, I wish Harris had used ‘bused’ instead of ‘bussed’. While not wrong, the latter usage invokes ‘kissed’ more than ‘driven in a yellow-orange truck’
“Waylaid, and seemingly on the verge of tears, Biden tried to fight back.” That is a mischaracterization of Joe Biden’s demeanor. If anyone was near tears it was Kamala Harris. She had a pronounced quiver in her voice that I thought was very contrived. I suppose her implication was that if push came to shove, Joe Biden wouldn’t fight for the underdog. Really?! The ADD public needs the action flick version of the debate. If you actually listened to the substance of all the responses it was clear, to me anyway, that Pete Buttigieg was the best communicator on the stage. The public, however, needs the firebrand to counter Trump the carnival barker. Es una pena.
“That is a mischaracterization of Joe Biden’s demeanor.” Right. Just like Biden says Kamala was “mischaracterizing” his track record, right? Right. Oh wait, no. She’s exactly correct.
Also, suggesting that yours truly doesn’t “listen to the substance” of things is about like telling water it isn’t wet. I’m sure that’s occurred to you, because you’re not new here.
Okay, I’ll admit that Biden never explained why it was so important for a city council to make a ruling on bussing rather than the department of education, but you are comparing that to a scene that played out right in front of the camera. I don’t see the analogy. Also, I don’t see how you describe Biden being “on the verge of tears”, and ignore the obvious quiver in her voice. That’s a definite spin by you in her favor as far as I’m concerned. No, Mayor Pete didn’t attack Biden and express personal outrage at having his civil liberties threatened, but I thought that he provided the most thoughtful input. Yet, Kamala Harris gets all the attention. I think she grandstanded. I think form triumphed over substance. I don’t think your article does anything to counter that, oh sagacious one.
Mayor Pete has the same chance of winning the presidency as Donald Trump does of winning the national spelling bee. and if you watch the video of Pete attempting to pacify angry African American women, you come away thinking Pete might be a bit smug. Pete can’t beat Trump. period. Trump will give him some kind of horrible, homophobic nickname and mercilessly berate him on social media and in person and that will be the end of it. there is zero chance that Pete is going to start some kind of national wave that gets people whipped up into a frenzy. but Harris might, and that picture of her looking defiant as a little girl has the potential to become iconic. if reason, a command of the issues and smugness worked, Hillary be president, Russia or no Russia. point being, if Mayor Pete pulls off a miracle and gets the nomination, we might as well just go ahead and let Trump deliver another inaugural address, because he will trounce Pete in a horrible landslide.
read this: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-debate-south-bend.html
that’s a problem for Pete.
You’re arguing theater, and I don’t disagree with you on that score. I’ve always been very impressed with Buttigieg’s intellect, but thought that he probably wouldn’t ‘do it’ for the electorate. So we should get “whipped up into a frenzy” because Kamala Harris implied that Joe Biden almost denied her and possibly millions like her an education because he agreed to have the authority for bussing be entrusted in the City Council rather than the Department of Education? She said that he flat out opposed it. That seems to be a mischaracterization, but I guess that doesn’t matter. You would think that she was confronting someone with a record on civil rights akin to that of George Wallace. Yes, I know she said that she didn’t think that he was a racist, but the implication was that he acquiesced to those racists, and thus, wasn’t much better. That little girl had every reason to defy the likes of a George Wallace, not Joe Biden. To say that all we need is that picture of defiance, and we’ll just fabricate whatever context we need for it to ‘get out the vote’ is a fairly sad commentary on the electorate. But, then again, the country elected a narcissistic nut job nincompoop,liar, hypocrite, and coward to the highest office in the land. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I don’t know, if Kamala Harris doesn’t work out, maybe we can get “The Rock” to run against the next Donald Trump. It shouldn’t be too difficult for him to match wits with the witless. He can get up on the stage all oiled up and pumped. He just might make us all feel like superheroes. The “Fast and Furious” public should eat it up.
“we’ll just fabricate whatever context we need for it to ‘get out the vote’ is a fairly sad commentary on the electorate. But, then again, the country elected a narcissistic nut job nincompoop,liar, hypocrite, and coward to the highest office in the land.”
bingo. that’s the point, right there. when countries go down the strongman route, it usually takes another strongman/woman or another demagogue to get rid of the last guy. at least in America’s case it is 100% obvious that any alternative (Democrat or Republican) is better than the current situation.
I agree. Pete has little usable experience, no “gravitas” and will be creamed by the merciless bully that is Trump.
Back in May Chris Wallace asked Buttigieg how he would handle Trump’s insults. His response was, after a noticeable pause, “I just don’t care”. I wanted something better. My response would have been this: “President Trump is a man who appears to be incapable of engaging in any reasoned discourse whatsoever. At virtually every opportunity he precipitates a verbal food fight. He is the Animal House President. He’s like Blutarsky. (Then looking straight into the camera say) And fat, rude , and stupid is no way to go through life old man”.
Not sure her quiver was contrived, I am sure it was not inspiring. The “put food on the table” comment sounded a whole lot like something Hillary would say, less the nurse ratchet tone. The democrat field is looking kind of weak, I know it is early and they have time, they better earn merit. I want to defeat Trump.
More logos and ethos, less pathos. Trump will mock the pathos right into the ground.