Last night was a big effing deal. Which is why this newsletter is free and unlocked for everyone today. You’ll note that all of our coverage has been free and unlocked. We’re trying to spread the word and make the case for democracy. We know that you can’t do that job from behind a paywall. But we can only leave so much of what we do free because so many people volunteer to support us by becoming Bulwark+ members. I hope you’ll consider joining us today. We’re clear about what we’re for and we don’t play the both-sides game. But we’re not cheerleaders and we’re never going to put the shine on you. If Kamala Harris had done a bad job last night, we would have said so. That’s the key—or one of the keys—to saving democracy. People have to stop playing make-believe and just say what they really think. We’ve got 8 weeks left. It’s a lot to get through. So let’s get through it together. What More Do You People Want from Kamala Harris?Free thoughts on the proceedings of the Harris-Trump debate.
1. The Philadelphia MassacreLet’s do this rundown style. 1. Harris delivered the goods. You never know if a politician can play on the national stage until they do it. Sometimes a promising candidate pops. Sometimes they’re Ron DeSantis. At every turn over the last seven weeks, Harris popped. From her first speech at the campaign HQ in Delaware, to the first big rally, to her convention speech, to the debate—she answered the bell every time. She is not coasting. She is not simply existing as a non-octogenarian alternative to Trump. She is waging a smart, vigorous campaign and executing at a high level. 2. Harris has positioned herself as a centrist, Biden Democrat. From the opening question, Harris talked about her support for family formation (a big conservative talking point) and her recognition of the importance of small-businesses (a key Republican constituency). She emphasized her plan for tax cuts. She was hawkish on Russia and China. She offered an unwavering commitment to Israel. She noted that she and her running mate are both gun owners. She talked about the importance of supporting law enforcement and making the criminal justice system work. She is in favor of the strictest border control bill ever passed by the Senate. I’m not sure what else moderate voters could ask from her. If someone doesn’t believe in or trust Harris, that’s fine and they can say so. But don’t pretend that she’s running as something she’s not. Harris has positioned her candidacy in the dead center of American politics. 3. Joe Biden made last night possible. He’s the one who drafted Harris in 2020. He’s the one who put his ego and career aside for the good of the country seven weeks ago. He’s the one who blessed her candidacy, short-circuiting a convention fight and starting the consolidation of the Democratic party. When all is said and done, Biden should be regarded as one of the most extraordinary presidents of the last century. 4. Harris is also a politician who did two politician-y things in the debate. First, she took Trump’s “bloodbath” comment out of context. Second she said Trump would support a national abortion ban, which may or may not be true. Shame on her. I hope she goes to time out, thinks about what she did, and does a better job upholding the standards of truth in politics. Trump, on the other hand, claimed that there are states where babies are killed after delivery. And that in Springfield, Ohio, migrants are stealing and eating people's pets. And that on January 6, it was Nancy Pelosi who refused to send in the National Guard. And that he didn’t lose the 2020 election. This is a partial list of his lies. If you cannot tell the difference between one politician who took one quotation out of context and then made a prediction about her opponent’s future behavior, which is not fully supported by existing evidence, and another politician who just makes up crazy stories about things which did not actually happen—and lies about having won a presidential election—then I can’t help you. But Harris was very bad to take the word “bloodbath” out of context. I hope she does better next time. 🙄 5. The ABC moderators did a good job. Many people who claim to dislike Trump are outraged this morning that on four occasions the ABC moderators corrected factually untrue statements from Trump. For the record, here were the brief and value-neutral corrections:
That’s it. That was the “fact checking.” The moderators did not contradict any of Trump’s routine exaggerations and lies about how recent inflation was the highest in history (it wasn’t), or that his economy was the greatest in history (same), or that the Biden administration left $85 billion worth of “brand new beautiful military equipment behind” in Afghanistan ($83 billion was the total amount spent by the U.S. military over 20 years to build and train Afghan security forces). It was just those four very large and very specific lies on which the moderators corrected the record. And good for them. Some conservatives seem to think that news networks exist to serve the interests of their preferred candidates. That is a misunderstanding. A journalistic institution exists to serve its audience by giving them the clearest possible understanding of reality.¹ The first duty of a journalistic institution is not to be “fair” to the politicians it covers. It is to make certain that its audience is presented an accurate view of reality. ABC News understood those priorities last night. They should be commended. As for the conservatives who are upset that ABC would point out Trump’s lies, there is a simple remedy: Don’t nominate as your presidential candidate an ignoramus who lies pathologically. ABC didn’t make Trump the Republican nominee. Republican voters did. Take it up with those very fine people. Also: If Donald Trump can’t stand up to four fact checks from David Muir and Linsey Davis, then surely he’s not capable of handling the demands of the presidency and facing down the Vladimir Putins of the world. You know, with strength. By the way: We’re not here at The Bulwark to serve the candidates. We’re here to serve you. And not by telling you what you want to hear, but by trying to give you the clearest possible understanding of reality. We told you about that reality after the Biden debate in late June, when nobody wanted to hear it. And we’re telling you about the reality this morning, when there’s good news for democracy. If this is the kind of reporting and analysis you want, then you should be with us. 6. Trump is who he is. While most people in Conservatism Inc. are blaming last night on the ABC moderators, some conservatives are blaming Trump, saying that he performed poorly. Yes and no. This was Trump’s seventh general election debate and if you were ranking his performances, it falls somewhere between 3rd and 5th. Last night wasn’t Bad Trump. It was Median Trump. The problem is that “Median Trump” is several standard deviations below the political norm. Again: If you are a professional conservative who find this fact upsetting, perhaps you should take it up with Republican voters. 7. Trump has been massacred in debates twice before. His first debate against Hillary Clinton was a blowout. He completely disqualified himself. Clinton was sharp and disciplined. Trump went on to win the Electoral College. His first debate against Biden was also a blowout. Biden crushed him. Trump came within Past performance is not an indication of future gains, yadda yadda yadda. But still. 8. What will it say about America if Trump’s numbers don’t drop over the next week? We have had every chance to reject Donald Trump. We saw him mishandle a crisis, resulting in an economic collapse and hundreds of thousands of excess deaths. We saw him attempt a violent coup. When voters said, “I don’t love Trump, but that other candidate is super old . . .” Democrats went and swapped out Joe Biden for Kamala Harris. Harris has been a good candidate. She has run as a rock-solid moderate. She just curb-stomped Trump in front of tens of millions of voters. What else do people want? I’m serious about this: What else could Harris possibly do? Because it looks to me like she’s an above-average candidate, running in a good economic environment, playing near-perfect baseball against a guy who says he wants to be a dictator. And the response of the American people is: Harris +1.1.
What happens if, a week after last night’s demonstration, this race is still a toss-up? What does that tell us about the long-term viability of American democracy? 9. It’s September 11. I hope we never lose track of this day. This is a video about Jim Maroon, who cleans the pools at the 9/11 memorial in New York every night. That’s not a job; it’s a vocation. Thank you, Jim.  2. Church StuffFirst of all: The art on this piece is amazing. Kudos to Vanity Fair and illustrator Marc Burckhardt. Second: The piece itself, by Kathryn Joyce, hits on what used to be a small problem in the American Catholic Church, but has become a larger problem: The habit that some conservative priests have of chasing high-profile converts. Back when I was in D.C., there was a priest at the downtown Catholic Information Center who was known for this sort of thing. He won a bunch of famous converts and some not-famous converts from inside the conservative movement.² At times, it was a little much. But also: All roads lead to Rome, the Church always has Her arms open, etc. This VF piece is about an aspect of convert chasing that is somewhat less pure.
Pray for culture warrior conversions?
I love a good conversion and people convert for all sorts of reasons: For love, for convenience—sometimes even to satisfy the deepest yearning of their souls. But when people start converting because they see the Catholic Church as an ally in the broader culture war? Not great, Bob. I don’t want to make too much of this. It’s not the end of the world. The Church has survived for 2,000 years. It outlasted the Romans, the Borgias, and the Bubonic plague. It has survived terrible popes, evil clergy, and wicked laymen. The last 40 years of the American Church has basically been a slow-motion train wreck. Sure, with lots of good being done, but also lots of bad. Candace Owens and JD Vance aren’t going to wreck it any more by joining our club. But there’s one thing worth unpacking a little bit here. The Church is Catholic and universal. But every country’s Church has its own set of problems. In Italy, it’s the total and complete systemic corruption of bureaucracies. In Germany, it’s the weird legacy tax system which funds the Church. In America, the Catholic Church’s problem—maybe its biggest current problem—is the extent to which American-ness overwhelms the Catholicity. The American Church is in danger of transforming in the way evangelical churches have. But like I said: I don’t want to make too much of it. We all have our crosses to bear. 3. Red LobsterWe’ve talked about Red Lobster before, mostly because of the weirdness of having a shrimp wholesaler owning a restaurant chain and demanding that they offer “endless shrimp” to profit shrimp business by killing the dining business. But everyone in this story is a villain.³ The private equity guys who sold off Red Lobster’s real estate. The shrimp company using it to move product. The corporate a-holes demanding that stores increase revenue by 17 percent at a time. And the customers. My God, the customers. This is why we can’t have nice things. The NYT has more.
1 An institution which places consideration for politicians above the interests of its audience practices something other than journalism. 2 I want to be clear that I’m not casting aspersions about this priest. One of these converts is a dear friend and I’m godfather to his oldest. I’m a big fan of conversion; all roads lead to Rome, etc. 3 Except the workers at Red Lobster. They seem pretty good. None of this is their fault. You’re a free subscriber to Bulwark+. For unfettered access to all our newsletters and ad-free and member-only podcasts, become a paying subscriber. Did you know? You can update your newsletter preferences as often as you like. To update the list of newsletter or alerts you received from The Bulwark, click here.
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What More Do You People Want from Kamala Harris?
September 11, 2024
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