by Emil Guillermo
When Kamala Harris – Asian American, African American, woman, and politico – made history by becoming the standard bearer for the Democratic Party, it became official.
There is only one relevant question in this election: It’s not just whether America will vote for a woman as president.
It’s far more complicated. Is our country ready to vote for a woman who represents the great diversity of the New America?
In other words, will race be the deciding factor, as the only real issue for voters?
Oh, come on. We had Obama.
Yes, and everyone thought we had reached some magical post-racial moment. And then, Trump beat Hillary and the faux post-racial political nightmare began.
So what happens this time? The race question remains as relevant as ever.
A very astute professorial Filipino friend of mine read my last column on Harris’ speech and said I was “overly complimentary.”
I responded: Are you kidding?
Harris’ speech was pure poetry, the rhetoric of America’s new politics, a shift of focus from the 1% to the center (interesting how no one mentioned the poor and homeless).
And it all was even more inviting because the person nominated wasn’t a white male, but the daughter of immigrants, born of the middle class, and a reflection of America’s major demographic shift.
Still, my friend wanted to see more details of Harris’ economic plan. Spoken like a true left-leaning intellectual academic.
Basically, it’s tax the rich on capital gains, by about 10 percent less than Biden had proposed. And then offer small businesses a $50,000 exemption.
Unfortunately, I doubt any of that will be the reason people will vote for president in November.
The question remains, are the vast majority of Americans ready to vote for the first Asian American, African American woman ever nominated in American history?
For me, that won’t be solved by details. The choice is more visceral than that.
Whom Do You Trust?
For the ultimate office in our representative democracy, we want someone to whom we can entrust our government, nuclear codes, and all.
In 2024, voters will be making the hiring decision of their lives. Who shall be the “nanny” to nurture and heal our divided democracy?
Will it be the person whose party talked about loving and caring for one another and our neighbors?
One who at the same time said she’d face up to the tyrants of the world, as Harris did in her acceptance speech last week?
Or will your choice be the nasty older white guy, who is all doom and gloom about America and its future?
The man was found by the Washington Post to have lied or misled the public in his first time as president more than 31,000 times?
He’s the pro-family guy who stepped away to cheat on his spouse as she was nursing their young son.
And we can’t forget Trump’s 34 felony convictions. He couldn’t even coach your kids’ youth soccer team.
Do you really need more details?
Asking For Details Provides Cover
Some Americans are using the “let’s see the details” excuse as a cover for their own racist and misogynistic doubts about Harris’ readiness.
I get it, you want to hear the deets on economic plans and the like. But all of that is either pie-in-the-sky or flat-out fiction – until we know what kind of legislative landscape we’ll be dealing with.
For now, all the detail you need on the economy is to know who would favor the middle class and regular folk. Harris mentions it all the time.
And who favors corporate interests 100% of the time? Definitely Trump.
The nerds can debate economic details all they want right now. But until we know the House and Senate lineup, it’s all fantasy play.
This weekend, people talked about Harris flip-flopping on different positions like Medicare For All. But with the House and Senate as unknowns, there’s nothing wrong with a candidate moderating a position.
Of course, Trump simply believes in ending Obamacare, a/k/a the Affordable Care Act.
Once again, the contrast is clear. Who is the most no-nonsense pragmatic person you want in charge of the country, who can maintain one’s ethics and sense of humanity?
Is it the man who led an insurrection and would not respect the Constitution? Cut taxes to the rich and ran up the national debt?
Or is it the woman who as Calif. attorney general went up against corporate bullies to win $20 billion for homeowners who had been cheated?
As for flip-flopping, have you seen Trump’s latest statements on abortion? Trump has been tempering his anti-abortion position so much, right-wingers are doubting his pro-life stance.
Then there’s J.D. Vance, who once called Trump the American Hitler. And now he wants to work under Trump.
That’s an infinitely greater flip-flop than anything Harris has done.
The issues seem to be failing Trump/Vance. Expect to see more anti-immigrant talk and claims that Harris failed as a border czar.
They’re the kind of lies that whip up the nativist xenophobia and white resentment that have propelled Trump in the past.
Who can forget how Trump used the Central Park 5 in 1989? Trump went on a media campaign that led to the convictions of five men who served 5 to 13 years in prison for rape—until DNA evidence set them free.
The appearance of the five–including Yusef Salaam, now a New York City Councilmember—at the DNC was a reminder.
Trump has always used racism as a tool.
Harris’ Speech And Voters
But that’s why the Harris speech was laden with the rhetoric of the New America, about all the good immigration does for our country.
Her mother’s immigrant story counters Trump’s fear-mongering negative immigrant narrative.
Will it work?
Convention week, CNN had a focus group of eight undecided voters from swing-state Pennsylvania.
Six whites, two blacks. After watching the Harris acceptance speech, six in the group were ready to vote for Harris. One (a white woman) didn’t like any candidate.
Only one said he’d vote for Trump–a Black male who worked in real estate.
He liked her speech, the Black male voter said. He wanted more details, but just didn’t think Harris was ready.
Black supporters of Harris have already identified Black males as leading detractors.
It’s what makes the race question ever more volatile and interesting in 2024. Among Asian Americans, Filipinos and Vietnamese are anywhere from 30 to 40% for Trump.
In such a close presidential race, the swing vote against diversity’s candidate may have more than a touch of diversity itself.
It tells you a lot about the importance of race and misogyny still, as our demographics dramatically change in a New America.
But it’s also another reason that the Sept. 10 debate on ABC will be significant.
The contrast with Harris is just so damning, seeing them live side-by-side may be too revealing. It should give voters all they really need to know to make their choice.
EMIL GUILLERMO is a journalist and commentator. He has worked from Honolulu to California to Washington, DC, where he was the first Filipino American to host a national news show (NPR “All Things Considered,” 1989.
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