Editor’s Notes: i) We have divided Part One of Thomas Gotowka’s essay into three parts. We will publish Parts 2 and 3 on Monday, Sept. 2 and Tuesday, Sept. 3, respectively.
ii) This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.
We are almost at the final stage of the two dueling campaigns leading to the 2024 presidential election; which initially had all the hallmarks of being just another nasty election featuring two old white guys fighting to demonstrate the other’s incompetence and inferior intellect; but now, it’s gotten awfully weird.
I begin this “View” below at the first debate and review the remarkable events that occurred right afterwards; which led to the emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the strong and popular Democratic candidate for President of the United States (POTUS); and then continue through the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, where an again-confident President Biden passed the torch to his VP in an enthusiastic keynote address to the delegates.
I will consider a few of Donald J. Trump’s campaign events and his recurring themes to get a sense of what’s on, or in his mind — quoting his often-bombastic rhetoric.
In Part Two of this Epic, “Content of Character,” I review several political and legal events in Trump’s life that illustrate his character — i.e. his moral and ethical principles Note that the title is derived from Martin Luther King Jr’s August 28, 1963, “I have a Dream” speech, which includes the line “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
This will be the most consequential presidential election of my lifetime The country is divided and it will be a very tight race.
I do not support Trump’s candidacy. I feel that the repeated insults he has directed at our veterans and military heroes; and the praise he has directed at authoritarian despots like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un make him particularly ill-suited for the President’s concomitant role, — Commander in Chief of America’s Armed Forces. Trump has posted that he trusts Putin more than the U.S. Intelligence ‘lowlifes’; and has bragged that he knows more than the generals.”
The observations and opinions presented in these two, and all my “Views” are mine.
I am not privy to the DNC’s talking points; and assuming it matters to anyone, Christina and I have five children and our family’s pets have always joined us as rescued kittens. No miserable, childless cat ladies in our household, Mr. Vance!
This “View” is long and complicated; but provides a perspective on an evolving period of American history.
Candidate Harris
President Biden announced on Sunday, July 21, that he would not stand for re-election, evidently unwilling to withstand the increasing calls for his withdrawal that were coming from within his own Party; which intensified after a poor performance in the June 27 debate; after which concerns were raised regarding his physical and cognitive health.
Paul Choiniere noted in The Day that Trump “lied from start to finish” in the debate, while Biden did little to counter the lies and little to present his record as President. After he announced his plan to withdraw, the President endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Devi Harris to become the party’s nominee, which was incredibly well-received by the Party and the Nation.
Key Democrats rushed to endorse her; and she raised a record $81 million within the first 24 hours of her campaign launch. The AFL-CIO endorsed Harris’ presidential bid, following endorsements by many individual unions.
Note that I regularly refer to the candidates as “Harris,” or Trump;” and the President as “Biden” in these two essays. I mean no disrespect; it just makes for better flow and easier editing.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, risking Trump’s wrath, offered strong praise of Biden: “While we have political differences, I appreciate his lifelong service to our nation, which he dearly loves,” “He has devoted his entire life to public service for the people of Delaware and the United States, and I wish him and his family well as this chapter in his life comes to an end.” Harris then hit the campaign trail with energy, enthusiasm, and an articulate message.
Conspiracy theorists, right-wing commentators, and some Republicans immediately cast Biden’s withdrawal from the campaign as evidence of something sinister. Trump tried to portray Harris’ replacing Biden as the nominee as nefarious, likening it to a “coup;” and in recent days claiming it may somehow be unconstitutional, although he could not specify the Article in the Constitution that was violated.
There is real concern that he could be laying the groundwork to contest his electoral defeat, as he did in 2020.
Trump is now the old man in the race, and after turning 78 last June, became the oldest presidential nominee in U. S. history. Decades older than Harris, he is a convicted felon who has adopted “Hitleresque” themes (see below), and vowed an administration of retribution and televised military tribunals for some of his political opponents.”
Anne Applebaum, Senior Fellow at the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, who co-leads a project on 21st-century disinformation has said, “Now it is the Republicans who are saddled with the elderly candidate, the one who can’t make a clear argument or finish a sentence without veering off into anecdote.”
In reaction, Trump immediately morphed into his “Biff the Bully” persona. As you may recall, Biff Tannen is the bully from the “Back to the Future” movie trilogy; and he had some memorable lines. — perhaps his most quoted and worthy of an appearance at a Trump rally: “Make like a tree and get outta here!”
Trump is again relying on the insults and personal attacks that characterized his earlier campaigns, and has returned to the distasteful rhetoric for which he’s well-known — second rate and seventh grade insults and ridiculous nicknames. My four-year-old granddaughter, Maddie, sums it up nicely, saying, “That’s stupid!”
Trump, who now appears to be “running scared,” called Harris “dumb as a Rock,” “crazy,” “nuts” “low IQ;” and even repurposed an old insult he had aimed at President Biden; labeling her “Lyin’ Kamala.” There’s more, but you get the picture.
However, Harris clearly has his measure. On the day after Biden endorsed her, she reminded her campaign team, “I was a courtroom prosecutor.” I took on perpetrators of all kinds; — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Trump’s allies fear that Harris’ momentum has thrown their candidate into a panicked fury, and are urging him to focus on the policy debate. “I know what I’m doing.”
Harris’ VP Selection
On August 6, 2024, Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz was selected from a pool comprised of state governors, sitting U. S. Senators, and a member of Biden’s cabinet. Trump claimed that “He’ll unleash ‘HELL ON EARTH’ and open our borders to the worst criminals imaginable.” (Trump’s caps)
Soon after Harris announced her candidacy, Trump and his running mate began accusing her of antisemitism, calling her, “Totally against the Jewish people.” On Fox News, Trump attempted to present the Harris’ choice of Governor Walz over Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro (and others) as driven by Gov. Shapiro’s Jewish heritage. “I think it’s insulting to Jewish people.”
Vance, expressed similar thoughts at a Philadelphia rally, and said that he, “Felt bad for Shapiro, and that the fact that “the vice-presidential race on the Democratic side became so focused on his ethnicity” is “absolutely disgraceful” and “insulting to Americans.” Vance went even further with “Democrats made Josh Shapiro ‘run from his Jewish heritage.’”
The Trump/Vance duo made no mention of the religious heritage of the other candidates in Harris’ VP pool.
Outrageously Trump has also said, “Jews who vote for the Democratic party “should have their head examined.”
Governor Shapiro released a statement congratulating Walz. “I know that Governor Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward.” He added, “Lori and I consider Tim and Gwen to be good friends of ours and we are excited for them and for the country to get to know the great people we know them to be.”
Shapiro generated Trump’s wrath with his “freedom speech” at the DNC, where he said that voting for Harris and Walz was not simply a vote of confidence in two candidates, but a vote against “A threat to our freedoms.”
Weirdly, Trump posted, The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for ‘Comrade Kamala Harris’ for President.”
Note that Harris’ husband and stepchildren are Jewish.
About the Author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.
