A Tale of Two Rallies

The contrast couldn’t have been more stark. And it could easily swing a close election.

Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden Sunday was hateful, divisive and mean-spirited.

Kamala Harris’ rally in front of the White House Tuesday was hopeful, unifying and uplifting.

She drew the contrast in her speech: “I pledge to you to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in people’s lives, and I pledge to be a president for all Americans.”

She talked substance, her “to do list” as President: price-gouging, housing costs, prescription-medicine costs, child-care costs, tax cuts, Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare, women’s reproductive rights, border security, military strength and freedom at home and around the world.

She showed a fierce sense of fairness: “I have always had an instinct to protect. There’s something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that, frankly, just gets to me. I don’t like it. “

By contrast, Trump’s rally was devoted to threats, insults and cruel mockery.

One speaker joked about Puerto Rico, Latinos making babies and Black people carving watermelons at Halloween.

Another speaker called Hillary Clinton “a sick son of a bitch” and Democrats “a bunch of degenerates.”

Another called Kamala Harris “the Devil” and “the antichrist.”

Tucker Carlson called Harris a “Samoan-Malaysian low-IQ former California prosecutor.”

Then Trump spoke for 78 minutes, promising “the largest deportation program in American history,” denouncing “the enemy within” and calling the press “the enemy of the people.”

Harris’ speech was tight and well-delivered. It came in right at 30 minutes, ending just before the first pitch of the World Series game.

I appreciated that. I also liked that the team from California won the Series over the team from New York. Is it a sign?

The Harris rally’s timing and setting, with the White House in the background, were signs of a campaign that is clicking.

Some 75,000 peaceful people packed the Ellipse, the same place where Trump on January 6, 2021, incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol and overturn the election.

Harris summed up the choice:

“America, for too long, we have been consumed with too much division, chaos and mutual distrust, and it can be easy then to forget a simple truth. It doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

No, it doesn’t. It’s time for a new way.

It’s time to choose hope over hate.

Video and transcript of Harris’ speech: https://newyorktheater.me/2024/10/30/kamala-harris-ellipse-speech-video-and-transcript/

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Gary Pearce

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A Tale of Two Rallies

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The contrast couldn’t have been more stark. And it could easily swing a close election.

Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden Sunday was hateful, divisive and mean-spirited.

Kamala Harris’ rally in front of the White House Tuesday was hopeful, unifying and uplifting.

She drew the contrast in her speech: “I pledge to you to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in people’s lives, and I pledge to be a president for all Americans.”

She talked substance, her “to do list” as President: price-gouging, housing costs, prescription-medicine costs, child-care costs, tax cuts, Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare, women’s reproductive rights, border security, military strength and freedom at home and around the world.

She showed a fierce sense of fairness: “I have always had an instinct to protect. There’s something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that, frankly, just gets to me. I don’t like it. “

By contrast, Trump’s rally was devoted to threats, insults and cruel mockery.

One speaker joked about Puerto Rico, Latinos making babies and Black people carving watermelons at Halloween.

Another speaker called Hillary Clinton “a sick son of a bitch” and Democrats “a bunch of degenerates.”

Another called Kamala Harris “the Devil” and “the antichrist.”

Tucker Carlson called Harris a “Samoan-Malaysian low-IQ former California prosecutor.”

Then Trump spoke for 78 minutes, promising “the largest deportation program in American history,” denouncing “the enemy within” and calling the press “the enemy of the people.”

Harris’ speech was tight and well-delivered. It came in right at 30 minutes, ending just before the first pitch of the World Series game.

I appreciated that. I also liked that the team from California won the Series over the team from New York. Is it a sign?

The Harris rally’s timing and setting, with the White House in the background, were signs of a campaign that is clicking.

Some 75,000 peaceful people packed the Ellipse, the same place where Trump on January 6, 2021, incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol and overturn the election.

Harris summed up the choice:

“America, for too long, we have been consumed with too much division, chaos and mutual distrust, and it can be easy then to forget a simple truth. It doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

No, it doesn’t. It’s time for a new way.

It’s time to choose hope over hate.

Video and transcript of Harris’ speech: https://newyorktheater.me/2024/10/30/kamala-harris-ellipse-speech-video-and-transcript/

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Gary Pearce

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