That’s a very good point. I think he sensed that and decided to use dropping out as a way to attempt to bring Vietnam to some sort of an end. I think he knew that his conduct of the war had been filled with mistakes, that he had been deluged with bad advice and didn’t have the experience to differentiate between the good and the bad, and did he ever have some bad advice. He was both misled and lied to, in my opinion. LBJ knew the war was an albatross he carried on his back that impacted his legacy, and he did have some important accomplishments that it overshadowed. In my opinion, the worry he carried about the war in Vietnam helped to shorten his life.
There is nothing wrong with ambition and you need to be ambitious to run for President. How you show ambition though is what matters and the problem with how Kamala Harris went about it was that it was forced. The SNL skits of her are funny because they're spot on about her trying desperately to go viral. Even her signature of moment of going after Biden on busing proved to be very unauthentic. It might not be fair to Harris and really a lot of women seem to struggle with how they show their ambition. Hillary Clinton was hit with the same criticism but this is a problem that I see with Harris.
I get that but what is the goal for Kamala? Is it narcissism? Is it to grift and make millions on book deals? Does she want a reality TV show? Or does she see an opportunity to be a uniting political figure like Obama that could move the country in the right direction so she’s tried very hard to get the profile needed to inspire that change? That’s where I’m going with this criticism of ambition. I get that Hillary’s ambition was painted as self interested to make money and be a puppet for Wall Street (fair or not). But I do NOT think we know enough yet to know if that’s fair at all with Kamala. However I do know that nothing would help Trump more if that Hillary narrative could carry over to Kamala. So why are we so eager to help propagate that narrative when we haven’t seen her at this level yet? Yes... we should pressure test, but I think immediately playing into Trump and FoxNews’ hand by propagating an unfounded narrative is a massive mistake. So I just think we need to be smarter about this idea of “ambition”. No need to carry FoxNews’ water for them.
I don't consider myself a progressive but I also am not in love with this ticket. Biden still annoys me and as I said above I find Harris' grasping ambition off putting and think she shifts positions based upon trends too much. Even with all of that I will still do what I can to make sure they win. There will be time for more debate and ideological battles between progressive and moderates after the election. There are legitimate differences that won't be decided by this election and shouldn't be papered over. Any change though towards progressive policies will not happen until Trump is out of office. Any change back towards what I would like to see as a government that respects Constitutional norms and rationality won't happen until Trump is out of office. Biden Harris isn't perfect in either of those regards but this is the ticket and the only ticket that has possibility of defeating Trump.
I thought his speech introducing Harris was very solid...... he has not had to speak much with Trump ******* on the rug for the last 6 months so it was a concern to see if he would be rusty.
I don't think she is out to enrich herself but I do think she sees herself in similar messianic terms as Obama. I think she wants to be President because she sees herself as as a unique figure in history. Most people who run for President have outsized egos and I don't think Harris is much different. Style matters though and while it might seem natural to an Obama Harris comes off as grasping and inauthentic.
The one thing that I'm exited about Harris is her intelligence and rhetorical skills. She outclasses all other 3 men(Trump, Biden, Pence) in the race in that regard by a wide margin. I wish Kamala debated Trump rather than Biden. She's far more quick on her feet and has far more wit and rhetorical skills than Biden.
Like I said before, I wish Harris debated Trump. The vast gulf in rhetorical skills and intelligence would be so large.
he’d have an absolute meltdown after getting so thoroughly embarrassed by not just a woman, but a woman of color, in front of the entire nation
You sort of have to be like that to be president. Just think about it. You have to believe that you literally are the most qualified person in the world to lead. But again I just want to remind you that nothing would help Trump more if the Hillary narrative you alluded to catches wind with low information voters. I get what you’re saying and I don’t disagree but the end goal for that “ambition” is what needs to matter with that narrative. Let’s see how the campaign changes her and how she settles in the role. At this point throwing out the Hillary narrative is very very counter productive.
I agree you need a ambition and a real sense of self to be President again though it's style. Harris just comes off as grasping and inauthentic. Following up on Fchowd's post I agree she's a very strong debater but in an age of fact checking and 24 hour media cycles she needs to be careful. Going after Joe Biden on busing was a savage attack line but once it came out that her position was essentially the same as his severely undercut her. Regarding the Hillary Clinton comparison I obviously don't work for the Trump campaign, or do I , but it seems like a pretty obvious comparison to me. I would say if you were wondering how Trump would debate Kamala Harris I think it would be pretty much like how he debated Clinton. He would be a mixture of disdainful, insulting and untruthful. Just to add if Trump's campaign strategist don't see that they aren't worth the money they are paid for.
