The whole world watched as Kamala Harris very effectively demonstrated at the debate on Tuesday evening how absolutely incompetent Donald Trump is to become the president of the United States.
She unmasked him and showed him for what he really is: a vindictive man full of hatred, a pathological liar, someone who feeds on division and xenophobia, a candidate who has absolutely no vision for the future of our country. (After a total of nine years as a candidate and president, he is now working on a "concept" for how to address our nation's health care crisis. Really?!)
Democrats are rightly delighted with her excellent performance. This will be a very close election, and the vice president has done a great job.
But before we start planning her inauguration, we have to face one important fact: the vast majority of Americans already know Donald Trump well.
They saw him as president for four years and as a candidate in three election cycles. They know very well that he lies all the time, that he supported the rebellion to overthrow American democracy and that he was convicted of 34 crimes.
And yet, about half of American voters still support him - including the vast majority of the working class.
It is important that the vice president continues to expose Trump. But that may not be enough to secure victory. Voters need someone who will bring significant, material change to their lives.
Harris deserves congratulations for the basics of her economic vision: she has promised to cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans at $2.000, address the deep housing crisis we face by building three million affordable housing units, eliminate health care debt and tackle corporate by pumping prices that make it impossible for working families to afford groceries and other basic necessities.
These are all valuable policies. I believe, however, that her chances of victory will increase if she complements that agenda with broadly applicable solutions to the most important economic and political circumstances facing this country.
The American people want change and that is what she has to deliver.
Here are just a few ideas that are not only great policies, but extremely popular with voters across the political spectrum:
1. There is more inequality in income and wealth than ever before. Never in our history have so few people possessed so much wealth. Three people own more than the bottom half of American society, 60 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, while the very rich continue to get richer, and 82 percent of Americans — including 73 percent of Republicans — want the rich and big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.
2. We have a corrupt political system where billions of dollars are poured into our elections from shadowy Super-Pak funds, financed and controlled by billionaires like Elon Musk and Timothy Mellon. The total cost of the 2024 election is expected to exceed $10 billion, more than at any time in history. Democrats, Republicans, and independents understand that our society can hardly be called a vibrant democracy when a handful of the richest people - including billionaires among Democrats - are able to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to win candidates of their choice. Seven in 10 Americans think there should be limits on election financing. We must overturn the ruling that lifted those restrictions, and establish public financing of elections.
3. It is absurd that in the richest country in the world, 75 percent of elderly people are denied the hearing aids they need, 65 percent of seniors do not have insurance that covers the dentist, while eyeglass frames, whose production cost is $10, cost more than $230. About 84 percent of Americans - including 83 percent of Republicans - want basic health insurance to be expanded to cover dentists and hearing and vision aids. The vice president should base her candidacy on that.
4. At a time when about half of American households over age 55 have no retirement savings, and one in five seniors struggle to get by on less than $13.500 a year, we must expand Social Security so that everyone in this country can retire with the dignity that have deserved, and that everyone with disabilities can live in the security they need. We can do this by lifting the cap on Social Security taxes so that the very rich pay the same tax rate as working-class families.
The American people are united in their support of these ideas. These are important policies. These are policies that bring victory. They are especially popular in swing states, whose votes are necessary for Harris to win.
In other words: campaigning on an economic agenda that addresses the needs of working families is a winning formula for Kamala Harris and the Democrats in November.
If he embraces bold ideas that address the everyday crises facing America's working families, Harris can not only win the White House, but create a Democratic Party that responds to the needs of ordinary Americans.
(The Guardian; Peščanik.net, translation: M. Jovanović)
Bonus video:
