In the shadow of Jan. 6, Harris concludes her case against Trump
Refers to rival as 'wannabe dictator,' calls next week's vote most important ever
The speech billed as Kamala Harris's closing argument reflected the nearly concluded campaign itself: her words were mostly about normal economic pledges, while the atmosphere pulsed with abnormal stakes.
She stood in the very spot where Donald Trump urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to disrupt the certification of an election.
She began and ended with references to that democracy-rattling episode, as spectators gathered in the spotlit backdrop of the country's most storied monuments.
"It will probably be the most important vote you ever cast," the Democratic presidential nominee began in her speech Tuesday to tens of thousands on Washington's National Mall.
"We are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised," she said, closing with references to American history.
The bulk of her speech, however, was spent on the nuts-and-bolts promises of her campaign. These are the issues her team spends its advertising dollars promoting, the ones believed to swing more votes: new housing construction, tax credits for families, and abortion access.
As is also the norm in this campaign, there were protests. For anyone asking why this election is so close, one demonstrator carried a protest sign ascribing it to Harris's unflinching support for Israel.
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Yet a number of people attending this rally, people already planning to vote for Harris, described the stakes as so much bigger than run-of-the-mill campaign pledges.
A husband and wife, tourists from Chicago, got misty eyed as they reflected on the day they'd just experienced in their nation's capital.
"This is a sacred time," Dave Andersen said, referring to the Nov. 5 election.
"I'm optimistic that the very dark hour of Jan. 6 was a reminder that there's good and evil. And we continually need to put our effort on the good side of human nature."
What Trump is talking about doing
This, after all, is an election where dozens of Trump's former officials haven't endorsed him – starting with his previous vice-president.
His former defence secretary, a top defence official, another defence secretary, and chief of staff, have all called him a fascist, someone with fascist leanings, or a threat to the United States.
Trump wants to invoke the 226-year-old Alien Enemies Act to help mass-deport undocumented migrants; revoke the broadcast licences of news networks he deems unfair; use the military for domestic reasons; investigate his opponents; pardon people who rioted on his behalf on Jan. 6; replace more bureaucrats with political staff; punish providers of transgender treatment for minors; and gain power over setting interest rates. He's expressed support for police violence.
He's already warning about this election being rigged; he's again declared that he cannot lose legitimately, priming his supporters for a fight, if that happens.
What made Andersen and his wife so emotional was the arc to their day, which included visits to their nation's monuments and ended with this rally.
He found himself thinking of all the people who'd served the republic, from the founders, to the soldiers, to the White House cooks and staff he saw during his tour there Tuesday.
The most poignant moment, he said, came at the Lincoln Memorial, etched with some of the most immortal lines in American oratory, the Gettysburg Address. That speech honouring Civil War dead concludes with Lincoln's wish that government of the people, by, and for the people be their enduring legacy.
So the couple got misty eyed as the day ended, with them lingering near the Washington Monument, after watching the Harris rally.
Mary Andersen referred to inscriptions on the Franklin Roosevelt monument across the Mall and wondered if Trump supporters know their country's history: "Have they ever read those quotes? Does it matter to them?"
Victor Dimbo spoke of his own personal experience with democracy. The Maryland real estate agent referred to his native Nigeria's history with strongmen and political violence.
"You don't know about power," he said, referring to people who have only known fully democratic countries.
"Power where everybody's scared. The ultimate power. Where you say something against your president — somebody will knock on your door at night and take you."
The No. 1 issue: Elections themselves
He described his horror watching the TV in his home office, the afternoon of Jan. 6, seeing people scale and smash their way into the Capitol to keep Trump in office.
He referred to Trump as a masterful salesman – to get all those people to believe in a rigged election, and willing to risk their freedom for him.
When asked about this election, he said, as he walked in the long line toward the National Mall: "I'm very worried. I'm praying."
When the topic of authoritarianism comes up, Trump throws it back at his opponents: He's the one who's been shot, and blames it on his rivals' rhetoric. And he's the one prosecuted in multiple criminal cases, although he reportedly, and repeatedly tried doing the same to his opponents when he was president.
There's been a debate in Democratic circles for over a year, about how much to make this election about free elections themselves.
A major donor group supporting Harris has warned against messaging that focuses on former officials calling Trump a fascist.
It sent an email saying that its own research found it unpersuasive with voters. Other Democrats have agreed, urging a bread-and-butter appeal to voters' pocketbooks.
But Jeanne Blue called the bigger question unavoidable. No single policy, she said, is more important than having free and fair elections.
"Think about the location," said Blue, who works as a geriatric care manager across the river in Arlington, Va.
"The Trump presidency ended in this spot, on Jan. 6, with an attack on our democracy. An attack on all our people. Were he to ever resume that seat of power why wouldn't we expect him to pick up exactly where he left off? That's why I'm here."
Harris's campaign has tried to do two things simultaneously, as reflected in Tuesday's speech. It had the pledge of tax credits and a housing plan, enveloped in warnings of encroaching doom.
Whether her message will resonate remains uncertain. It faced stiff competition for attention, from other campaign events.
From protesters, chanting. From Trump, deflecting a controversy involving a racist joke, about Puerto Rico, by a comedian at his rally.
And finally, from Harris's own boss. President Joe Biden overshadowed her message in his own inimitable way: he commented on the Puerto Rico uproar in such mangled syntax it remained open to interpretation whether he was referring to the racist joke, or to Trump voters, as "garbage."
It was the 2024 U.S. election in a nutshell.
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