# How good would Harris be in the general? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [June 28, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218 "2019-06-28T14:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/121 "2019-07-04T15:29:46Z")
Huh. I did not hear her scream or anything _remotely_ like that. Interrupt and talk over yes, but that was the standard approach of the venue. If one does not do that to stand your ground in that venue you will get perceived as “weak”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/122 "2019-07-04T15:34:58Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Huh. I did not hear her scream or anything _remotely_ like that. Interrupt and talk over yes, but that was the standard approach of the venue. If one does not do that to stand your ground in that venue you will get perceived as “weak”. How about yell? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/123 "2019-07-04T16:06:45Z")
I think Harris would give Trump apoplectic fits in a debate: Harris: “You’re are a predator and accused rapist!” Turnip: “No rapist. No rapist. You rapist!!” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/124 "2019-07-04T16:10:34Z")
Yelling? Nope. Sanders, Booker, Castro … they all got to “yell” level, and in that order for intensity. She was more in controlled, calculated and calibrated levels that play to “firm” and “resolute”. I am concerned that the substance of the play will be wounding for her later but the execution of it was pretty much exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/125 "2019-07-04T20:25:57Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > As another Jew I think you’re on to something. I don’t think the majority of the people who use that term are consciously anti-Semitic, but it’s…interesting…that the parts of the country that are being demonized just happen to be areas with large Jewish populations, as well as large immigrant populations. > > Now to fulfill the joke DSeid and I have to come up with a third opinion between us.🙂 Wait, you think that the term “coastal elites” is really used by anyone other than elites? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/126 "2019-07-04T20:45:07Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Wait, you think that the term “coastal elites” is really used by anyone other than elites? Only by those nouveau coastal elites types. Ghastly imposters. What we need is a wall between us and the landlocked states. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/127 "2019-07-04T20:45:20Z")
Yelling? 😕 What DSeid said. BTW, the centerpiece of Harris’s putative 2020 fall campaign will be a middle class tax cut. Not exactly a crazy far left policy position. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/128 "2019-07-04T20:56:37Z")
She’s the dream of every oligarch, but I still think she’ll lose to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/129 "2019-07-04T21:45:19Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Yelling? > > Nope. > > Sanders, Booker, Castro … they all got to “yell” level, and in that order for intensity. She was more in controlled, calculated and calibrated levels that play to “firm” and “resolute”. > > I am concerned that the substance of the play will be wounding for her later but the execution of it was pretty much exactly right. Agreed. The reason she was able to shut everyone up with the food fight comment was not through volume, but rather through tone. It was commanding, authoritative and not rushed. She spoke relatively slowly - because a person who expects to be listened to doesn’t need to rush to get their words out because everyone else will wait. Also agreed that the substance of the play could seduce her into a losing strategy in the general. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/130 "2019-07-05T00:11:27Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Agreed. The reason she was able to shut everyone up with the food fight comment was not through volume, but rather through tone. It was commanding, authoritative and not rushed. She spoke relatively slowly - because a person who expects to be listened to doesn’t need to rush to get their words out because everyone else will wait. Also agreed that the substance of the play could seduce her into a losing strategy in the general. The only clip of the debate I heard was her yelling at Biden about busing. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/131 "2019-07-05T01:24:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The only clip of the debate I heard was her yelling at Biden about busing. I am reminded of those old Leave It to Beaver bits where The Beav was always whining to Wally how Dad had just “yelled” at him. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/132 "2019-07-05T02:12:52Z")
I watched the whole debate closely. Harris did not yell. She did not scream. She did not shout. Not once. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/133 "2019-07-05T11:01:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The only clip of the debate I heard was her yelling at Biden about busing. Where in this exchange is anything that can be properly characterized as “yelling?” At one point she has to raise her voice because the audience gets loud, but she sure as hell doesn’t yell. > **[Kamala Harris attacks Joe Biden's record on busing and working with...](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/harris-attacks-bidens-record-on-busing-and-working-with-segregationists.html)** > > Biden calls Harris' attack "a mischaracterization of my position across the board." ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/134 "2019-07-05T12:12:56Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Harris always impressed me in hearings. She was tough, confident, and didn’t let antagonizers squirm out of questions. I imagined she’d make mincemeat of Trump in a debate. Hillary did, too. That, sadly, doesn’t make the difference it should anymore. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/135 "2019-07-05T13:25:33Z")
But as I said in another thread, the 2016 electorate was in an antiestablishment mood. Now that they have had a taste of what that actually cashes out to, they are in the mood for restoration of competence, civility, “normalcy”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/136 "2019-07-06T22:05:51Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Where in this exchange is anything that can be properly characterized as “yelling?” At one point she has to raise her voice because the audience gets loud, but she sure as hell doesn’t yell. > [https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/harris-attacks-bidens-record-on-busing-and-working-with-segregationists.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/harris-attacks-bidens-record-on-busing-and-working-with-segregationists.html) Claims that someone was “yelling” where evidence exists that fails to support the claim, will continue to be made----because such claims effectively harm the reputation of the person accused of “yelling.” _That person is overbearing!_ (or _out-of-control_ or _un-ladylike_ or what have you). It’s one of those claims that have some subjectivity in the mix—one person’s ‘firm, authoritative tone’ _might_ be another person’s ‘yelling.’ Or so they can assert, anyway. The claimant is free to besmirch away, confident that they can’t be called to account in any substantive way. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/137 "2019-07-06T23:59:55Z")
Yes, it is very…eyebrow-raising. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/138 "2019-07-07T00:30:26Z")
Harris didn’t yell. She was like a great boxer, waiting for the opening and delivering thunderous punches when the opportunity presented itself. She had clearly been preparing for some of these sound bytes for weeks, if not months. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/139 "2019-07-07T13:24:09Z")
Unfortunately, my fears regarding Harris’s success in the debates based on racial issues are already manifesting. She just unveiled a $100Bn plan for black home ownership. She’s gonna run with what she thinks created her bump in popularity -race. That’s not why people liked her. They liked her because she carried herself so well and cornered the leading candidate on an issue. It could have been any issue and she’d have gotten the same accolades. The “I was the little girl that was bussed” did have an emotional impact, but it was her commanding, confident demeanor that won the night. Let me add that it’s not that I think the black home ownership plan is a bad one. I’m all for some wrong-righting legislation, but I’m against her campaigning on it. Im just concerned she’s gonna go the whip up the base strategy, rather than capture the center and that will absolutely, positively lose the general. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218/140 "2019-07-07T13:32:16Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Unfortunately, my fears regarding Harris’s success in the debates based on racial issues are already manifesting. She just unveiled a $100Bn plan for black home ownership. She’s gonna run with what she thinks created her bump in popularity -race. That’s not why people liked her. They liked her because she carried herself so well and cornered the leading candidate on an issue. It could have been any issue and she’d have gotten the same accolades. The “I was the little girl that was bussed” did have an emotional impact, but it was her commanding, confident demeanor that won the night. > > Let me add that it’s not that I think the black home ownership plan is a bad one. I’m all for some wrong-righting legislation, but I’m against her campaigning on it. Im just concerned she’s gonna go the whip up the base strategy, rather than capture the center and that will absolutely, positively lose the general. It’ll be interesting to see how she tries to pivot back and forth between the Iowa and New Hampshire on one hand and Super Tuesday states on the other. Clearly her home ownership proposal is with partly with an eye on Super Tuesday, which is not to say that she’s insincere or trotting this idea out for political purposes only. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-would-harris-be-in-the-general/836218.md?page=8)