# Unexpected Enthusiasm for Harris? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [July 23, 2024, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685 "2024-07-23T13:20:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/43 "2024-07-23T16:02:23Z")
I absolutely did not foresee the burst of optimism and enthusiasm of the last two days. Heck, I’m surprised at my _own_ sudden feelings of optimism. Joe has been a really good president. It’s ok to hold that position and still believe that the electorate had valid concerns about his age. As Velocity notes above, she’s NOT Obama. But there’s absolutely a buzz about having a viable candidate who is both a woman and POC. And my fellow yutes (ok I’m 70 but a really _young_ 70) are a little pumped. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/44 "2024-07-23T16:05:27Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Did anybody see this coming? I don’t remember hearing even any of the Black journalists or pundits on MSNBC predicting this. Well, sort of. (July 10th) > [@Biden considering dropping out (Update: Biden drops out)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-considering-dropping-out-update-biden-drops-out/1003690/688): > > The situation would be vastly different if Biden dropped out due to the media frenzy that would erupt. Nothing like this has happened before, and it will be the talk of the town. I would anticipate (no guarantees) that Harris would get a significant bump. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/45 "2024-07-23T16:06:50Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > the gop may go on a bit about her laugh… just proves she has a good sense of humour. something the gop is very much lacking. Kamala should run with the “laughter” theme that Trump is giving her, and hit hard the contrast with his demeanor: a miserable, angry, mean-spirited hater of millions of Americans is running against a happy, hopeful, calm lover of more millions of Americans, including most of her detractors, so which one will you pick? And contrast his grumpy downcast face with her laughter, over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/46 "2024-07-23T16:12:22Z")
> **Hijack also hidden** > > > [@Ulfreida](#): > > > > hourly scream-pleading texts I can’t get out of > > IKR? I’ve been barraged with them since the debate. Guys, I’m on your side, volunteering and donating – enough already! /hijack ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/47 "2024-07-23T16:14:21Z")
> **HIJACK hidden** > > > [@Ulfreida](#): > > > > …hourly scream-pleading texts I can’t get out of… > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > I’ve been barraged with them since the debate. > > This is a hijack but there are ways to stop this. At the least, most cell phones will let you block messages from a given number. There are other ways, maybe start a thread asking how to stop this sort of thing. > > /hijack ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/48 "2024-07-23T16:16:53Z")
**Moderating** : This one is close to a warning. Don’t do this. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/49 "2024-07-23T16:20:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I agree with **Filmore** , the fact that Kamala cast the most tiebreaking votes in the Senate isn’t an achievement - it was a situation imposed upon her by the Senate being tied so many times. She had to cast that many tiebreaking votes, it wasn’t a choice of hers at all. As a statistic, this is unquestionably true, but it is the kind of thing that can be made into a motivating story: “As VP, I was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on ABC legislation that delivered THIS incredible result… etc.” ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/50 "2024-07-23T16:21:10Z")
I was not thrilled at first at Biden dropping out because I thought Harris couldn’t win. Count me as another who is surprised and relieved at the surge of enthusiasm and I will be thrilled to have been wrong. My Gen Z daughter, who was going to vote reluctantly and resentfully for BIden, is over the moon at having Harris in his place. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/51 "2024-07-23T16:26:56Z")
Yesterday was the first day I did not wake up with a sense of impending doom. That’s a good start. Even if accidental, the timing of Biden’s announcement was perfect. Wait until the RNC is over, let the MAGAs spend the week ranting about Joe, nominating an ultra-MAGA VP candidate who only would make reluctant Trump voters hold their noses even harder, looking like idiots (or van Gogh cosplayers) with their ears bandaged, culminating in a “unity” speech by Agent Orange which was clearly the same old bullshit. Send everyone away all riled up with their (tiki) torches and pitchforks to go after Biden. Then Sunday comes and – WHA? The ability of the Democrats to avoid the traditional circular firing squad has been icing on the cake. I think if Biden had stepped down before the RNC we would have seen a lot more chaos. The more I think about it the more I believe that Joe deliberately waited for the perfect time. > [@rocking\_chair](#): > > harris is barely a baby boomer (last 3 months of baby boom). she is closer to gen x. so while technically a boomer, she is seen as gen x. that is exciting for many x, millennials, and z. For those of us on the edge (I was born 1960, my brother 1964), I think you need to look at the parents to properly determine “generation”. My parents grew up during the Depression and were teens through WWII. Harris’ parents were born in 1938 and so would not have many memories of WWII and none of the Depression (I know both her parents were born in other countries which complicates things, I am generalizing for all us edge cases). She would have had attitudes shaped by parents whose experiences were fundamentally different from mine. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/52 "2024-07-23T16:28:32Z")
I’m already seeing a lot of this from the sub-30 crowd. Unmotivated kids have a bad habit of not actually going to the polls. Harris is motivating to them. I think almost any reasonable candidate under 65 would have been motivating to them. But she also appears to be extra motivating to women under 30 and probably over 30 but I don’t have a read on that. So she ends up being a great choice to defeat Trump. Remember being Black/Asian is not a detriment. All the racist were already voting for Trump anyway. I look forward to the first polls on how her candidacy is playing with African-Americans. Hopefully a big plus over Trump and a bump over Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/53 "2024-07-23T16:29:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I can’t blame Trump for not wanting to debate Harris. As a former prosecutor, she’d rip him a new one. And if he doesn’t want to debate, “Cowardly Donald” should be the mantra. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/54 "2024-07-23T16:30:41Z")
And to think we were told for a month that the lost “incumbency advantage” from replacing the guy who was the former nominee would negate any enthusiasm advantage Kamala might generate… ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/55 "2024-07-23T16:32:15Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > “Cowardly Donald” How about “Cowardly Lyin’ Donald”? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/56 "2024-07-23T16:34:54Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Which belies the fact that Harris has an optimistic and uplifting personality. > > This is such a refreshing change of pace from what we had before. Ayup. Big ‘Amen’ on that one. Reagan had a sense of humor. Both Presidents Bush had a sense of humor. Clinton and Obama definitely had a sense of humor. Biden has a sense of humor. You know who does NOT have a sense of humor? Trump. He wasn’t smiling unless he was strangling out a puppy or making fun of a journalist in a wheelchair. That’s bad. That’s telling and … bad. I unclenched when Trump eventually got replaced (by Biden). I unclenched again when Biden withdrew and let Harris be the presumptive nominee. Lightening the mood of at least this country (if not many others, as well) feels fucking great. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/57 "2024-07-23T16:36:08Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Do you mean this amount of enthusiasm, Yes. I think if somebody said on Saturday that she could raise $100 million dollars in one day, or that nearly 30,000 people would sign up to volunteer the response would have been that she’s not that popular. But she was, and she is. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/58 "2024-07-23T16:42:13Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I’m not sure that they should tout this an accomplishment … If they **tout [Senate tie-breaking voting] as one of her major accomplishments**, it could backfire by looking like they’re trying to pad her resume with fluffy descriptions of trivial tasks. I don’t see that is happening. That was just me backing up **What Exit’s** point. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/59 "2024-07-23T16:43:03Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > So, with Black Americans and women and especially Black American women on our side, I’m quite enthusiastic! This is also why I’m enthusiastic. IMHO this is the demographic the election will turn on. Trump has his voters, and he isn’t going to rise or drop no matter what. It’s all about generating enthusiasm on the D side among people who were thinking about sitting this one out, and Harris is going to do a great job at that. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/60 "2024-07-23T16:45:55Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > And to think we were told for a month that the lost “incumbency advantage” from replacing the guy who was the former nominee would negate any enthusiasm advantage Kamala might generate… I sometimes wonder if historians will look back at this as the Trump Age. A time when many of the political norms we relied on were thrown out of the window bringing chaos, uncertainty, and anxiety. Admittedly, I was one of those people who feared Biden’s resignation spelled doom for the Democrats. While I tickled pink my fear appears to have been unwarranted, it’s very, very difficult to make predictions these days. We threw away the map in 2016 and we’ve been in uncharted territories. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/61 "2024-07-23T16:46:58Z")
I heard about 10 people in a row on MSNBC, including Elizabeth Warren, talking about “energy.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685/62 "2024-07-23T16:47:22Z")
Personally, I wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic if I hadn’t been brought so low by Biden’s debate performance and subsequent developments. And the building support increases that enthusiasm, as the Dems are not (at least not instantly) screwing THIS up. Nothing against Harris. Just saying, something favorable can look better if you are desperately in need. DAMN, I hope she is smart enough to play this well. I think she is. But I thought Hillary was smart enough to avoid some of her missteps as well… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-enthusiasm-for-harris/1004685.md?page=4)