Dawn Thirty
The dogs didn’t sleep well last night. Atticus, our nervous Lab, whispered in my ear about 4:30am: “Dad, there eating dogs”. I rolled over – “No Att, they’re not eating dogs, that’s just a Twitter rumor. Go back to sleep”. Then, at 5:20am, Keelie, our motherly Australian shepherd, was barking: “DAD, DAD, DAD; He said they’re eating cats AND dogs”. So I got up, and went to calm her down. “Keelie”, I said, “This is what happens when you listen to the Presidential debates. It’s not real.”
By then four of the five dogs were up, all talking about someone, nearby, eating dogs. (The youngest, CeCe, slept through the debate and the discussion). After all, the Republican candidate for President, the forty-fifth President of the United States said it was happening, just an hour away in Springfield.
Nightmares
When I was a kid, maybe three, I watched a Twilight Zone episode about large ants from space taking over the earth. To this day, if I’m going to have a real nightmare, big ants the size of shoes are the protagonists. But I didn’t think watching the debates last night with the dogs would scare them so badly. There was no going back to sleep. So I calmed them down, gave them breakfasts, and started writing. Atticus was still so scared, he wouldn’t eat. He’s lying right here, beside my chair, as I write this essay. I even had to go outside with him in the pre-dawn darkness this morning – “they are eating dogs in Springfield!!!!”
They say that only the Super Bowl gets more viewers than the Presidential Debates. The Biden debacle in June had over 50 million. The numbers for last night aren’t out yet, but it’s likely that many more than that watched this one, the only scheduled Presidential debate in this current election cycle. And for the 45th President, Donald Trump, the line that everyone remembers is the same one that scared the dogs so badly; “They’re eating cats and dogs in Springfield”.
Fact Check
First of all, according to Trump, “they” are “illegal” Haitian immigrants in Springfield. “They” are in fact, not illegal, “they” are legal migrants settled in Springfield after escaping the disastrous conditions on their home island. “They” speak Creole, and that’s causing some pressure on the Springfield Schools, caught unprepared for Creole translators. So there’s that. But “they” aren’t eating Dogs, Cats, or the local geese in the city ponds. In fact, Ohio Governor DeWine is increasing some services to the city for the new residents. Dogs, cats and geese are safe. (In fact, the only one I know who is eating dogs, is Bobby Kennedy Jr, who recently endorsed Trump for President).
Ex-President Trump didn’t have a good night. When Vice President Harris said that foreign leaders were concerned about another Trump Presidency, Trump searched for a character reference that Americans would appreciate. He chose Victor Orban, the Hungarian President who is working to end democracy in his own country. And Trump yelled, a lot, as if yelling would make the “fake facts” he was spewing real.
On Message
As for the Vice President, she was controlled, on message, and sharp. She definitely goaded Trump into some of his more out-of-control moments and got the exact contrast she was looking for. Harris wanted to show Trump as an agent of chaos, rumor, and craziness. She wanted to remind Americans what the day-to-day life was like during Trump’s term, the constant fear of what the next bad thing would be. And in contrast, she presented a plan for the future, with solid proposals for improving life in the middle class. Her overall goal: show a potential Presidency of hope and joy, or the dark return of Trump. And that’s exactly the image Donald Trump gave her.
Can you criticize Kamala Harris? Sure, she could have been more definitive in answering questions. There is a clear answer to the “flip-flop” on fracking question: the US is meeting our environmental goals enough that we can continue to frack. But she chose not to go into those details, rather falling back on her “pat” and true answer: “My values have not changed”. But if she didn’t hit all the “facts” to the final point, she did achieve the “art” of this debate. She made the contrast, and the choice, clear to the American people.
Trump tried to scare Americans with the dark and gloomy future he sees. And there are problems; that’s why choosing a President is so important. But Harris offered solutions, and hope, and even some joy in our future.
All Trump did was scare the dogs.
