Jack Tame: The contrast between Hillary Clinton's run and Kamala Harris'

I have this photo from the night of the US election, eight years ago. It was a graffiti stencil, taken right outside where Hillary Clinton hoped she’d be having a celebration party in a few hours’ time. A bit of paint on the sidewalk with Clinton’s silhouette and a simple phrase underneath.  

‘I’m with her.’  

With just two months to go, I’m all-in on the US election.  

And I was reminded of that Hillary Clinton stencil as I watched Kamala Harris’ first and only TV interview as the Democrats nominee.  

The interview was fine. Nothing too exciting and nothing too scandalous. I can’t imagine it moved the dial in any major way. But perhaps the most telling bit from a strategic sense, was Kamala Harris’ response when asked about Donald Trump questioning her black identity.  

Harris paused and said just a few words: ‘Same old tired playbook. Next question please.’  

That was it. She was served up a prime opportunity to talk at length about her identity. A different candidate might have talked about America’s history of racial oppression. She might have recalled other occasions when people sought to undermine her through the prism of race. She might have talked about misogyny and the barriers she has had to overcome as an ambitious woman.  

But nup! Zilch. Nothing. Not a word on identity. Next question please.  

As a candidate, I reckon Kamala Harris has plenty of flaws. For now, she’s getting by on vibes rather than specifics. From the Democrats’ perspective, I don’t think that matters one bit. Trump’s such a polarising figure. People love or hate him. No one feels simply ambivalent about him. And it means any election in which he’s a candidate is not really going to focus on policy.  

But in her ‘vibes’ campaign, one thing I reckon Kamala Harris is doing extremely well is NOT talking about identity. If she wins, she would be the first woman President. The first black woman. The first South Asian. All of these things are historic and arguably significant, but they’re also self-evident and I think it’s notable that she and her supporters, and other high-profile Democrats aren’t talking about them.  

I contrast it with Hillary Clinton’s run, when so much of the campaign discourse centred on the possibility of her becoming America’s first woman President.  

Kamala Harris has perhaps chosen a different message.  

Instead of ‘I’m with her,’ ‘I’m not him.” 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks at Me.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I woke up with a rumbling feeling in my chest. Ah,
I thought this morning. I didn't think we were on
a flight path, but that's what it felt like. It
felt like a seven three seven was dipping low below
our house, making its way into land. That was not
the case. So I've got this photo right from the

(00:38):
night of the US election in twenty sixteen, the US
election eight years ago. It was a graffiti stencil taken
right outside where Hillary Clinton hoped she would be having
a celebration party in a few hours time. It was
right on the Hudson River in New York City. Hillary
Clinton was the favorite to win the election. Of course
that wasn't the case. But there was a bit of

(01:00):
paint on the sidewalk where all the delegates and supporters
and media were walking in to see the celebration party
that wasn't to be, with Clinton's silhouette and a simple
phrase underneath right the stencil said I'm with her. I'm
not going to apologize, but two months ago, I am

(01:21):
all in on the US election. I'm all into it.
Every morning I wake up and I read every single story.
I inject all of those developments straight into my veins.
But I was reminded of that Hillary Clinton stencil I'm
with her as I watched Carmala Harris's first and only
TV interview so far as the Democrats nominee. So the

(01:42):
interview was on CNN, and honestly, it was fine, right,
There's nothing too exciting, nothing too scandalous. I don't think
it will have moved the dial for that election in
any major way. But perhaps the most telling bit, from
a strategic sense, at the very least, was Carmala Harris's
response when she was asked about Donald Trump questioning her

(02:03):
black identity. Harris paused and said, just a few words,
same old tired playbook, next question, please.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
That was it. That was it.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
She was served up a prime opportunity to talk at
length about her identity, and a different candidate might have
talked about America's history of racial oppression. She might have
recalled other occasions when people sought to undermine her through
the prism of race. She might have talked about misogyny

(02:36):
and the barriers she's had to overcome as an ambitious woman.
But not None of that zilch nothing. Not a word
on identity. Next question, please, I just reckon as a
candidate like Kamala Harris has heaps of flaws, right, plenty
of flaws. For now, she's just getting by on vibes
rather than specifics, and honestly, from the Democrats' perspective, I

(02:57):
don't think that matters. It doesn't matter one bit. She's
certainly proving popular than Biden. And Donald Trump is such
a polarizing figure. People love him or hate him. No
one's kind of in the middle, you know what I mean.
No one just feels kind of ambivalent about Donald Trump.
No one's six out of ten on Donald Trump. It
just means that any election in which he is a

(03:18):
candidate is not really going to be an election that
focuses on policy. It just focuses on Trump, right, And
I think that in Kamala Harris's vibe z campaign, one
thing she is just doing extremely well is not talking
about identity. If she wins, she would be the first
woman president, she would be the first Black woman president,

(03:40):
she'd be the first South Asian. All of these things
are historic and arguably significant, but they're also self evident,
and I just I think it's really notable that she
and her supporters and other high profile Democrats aren't talking
about them. And you look at that interview, you look
at that question, you look at that opportunity to talk
about identity, and I thought it was incredible how she

(04:02):
immediately shut it down. And I just contrast that with
Hillary Clinton eight years ago, when so much of the
campaign centered on the possibility of her becoming America's first
woman president. Kamala Harris has chosen a different message. Instead
of I'm with her, she's chosen I'm not him.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio