Kamala Harris Is Failing Her First Big Test

The Democrats want to be the party of decency and humanity? Prove it.

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Kamala Harris has managed a pretty savvy campaign so far. Sure, Tim Walz struck gold with his description of Republican operators as “weird” — a critique that has proved ridiculously effective. And, yeah, Harris has done a crackerjack job of raising insane gobs of money. Most remarkable though, is the tone at this week’s DNC. It’s a party! Look, I’m pretty cynical about the notion of being a “patriot” generally, but I can’t imagine any red-blooded American keeping their heart rate totally steady during that roll call. I mean, Lil freakin’ Jon! And that one-two punch of Barack and Michelle? That’ll activate almost any millennial’s cringey liberal sleeper cell mode. And if that doesn’t do it, watching Walz’s kid cheer him on from the bleachers will definitely get you. “That’s my dad!” Buddy, I hate to break it to you, but he’s all our dad now. 

The Harris campaign seems determined to win on vibes and, if present polling holds steady, they’ll probably just pull it off. But sooner or later, any campaign will have to get down to the business of leading. And on that front, Harris is facing her first real test. She is not passing. 

The Uncommitted National Movement has been conducting a sit-in at the DNC, desperately trying to move the Democratic Party to take an actual stand on the real atrocities taking place in Gaza. They note that since Hamas’ deadly terrorist attack last October, the IDF has killed 41,000 Palestinian men, women and children, and most of this has been carried out with weapons the U.S. is sending to Israel. They think it’s high time we stopped sending those weapons. I can’t see any earthly reason to argue with them.

This group is made up of Palestinian Americans and their allies, which I understand to include a number of Jewish people. Their demands are simple and straightforward: First, an arms embargo. Second, an immediate and complete ceasefire. Third, a return of the hostages. They asked George Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian-American Democrat who has endorsed Harris, to speak to these demands at the DNC. Her speech was vetted. You can read it for yourself. And yet, their request was denied. 

The Uncommitted Movement’s demands are not only reasonable, they are in line with international law. They are only asking that the U.S. stop facilitating what the rest of the world understands to be a human rights atrocity. Biden has been absolutely horrible on this issue, and there was broad hope that Harris would represent a reset on his blank checks to Netanyahu. Her opportunity to do so is both a moral imperative and an electoral winner. Her refusal to speak to this issue is both a head scratcher and a serious problem for people with a conscience. 

For four years under Trump, a common question was: How can Republicans just sit there and do nothing? People like me who’d always been told that the GOP was the party of family values and Christian ethics watched this party excuse Trump’s worst behavior over and over. We told MAGA devotees that they were being hypocritical losers who lacked the moral spine to criticize their own side. We were right to do so. 

But now the shoe is on the other foot. Now is the time for us to put our money where our mouths are and pressure our candidate to make the right decision. Harris and Walz want to be the ticket of decency and humanity? Prove it. Opposing genocide is the least they can do. This is a simple, crucial litmus test. 

I understand that talking about Gaza might ruin the DNC’s party atmosphere. I understand how cynical forces might twist any mention of Palestinian lives into gross and empty charges of antisemitism. I understand how it might jeopardize relationships with some big donors and powerful people. All of that might make advocating for Palestinian lives hard. It does not make it wrong. 

There’ve been signs of movement from people like Bernie, AOC and Rev. Ralph Warnock, who have all at least made reference to Palestinian lives in their speeches, and I’m thankful for that. But I’m quite a bit more thankful for Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the bravest ladies in this country, who has absolutely been on fire for Palestinian dignity. She physically went and sat in with the Uncommitted Movement — at great professional risk, I’m sure — and their relief at having someone of her stature there was palpable. She’s the one who’s pointed out that “if you really wanted a ceasefire, you'd just stop sending the weapons. It is that simple.” Bang on. 

This morning, a group called “Muslim Women for Harris-Walz” officially disbanded. “We cannot in good conscience continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz in light of this new information from the Uncommitted movement that VP Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian-American speaker take the stage at the DNC,” they said. The group correctly noted that Jon Polin and his wife, Rachel Goldberg-Polin — DNC speakers whose son Hersh is being held hostage by Hamas — advocated more forcefully for Palestinian lives than the actual Harris campaign has. In fact, I was grateful to see Alana Zeitchik, who also has a family member being held hostage, publicly call for the DNC to allow Rep. Romman to speak. This movement seems to be growing, and Harris can’t ignore it or just hope it’ll go away. This is a test of what kind of leader she intends to be. It’s time for all of us to push her to take it seriously. 

I am glad that the DNC has given space to Jewish men and women to call for the return of hostages, and I support them wholeheartedly. But as long as the DNC refuses to give the same space to Palestinian victims of this horrible war, the message they send is that there is a hierarchy of human worth in the Democratic Party, and Palestinian lives are simply too low on the list to be worth mentioning. 

That’s not a party I’m interested in being a part of. And it doesn’t have to be. Last week, I wrote for RNS that the reason I’m inclined to vote for Harris is not because I think she checks every policy box that I’ve got, but because she seems more open to being persuaded to do the right thing than Trump is. I hope I was right. We’ll know soon enough. There is always time to do the right thing.

Applecore: A Journey Through Apple Music’s Top 100 Albums of All Time

Liz and I are listening to Apple Music’s Top 100 Albums of All Time. One album a day-ish, counting down to number one. We did this with Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 500 Albums of All Time, and it took more than a year. This should only take a hundred days or so. I’ll be posting a few thoughts here as I listen. We’ll be dropping standout tracks from the listen on this Spotify playlist here.

Here’s parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve.

55: Rihanna — ANTI

What is Rihanna’s definitive work? It’s a harder question than it seems like. A list of Rihanna’s biggest hits could pretty easily double as a Now That’s What I Call Music! (2000 - 2016) compilation. I mean, look upon her works, ye mighty! Rude Boy. We Found Love. Umbrella. What’s My Name. Bitch Better Have My Money. Only Girl in the World. Diamonds. Don’t Stop the Music. Disturbia. S&M. Stay. This is a stupefying run of just-push-play party starters.

But while Rihanna built her empire on singles (and lingerie, but that’s another list), people of a certain type will probably always consider her true legacy to lie not in one single song but one single album: ANTI.