Kamala Harris: All American

The 2020 college football season probably will not happen this Fall, and December 14th will be the 100th anniversary of George Gipp’s death.  Legend has it that George Gipp, sick in the hospital with pneumonia, asked his teammates to go out and “win one for the Gipper”.  Ronald Reagan, back when he was a Democrat, played George Gipp in the film which included this legendary speech, “Knute Rockne: All American”. 

Gipp played halfback (running back), until he passed, metaphorically speaking.  There wasn’t a great deal of passing in football back then.  The game was more blocking, tackling, and running.  In the decades since, athleticism and specialization has evolved.  The way the game is played has evolved, and the types of athletes playing it have evolved.  The field is exactly the same, but the manner in which is it attacked is profoundly different.  Passing is a riskier proposition, although specialization has made it more manageable.  Passing is used to overcome certain deficiencies. A team may lack the strength to physically manipulate the defense, or may lack the time that it takes to physically push the defense backward the length of the field.  Or, they may just want to have the element of surprise.

In 2020, we are left with only metaphorical football, and if that is all we have, then so be it.  The Democrats in this contest have the talent, the time, and the home field advantage.  The crowd is with us, and are determined to attend…one way or another.  The principal players are better than the opponents in every conceivable way.  And given the lead that Biden has over Trump, time is on our side.  With these advantages, the Democrats need to run the ball.  

Knute Rockne has a famous pep talk to his team where he said, “…These are the fellows they say are pretty good; but I think we’re better!

And I think if we get ourselves keyed up to a point, and when we’re confident of that… 

why, the results will take care of themselves…”

And as it applies to Biden/Harris in 2020, I agree with this analysis.  We are “better than them”.  Donald Trump is the most inept, and corrupt President in the nation’s history.  We know it, and they know it.  Republicans are trying to distance themselves from Donald Trump.  Trump’s unsuitability defies description.  We have a manageable lead.  We can run the ball.

Yesterday, Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate.  It is a solid choice.  In an earlier incarnation of Presidential politics, this would have been something of a ‘Hail Mary’.  Harris’s mother is from India, and her father is from Jamaica.  Holy wait staff, how did they get in here!  Well, they are here, and they are represented in increasingly large numbers.  This is not a Catholic running in 1960.  This is Main Street America 2020.  America learned how to pronounce Knute Rockne’s Norwegian name.  It is (Kuh-NEWT), not (Newt).  America will eventually learn to pronounce Kamala (COMMA-luh).  Run the ball, Joe.