To the Editor:
I think Kamala Harris should be the “attack dog” in the campaign when it comes to responding to the president’s daily if not hourly Twitter insults and statements without any basis in facts.
Joe Biden should try to stay above the fray as much as possible and demonstrate a more “presidential image,” which the country sorely lacks now.
The one thing that really irks the president more than anything is a woman who sticks up for herself, doesn’t back down and can respond forcefully to his verbal tirades and false statements. The more he attacks Ms. Harris, the more women’s votes he’ll lose.
Jerry Hoglund
Libertyville, Ill.
To the Editor:
My advice: Don’t let POTUS get to you, rise above him and stick to the issues. Your base (and Joe Biden) may want you to answer every tweet, but I, for one, have had enough of the insults and name-calling. Keep your dignity and demand respect.
Finally, ignore the trolls. Let your staff deal with them if necessary, but don’t get drawn into their taunts.
But I’m sure you know all this already. Best of luck to you, Ms. Harris.
Carol Phillips
Silk Hope, N.C.
To the Editor:
Ms. Harris, I am someone who didn’t think Joe Biden should have selected you. Here’s why.
I watched you closely during the primaries. I saw a politician who hedged her bets, whose opinions shifted like mercury, depending on blowback and polling. I saw someone whose ambition outweighed her ethics. I didn’t trust you, and it was no surprise your campaign lost steam so soon.
I beg you to plant your feet and stop turning yourself into a pretzel by trying to offer something for everyone.
Get over your mistakes as prosecutor and California’s attorney general. You made them. We know it. The last thing we want to hear is obfuscation as defense. Take the hit, take responsibility, tell us what you have learned from your past. That will kill those questions up front, not allow them to fester and make you change your story bit by bit, day by day.
Let us see you being connected and real, not false. We’ll follow you anywhere.
Ian Jarvis
New York
The writer is an executive consultant on leadership.
To the Editor:
I’m sure I won’t be the only one to point this out, but would you have asked readers to offer advice to the V.P. pick had it been a man? I think not.
Zoe Allerding
Columbus, Ohio
To the Editor:
I’ve always had the feeling that female candidates for president and vice president, few though there have been, have felt the need to hold back during debates, lest they offend the sensibilities of the fragile male voter ego. Let’s kick this practice to the curb. When you debate Mike Pence, Ms. Harris, shred him with every iota of your impressive debating abilities. He deserves no less.
Christopher Griffen
Pleasanton, Calif.
To the Editor:
Senator Harris, congratulations! Be sure to ask Karen Pence if Mike can be alone on the stage with you for a debate.
Bill Niedzwiedz
De Pere, Wis.
To the Editor:
1. Be transparent about your mistakes; apologize for them; talk about the evolution of your thinking, how it and you have changed and grown.
2. Use information and explanations instead of rhetoric.
3. Encourage Joe to stop saying, “C’mon, man!”
Stan Brimberg
New York
To the Editor:
Senator Kamala Harris doesn’t need any damn advice from me or from most of your readers. She is one of the most accomplished women in this country, elected to more than one statewide office in the country’s most populous state, and as a biracial woman to boot. You could have instead asked: “Which policies and issues would you like the Biden-Harris ticket and, if elected, the administration to prioritize, and why?” But no, you had to ask readers to give Senator Harris “advice.”
I wonder how many readers will advise her to tone down her anger, or advise her on how not to alienate white voters from Middle America. Or maybe readers will advise her to wear less gold jewelry or more lipstick. I suppose I should be grateful you didn’t ask her for a cookie recipe.
Sari Boren
Cambridge, Mass.
To the Editor:
Dear Senator Harris:
I was an early supporter — a huge fan, of your intellect, charisma, commitment. I stopped supporting you for president because of your debate performance. An awful lot of my Democratic friends felt similarly. Your attacks on Joe Biden’s record on busing did not make you look good — rather, it made him a sympathetic character. You appeared smug, and with the “That Little Girl Was Me” T-shirts coming out the next day, it all looked extremely contrived. Unappealing, at best.
When you go after Mike Pence, and I hope you do, please keep this in mind. You are a brilliant debater, but consider how it plays in Peoria — or in my case, Wisconsin.
Now, go help Joe Biden win and save our nation.
Kate Canfield Loftus
Janesville, Wis.
To the Editor:
Like Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris’s biggest weakness is the perception that she is a political opportunist seeking the fame and notoriety that comes with being a major nominee, especially as the first woman of color to do so. President Trump is already attempting to exploit this by branding her as “phony Kamala.”
My advice to Ms. Harris is to shape her own public conduct in the fashion of Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Mr. Obama never made a big deal about being the first Black nominee, and neither should Ms. Harris about her groundbreaking nomination. Mr. Biden never acted as if he deserved the support of his voters, and neither should Ms. Harris. If Ms. Harris focuses on asking voters for their support and ignores the media hype about her race and gender, she will be successful.
Garrison Brazeal
St. Louis
To the Editor:
Ms. Harris, you and Joe Biden must distance yourselves from the far left on defunding the police, the violence in the cities and the absurd removal of statues of everyone who did not conform to 21st-century values. No waffling — clear, concise statements of what is acceptable and not acceptable. Get out in front of these issues — now! — otherwise you will lose many moderates come November.
Henry Lyons
Allentown, Pa.
To the Editor:
I watched all the Democratic debates and was somewhat dismayed at Kamala’s style. She did not come across as authentic. Yet when I watched her at Senate hearings, she was strong, articulate, focused and very self-assured. I sense that when it is about her, she feels the need to try to impress and dazzle. But when she is going after the bad actors, she is focused on the issue or on the person behaving badly, and she tackles it with facts and figures.
So my advice to Kamala is not to get bogged down in what she thinks will impress but stick with the cold hard facts, to stay away from personal attacks (so many of us were turned off when she attacked Joe Biden during the debates) and to be herself. A strong, capable, accomplished, intelligent woman with true grit and guts.
Ellen Kessler
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Hire comedy writers. In the era of short sound bites, zinger one-liners are what get press. Ronald Reagan knew this and used it successfully in debates.
Shaun Eli Breidbart
Pelham, N.Y.
The writer is a stand-up comedian and comedy writer.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
