Cal Thomas: Vice presidential word salad

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, July 13th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

On June 30th–less than two weeks ago–Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at an event in New Orleans.

HARRIS: Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon, Essence Fest.

That audio comes from The White House Youtube channel. One particular part of her address has drawn criticism for being hard to understand.

HARRIS: Culture is … It is a reflection of our moment in our time, right? And present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment. And we should always find time to express how we feel about the moment that is a reflection of joy ‘cause… you know, it comes in the morning.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Here’s Commentator Cal Thomas on why being articulate matters, especially for the vice president.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTARY: If President Biden is serious about seeking a second term, he must fix the problem of his Vice President, Kamala Harris.

Though Biden’s poll numbers are currently not much better than Harris’, polling by the Los Angeles Times finds as of this month “41% of registered voters had a favorable opinion of Harris and 53% had an unfavorable opinion — a net rating of -12 percentage points.” One wonders what those 41 percent see as Harris’ accomplishments, because there have been none, as far as I can tell.

Republicans will likely make Biden’s age an issue in the coming campaign–and that raises the question whether Harris is qualified to become president should something happen to him. That has always been important in choosing any vice president.

Harris may be unique among modern vice presidents because in addition to what would look like a weak resume if she were applying for a second term, she has the additional baggage of being inarticulate.

On June 30th at an event in New Orleans, Harris said things I defy anyone to translate:

“Culture is … It is a reflection of our moment in our time, right? And present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment. And we should always find time to express how we feel about the moment that is a reflection of joy ‘cause… you know, it comes in the morning.”

Now I tried reading her comments backward, thinking she might be speaking in code, but that wasn’t any clearer.

Critics have called her verbiage a “word salad.” She seems to be picking words at random from a dictionary without connecting verbs, thoughts, or relevance. I never thought anyone could make President Biden seem more articulate but she almost does, with or without a teleprompter.

Effective politicians need to be able to communicate with voters and the larger public. Not all our presidents and vice presidents have had the gift of speaking as well as Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, but at least most could speak well enough to be understood.

Imagine a presidential speech from Kamala Harris that begins “Good evening, my fellow Americans” and quickly descends to the level of her remarks in New Orleans. Could she articulate the administration’s foreign and domestic policies? She was tasked with doing something about America’s Southern border, but has done nothing, chiefly because in some fairness to her, President Biden appears to want to keep it open.

There is not a single accomplishment any of those 41 percenters who have a favorable opinion of Harris can point to.

It is why President Biden must replace her as his running mate. He would face a backlash from groups that have hailed her as the first female and person of color in the role of vice president. A stronger, more accomplished and articulate vice president would be the best insurance policy for Democrats should Biden win and not be able to finish a second term.

I’m Cal Thomas.

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