• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 23, 2024

Well, now we know how Kamala Harris is going to prosecute her campaign against Donald Trump. It will be on behalf of what she described as the only client she has ever had: the people. You know, we the people -- all Americans.

And if you ask me, that it the perfect tagline for the campaign -- “Kamala Harris, for the people” -- because ultimately, that is what America is fundamentally about.

In fact, it literally is the opening words of our Constitution and is the perfect positioning against her opponent, whom in her acceptance speech, Harris characterized as having only one client: himself.

You can’t get any more binary than that.

It’s a clear proposition, and Harris laid it out with eminent, simple clarity, explaining that her entire career as a prosecutor she never charged a crime in the name of an individual victim, but in the name of the people, because: “In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us, is a harm against all of us. No one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together.”

I mean, sure -- that may come across as political rhetoric, except that it is actually what she has done most of her career: prosecuting sexual predators, fraudsters, and others harming not just individuals, but society at large. So no, it’s not rhetoric, it’s her resume.

It’s also the perfect study in contrast with her opponent, who has done the exact opposite, literally perpetrating those crimes, and being convicted in America’s courts by other prosecutors for doing exactly that.

There were many striking moments during the last of four nights of the Democratic National Convention -- listening to Republican Adam Kinsinger's lead-in speech explaining why old-school Republicans should get behind Harris for the good of the country, not the good of Donald Trump.

Watching the Central Park Five -- whom Donald Trump campaigned unjustly to be executed (the famous skinflint actually paid to run ads in The New York Times lobbying that they receive the death sentence), before they were ultimately exonerated for the crime they were accused of -- take center stage during the convention last night.

Some stirring performances, especially The Chicks singing the National Anthem or Pink performing "What About Us" with her teenage daughter Willow.

But one of my personal favorite moments was watching "Big Gretch" metaphorically brush Donald Trump off her shoulder. It's something I've been trying to do for a long time -- long before he was even a presidential candidate -- simply because the guy is so incredibly toxic and projects the worst cynicism and negativity anyone with power could possible inject into the world.

Many of the speakers -- especially the Obamas and the Clintons -- reminded us this week that despite the exuberant vibe at the DNC this week, there will be some serious fights, lies and grievous characterizations in the months ahead, but my advice is to do what Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer did and simply brush them off and focus on the issues and behaviors that really matter to the vast majority of Americans. The ones that are actually for the people.