WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Hart on the Hill: That's Debatable

Episode Date: September 14, 2024

This week, Micah Hart discusses the presidential debate and Taylor Swift's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Welcome back to another episode of Hard on the Hill. As always, I'm your host, Mike Gahar. And it's great to be here with you today. Week two of this farewell season. I'm so glad to be back in the studio. Now, I did say last week this was going to go back to normal. This week was going to be news and then some commentary. However, however, there was a presidential debate on Tuesday night.

So I just wanted to discuss that this week instead. And then next week we'll go back to. normal. So without further ado, let's get into everything. Well, before I first start, 9-11, the remembering 9-11 that is this week, while I'm recording this today is 9-11. And I just want to extend thoughts and prayers to all the families affected by that horrible tragedy. And may we never forget what happened. May we always remember every year and honor those who died on that day. And we always need to remember who they are, their stories.

The firefighters who served, the police who served, everyone who helped protect our country on that day, soldiers who went to defend us, and make sure that we can continue to live the American dream. So I just wanted to offer my condolences still to those families and say, may we never forget what happened on 9-11. Well, now I'm going to shift gears a little bit and talk about the debate. I think it's a really important thing to talk about debates. What happened. Go through everything.

Go through expectations. Go through what we saw as we watched the debate. And then where I personally think this is going from here in this election season. We're only in September people. I know. It's crazy to me. It feels like it's been a roller coaster. of many years.

As I said last week, I mean, we literally just changed presidential candidates on one of the tickets. That's crazy to me. That within just a few weeks, we now have a new nominee for the Democratic ticket. That's so bizarre out of this world. But it's 2024 and everything has seemed to happen this year in politics. So I just want to talk about the debate now. So it opened up and I was really hopeful for this debate. I thought it was going to be a really productive.

conversation. I think what America needs right now and what we've always needed is an adult in the room. We've always needed somebody to be strong, somebody to be strong on policy specifically, going into this and thinking about what they needed to do. I think Kamala Harris had to have the best night of her life. She had to show that she would be different than Joe Biden because it's really easy to attach her to Joe Biden. She is his vice president. So she had to say, no, look here are my differences from the president. Here's what. what I will do. She had to make an image for herself of here's a Harris presidency, not a second term of Joe Biden. And Donald Trump had to go in there and talk about policy. In my personal

opinion, everything else needed to go away. No crazy rhetoric, nothing. You have to talk about policy because that's what Donald Trump wins on, in my opinion. He would win on the policy, but he does not win on the rhetoric style of it. And I think clearly that showed through the debate in my opinion. want to talk about that now. So going into this, as I said, obviously, Harris had to do really well. And what I found interesting throughout the night was there were positions she was saying. I was like, that doesn't make sense to me how you're on the Democratic ticket saying that. You know, I think the main one that I was intrigued by was her stance on Israel and being pretty supportive of it. But frankly, I'm going to be quite honest with you. I don't just look at words. I look at

actions, and I do look at the Biden administration and take that as what Harris would do. Frankly speaking, look, the Biden administration has been a failure on a lot of things, and Kamala Harris is the vice president. She could do stuff right now. She could talk to the president, get stuff done, but she hasn't. And I mean, what they have done is we've seen our economy go down. We've seen a lot of families struggling to afford groceries. Gas prices have been up under Joe Biden. We have seen people struggling with these most basic necessities, being able to afford things. We've also seen chaos at the border, and Kamala Harris was put in charge of that. And what did she do? What did she do? I don't know of anything. Frankly, we need a secure border,

and she did nothing. So I don't know how you can walk back on that. And then also let's look at foreign policy. And I mentioned this last week, but like the Afghanistan withdrawal was a shame. We've seen other foreign policy issues with Russia and Ukraine, as Trump mentioned. Something I wish they would have mentioned more was Taiwan. What do we do with Taiwan? How do we support Taiwan? And let's look at the chaos we've seen in Israel. And I don't think the Biden-Harris administration has been supportive of Israel.

And I don't trust that Kamala Harris will be supportive of Israel as president. So it's really interesting when you can say all these things, and they may sound nice, but what are your actions of all? What have you done? What's your track record? And that's what Trump tried pointing out, I think, and he did a decent job at it. But I mean, let's look at this rhetorically too. Rhetorically speaking, Kamala Harris throughout the night did not do bad. Rhetorically speaking, she was able to make the argument of unity. She was able to make the argument, we don't need division. She was able to make an argument of, we need to move forward. And I think that that does look good to voters, which is interesting, obviously makes sense, though, that, yeah, I think most voters do want to move on. I think they want

to move past this chaos. They want to move past the division. They want a leader who is strong, a leader who stands up for America and stands up against our enemies. That's what the American people want. They want a leader they can look up to. They want a leader their kids can look up to. They want a leader that future generations can say that was my president and I'm proud of him or her. That's, I think, what the public wants. And I think she was trying to, to appeal to that, but she also has the issue of policy. Where does she stand on things? And I think she doesn't have a strong enough foundation on policy to really get anywhere. Her rhetoric can sound nice, but where is the action, as I've been saying? And I don't personally think that

she completely did enough. I don't think she hurt herself. I didn't think she really helped herself. I think did she look like she had strong rhetoric. She did. She did have strong rhetoric. But I don't think you really did anything on policy end. And for foreign president Donald Trump, I think he did good on policy. For the most part. I mean, there were some times I was like, okay, why are we saying now? Why we're bringing that part up right now? I don't know how that applies. But I think the same thing was true for Vice President Harris as well. I think they both kind of did that the other than I was like, why is that part of this question? Or you're just going away from the question. That's both of them. But for Trump, I think he did a good job on policy. I think he showed, look, here's where I will bring us.

Remember when I was president? Remember the first part of my presidency before COVID? I'm not going to bring up COVID, but like, let's look before COVID. Like, what did President Trump do? Were there any wars? Was there any chaos in the Middle East? What was going on with our economy? Trump really tried to hit home. Like, look, here's where our country was when I was president. We can go back there. And I think he did a good job at really pointing and trying to tie Kamala Harris to Joe Biden. Rhetorically speaking, I don't think he did as well. I think he just. He just, just doesn't, in my opinion, have as strong of a rhetoric piece as other Republicans do there. A lot of Republicans who are really good and know how to word things and know how to communicate. And I don't think that's his biggest strong suit, but I don't think he did a terrible job either. Again, I don't think he helped or hurt himself really. I think he just kind of stayed. And I think that's how the overall debate was. I think nobody helped themselves, nobody hurt themselves.

It kind of just happened. And we heard both sides. And that was it. I will say in watching that debate, it seemed like it was three against one. Donald Trump was basically also debating moderators. And I think that was a frustrating point of he had to deal with a lot of, a lot there. He took a lot of questioning and it seemed like there were times where it was a lot more than the vice president was getting. So I was a little frustrated with that.

And there are some questions I think were truly valid. I think we have to talk about democracy. We have to talk about all those things. We have to talk about just all of these issues where he stands on Ukraine, where he stands on Israel, where he stands on all these things. Those are really important questions. But there were other times where I was like, is this part really important to a lot of the American public?

Like climate change, I think, you know, I think we need to have conversations about climate change. But in this big debate, I think there was a lot more we could have focused on a little bit more, gone more into, such as the economy, I would have loved a little more on the border, other areas, even foreign policy, like Taiwan, I would have loved to hear more on that we didn't get to hear as much on. So I think that was a big concern of mine while watching the debate. As I've been saying, again, I don't think it really moves the needle at all. I think this race is still going to be

very, very close. I think it's going to come down to this last month and these swing states that we're watching that are razor-thin margins right now. Like, we really don't know what's going to happen if we're being quite honest. I think that's always been modern elections recently, 2016, 2020. This election, now I think we're seeing really, really close elections in that certain few five, six swing states are now deciding these things. And I'm not even going to make predictions about how I think they're going to vote because I think it's all up in the air.

We still have a lot of time. We still have a few weeks to see or does anything come out in the news about either candidate. What happens on the campaign trail? What do the vice presidential candidates say? And where we go from there and we have some other debates, obviously. We have vice presidential pride debate and we might get another Trump Harris debate as well. So I think it's pretty early on to start making predictions of who's going to win this. I think we have to sit back, watch, and just. see where this goes. What are people voting on too? That's something I think really is going to be interesting to watch as we get exit poll results and seeing that top issue. I think it's going to be the economy. I'm assuming it will be, but we'll see obviously the border I think will be big as well. But then also looking at demographics of how did this age group vote? How did suburban women vote? I think that's the one I will be watching a lot is how are suburban women voting in this country? because I think that was a big part of 2020 with Donald Trump's loss was how did suburban women vote?

And I think we'll be really watching that group. I think young people will be interesting to watch and see how close it is. Because obviously this is a new race, like we said. Like this is a new race with Kamala Harris being the nominee now. It's not as it was with Joe Biden. Age is not in concern anymore, I don't think, of this campaign at all. so I think that now we're going to see a lot of interesting shifts in polling we saw from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris. But again, a lot of this too, you have to think there's a lot of things where you can have a post-convention bump in your polling.

Kamala Harris became the nominee pretty late, so we had a bump there. So there's still a lot of enthusiasm in that bump still happening. But when things start to simmer down, where does polling lie? What are people feeling? And I think we have to wait a little bit longer to start seeing that. those results really carry through and start seeing this race as what it is and how close it's going to be. And I think we're going to be up a while on election night trying to watch and see really what happens in this race. Like, it could be anyone's game.

Now, I want to talk for a second about, it's kind of going back to the debate, but Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris yesterday, signing off as Childless Cat Lady, which is obviously referencing a JD Vance interview from a little bit of go, but I want to talk for now a little bit of the end of the show about celebrity endorsements of politicians. I think it's super interesting to me and how it plays off with the American public. Now, I think obviously everyone has the right to support a kin that everyone has the right to vote for who they want. I think that's great. I think everyone should vote for who they want. You know, that is an important part of this country. It is A foundation of this country is being able to vote and being able to vote for who you want in an election.

And so I think that's great, right? Obviously, yeah. But I don't think people are going to fully listen to celebrities either. I think that there is a point in which people see the prices. They see this at. And that, frankly, celebrities don't deal with as much. They don't deal with going to the store and having to choose this or that. are they at our grocery stores? No. I don't go to the store and see a celebrity in there when I'm there, you know. So they're not seeing these struggles that we're also feasts. And I think a lot of Middle America too. I think 2016 really showed us that a lot of the media and a lot of celebrities and a lot of political pundits really pushed aside and cast aside Middle America and didn't account for them. And that was why I think it surprised a lot of people that Donald Trump won the election is that Middle America,

wasn't looked at. Middle America's been overlooked. And so I frankly do not think middle America is going to just listen to that endorsement, see endorsements from any celebrity and be like, wow, look at that. I'm definitely changing who I'm voting for. I don't think that's going to happen. I think people feel the pain in their pocketbook. They see the prices at the gas pumps. they are living through the chaos we see in the Middle East and the wars taking place throughout the world. Or they also, maybe on the other side of things too. They're concerned about democracy. They care about climate change.

They think our economy is okay. Like, on both sides, there are people who aren't going to change their opinions about this. I don't think that just because a celebrity or two or several maybe endorse a candidate, this candidate or that candidate, whoever. maybe it really matters. I really think people, I think the American people vote for who they think they need to for themselves, their families, their friends, their communities. What will be best for them? What will allow them to pursue the American dream? That's what it should come down to as well. It should be what is best for you and your family? What is best going to allow you to put yourself forward, move yourself and your community forward. And I think Middle America is really underestimated

at those points by journalists. And that's why it's really important that we talk to these voters and we, we hear them out. We hear their stories because there are things people struggle with in different parts of the country that we would never know about if we didn't talk to them. And that's something else, as I was mentioning earlier, Kamala Harris was mentioning unity and division. And I think we do need to talk about that in this country, that we are divided right now.

And it's because of politics and politicians who try to divide us. but we're not as divided as we think we are. We just have to go and talk to voters throughout the country. Look, I'm an East Coast boy. I'm proud of it. I am from the great state of Rhode Island. But I go to college in Michigan, and I get to hear from different people in their stories

as somebody from New England, as somebody who's not from the Midwest. I'm hearing their stories. They're hearing my stories and why we think what we think on certain things, and that is healthy, that is good. That is what we should want. we should want conversation. We should not want people to attack each other for what they think.

We should allow people to think what they think and vote how they want to vote without making them feel bad. People are voting for what they think is right. And I don't care. At the end of the day, you can be a Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever you want to be. It really doesn't change my opinion of somebody on anything of who they vote for, what their policy positions are, that doesn't really matter to me. I just care about people. And I really think that's what America is feeling is that we care for people. We care for each other. We care for our friends. We

care for our family. Look, I'm never going to let politics dictate who I talk to in my family. I'm never going to let politics dictate who I'm friends with. That will never be the case for me. And I hope it's never the case for you. I mean, yes, there are things that we should consider like more. and things like that, which do play into parties sometimes in positions on policy. But the most fundamental thing, like, I'm not asking somebody their political affiliation when I become friends with them. That's not something I really do. And I don't really talk about politics all too much with my friends. I mean, we do. But, like, we also talk about other things because our lives are not revolving around politics. At the end of the day, we're friends for so many

reasons and not our political affiliation. So I think that's something I really hope America is learning and I think we are. I really do think that the American people are past this drama. We are past chaos. I think we do have brighter days ahead of us, not because of any politicians, but because of us the people. I think the people know what we want. I think the people know who we are. At the end of the day, we are proud to be Americans. We are proud to live in this great country that we call home. And that's something too I've really enjoyed watching as I've watched this election play out. Seeing conventions, seeing rallies, whether it be in person or on TV.

I think Americans are really proud to be Americans. We love this country. I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. I do think people do love this country. and that people care about what happens here. And I'm glad about that. I'm glad that we have people who care on both sides of the aisle. I'm glad we have people who have different views,

but at the end of the day, they care about this country, and they just want to do it best for this country. And that's, we may disagree, but both of us think we're trying to do what we think is best for this country. And that's something I think we don't think about often. And that's what they think is best for this country. And they have a right to think that. And that is beautiful and great.

and I am, I have filled with a lot of hope for America as I sit here today and as I think about our future and our people and where we go from here. Well, thank you for tuning into another episode of Heart on the Hill. As always, it's just, it's a pleasure to be on this show and get to talk to you about my thoughts on everything in politics. It can be just hardening at times to be in politics, but at the end of the day, it's so worth it, and we do it because we care. I do it because I care. I can speak for myself there. I do it because I care. I talk about these things because I care. I have a family. I have friends. I have loved ones who I want to make sure are okay. I want us to have a good

future. And these are all issues that affect all of us. And being able to talk to people is why I do this. I want to help people. I want to talk to people. I want to hear people's stories about what they believe where they came from and what they hope for this country, for our politics, and for themselves. And that at the end of the day, I think is what we really need to focus on. Well, you've been listening to Heart on the Hill and Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7. Have a great day.