OPINION: After the Debate

It seems that as Harris's advisers prepped her for the debate agreed with me.  More surprisingly, perhaps....so did her opponent.  The rejoinder “my last name is Harris, not Biden” became a running theme during the night, not the least because Trump kept leaving himself open for it.

But the former president truly outdid himself when it came to my second recommendation.

Harris didn't even need to bring up anything Trump has said in the past, he himself regurgitated all the crap Putin has fed him over the years (including the stuff about Hungary’s Viktor Orbán) in real time and at length. 

He even went as far as to echo Putin's nuclear blackmail of the United States when he accused Biden of bringing the country to the brink of nuclear war “with his unchecked support for Ukraine.”

The vast majority of voters from both parties have already made up their minds who they would vote for.  The outcome of the election will be determined by the undecideds, and the two candidates are bound to fight for their votes. 

A new group of undecided voters has taken shape in this election cycle - pro-Ukraine Republicans.  They voted for Haley in the primaries, they came up with the “Plan for Victory in Ukraine” and submitted it to Congress (McCaul, Rogers, and Turner). They agree with Senators Graham and Blumenthal that the current administration must immediately allow Ukraine to strike Russia's interior using American weapons and provide Kyiv with aircraft flown by (former) NATO pilots.  

Other Topics of Interest

Will They Deserve to Even be Called “Negotiations”?

Just because two opposing parties arrive at a table does not mean that the ensuing events will necessarily qualify as “negotiations.”

Mike McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the informal leader of the bipartisan pro-Ukraine majority in Congress, recently made public an open letter he had addressed to the White House:

“As long as it is conducting its brutal, full-scale war of aggression, Russia must not be given a sanctuary from which it can execute its war crimes against Ukraine with impunity.”   

What's more, McCaul stated the night before the debate that he had talked with Secretary of State Blinken and that Blinken had promised him he would announce the lifting of strike restrictions on Ukraine during his Sept. 11 visit to Kyiv.  Something prevented Blinken from fulfilling his promise to lawmakers, however, as he again asked for more time so he could return to Washington and brief Biden.

The next few days in Washington will prove decisive not only for the upcoming election but for the outcome of the war currently waging across the globe.  If Grandpa Biden decides to flap his gums again about how it's “unacceptable for this conflict to escalate,” then how is he any better than Trump the nuclear blackmailer and what use was it for Harris to denounce her opponent's treasonous stance on Ukraine during the debate?

They might as well just kiss Trump's behind and give the Manchurian Candidate the keys to the White House while they're at it.

Kamala Harris showed the world that she can win on Nov. 5.  The key to victory?  Pro-Ukraine Republicans.  Mike McCaul has articulated their position perfectly.  It could not be further from Trump's pro-Putin stance.

If Grandpa Biden prevents Harris from adopting McCaul and company's “Plan for Victory in Ukraine,” the Democratic Party's unofficial politburo might need to step in again and urge him to make yet another tough decision before it’s too late- this time to resign from office.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.