Photo credit: Janet Donovan
The late Ambassador Esther Coopersmith orchestrated influential social gatherings for Democratic candidates by curating guest lists of party leaders, donors and media figures at her residence in Washington, DC. Her events were strategically themed around campaign issues or policy discussions, doubling as platforms for candidate endorsements and fundraising. Her approach not only fostered networking but also shaped political discourse, solidifying her reputation as a key player in Democratic social circles.
Such was the case when she hosted a small dinner party for then presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Esther Coopersmith – Photo credit: Janet Donovan
Here are some snippets from that dialogue that may give readers insight into Harris’ policy positions.
“So, I’ll give you a couple of thoughts. People have been asking me, ‘Why are you running?’ And I share with them, there are a few reasons. One has to do with the fact that I believe that this is an inflection moment in the history of our country and frankly in the world. This is a moment for us that is requiring us to look in a mirror and ask it a question, that question being, ‘Who are we?’ And I think that part of what we all know is that the answer to that question is, ‘We are better than this.’ In thinking of this moment then in terms of what is presented to us is a challenge, part of the challenge that we are being presented with is the need to restore truth and justice in our country. I believe this is a moment that is also requiring us to really understand that another challenge is the importance of restoring equal opportunity for all Americans. I could go on, but fundamentally I guess one of the reasons I’m running is also that my sister Maya and I we were raised by a mother who was all of 5 feet tall, but if you ever met her you would’ve thought she was 7 feet tall. Our mother was the kind of person that if you ever came home complaining about something the first thing she’d do is that she’d look at you and ask, ‘Well, what are you going to do about it ?’ So I decided to run for President of the United States.”
Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“We must restore truth and justice. There are a lot of people in our country who are rightly feeling a great sense of distrust about their government and its institutions and leaders. And the thing about a relationship of trust is that the nature of a relationship of trust is such that it is a reciprocal relationship. We give and we receive trust and one of the most important ingredients in trust is truth, but there’s a funny thing about truth. Speaking truth can often make people quite uncomfortable and for those of us who speak behind a microphone or speak behind a podium, there is an incentive that when we speak we will make everyone happy. That we will make everyone feel lovely, that we will sprinkle lovely dust all over the room and people will applaud and job will have been done. Well, speaking truth doesn’t always accomplish that goal, but there’s another fact about speaking truth. Yes, people may walk away from that conversation thinking, ‘You know, I didn’t particularly like what I had to hear’ but they will also walk away from that conversation knowing it was an honest conversation. I believe this is a moment in time when we must speak truth in our country no matter how uncomfortable it may make us. So, you’re looking at me ‘Okay, Kamala, what are some of the truths?’ Well, I’m going to share with you truths that I speak wherever I am. This could be in a rural town in South Carolina, it could be on the coast of New Hampshire, it could be in any one of the places that you’ve been or know about in Iowa, it’s the same speech I give everywhere.”
Photo credit: Creative Commons
“So, I will share with you then with that preface, some of the truths that I’ve been talking about around our country: racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, these things which are about hate are real in our country and we must speak these truths, we must acknowledge that we are seeing a rise in hate and we must combat it. We must speak about it wherever it exists and do everything we can to fight it.”
“Let’s speak truth: The economy of our country is not working for working people. How do we know that? In America today, almost half of American families cannot afford a four hundred dollar unexpected expense. Four hundred dollars. That can be the car breaking down, it could be a hospital bill they didn’t see coming that will cause complete upheaval in that household. So, part of what I am proposing, is that we actually restructure the tax code in a way that we focus on lifting up middle-class working families, and specifically what I am proposing, is that for families that are making less than a hundred thousand dollars a year, they will receive a tax credit of up to six thousand dollars that that they can receive up to five hundred dollars a month – all the difference between them being able to make it through the end of the month or not. Economists have referred to our proposal as what would be the most significant middle-class tax cut in generations. And what I know, from speaking with families around this country, is that we look at the numbers, 1 in 2 American families will benefit from this proposal, 2 out of 3 American children will benefit from this proposal.”
“Let’s speak truth. Climate change is real. Those of you who are the leaders and people who are very knowledgeable about all matters that relate to the world and our nation and this town, will appreciate that last year, I kid you not, as a member of the United States Senate, I was a part of a hearing where the underlying premise of the hearing was whether science should be the basis of public policy. Leaders in our country who are pushing science fiction instead of science is the most existential threat to us as a species. It is absolutely the height of irresponsibility, but is something we will pay a significant price for if we don’t address this with a sense of great urgency.”
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
“Let’s speak truth. We are a society that pretends to care about education. Traveling our country I am meeting teachers who are working two jobs, sometimes three. What we know is that in America today, we have teachers, 94 percent of whom are taking out of their own pocket to pay for school supplies. What we know, if you think about it hard enough, is that our children spend more waking hours with their teachers than they do with us as parents, yet we are not paying them their value. And it is a statement also, not only about paying people the value of their working and their skill and their service, but this also a matter of what are our values as a society. We say we value education, we say we value children. Well one of the most significant expressions of love of a child is to invest into the education of that child. And to invest into the education of that child requires an investment in the teachers who will teach those children every day. I am proposing what will be the first national and federal investment in the teacher pay gap ever in the history of our country. It’s a simple point, which is that if we want to get where we need to go, we have got to understand that an investment in the education of our children will reap an incredible return on the investment.”
Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“Let’s speak truth. In our country today, right about now, there are families sitting down to the family dinner table having the conversation where the parents ask the children, ‘How was your day?’ Those children may be elementary, middle, or high school students, ‘Well it was a difficult day.’ ‘Why was it a difficult day, darling?’ ‘Well, we had a drill.’ ‘What was the drill about?’ ‘Well the drill was about how we should run into a closet and hide if there is a gunman roaming the hallways of our school. Why, Mommy and Daddy, did we have to have that drill today?’ ‘Well, darling, because supposed leaders have failed to have the courage to reject a false choice which suggests just I’m in favor of the Second Amendment or I want to take your guns away.’ Supposed leaders who have failed to have the courage to recognize it’s okay if you enjoy hunting, go and have a great time, but we also need to have universal background checks if you’re going to be able to buy a lethal weapon. This is a critical issues that is impacting families today.”
Photo credit: Creative Commons
“Let’s speak truth. In America today, there are parents who sit down with their twelve year old son when he turns twelve to have ‘the talk’. ‘Son, you may be stopped. You may be arrested. You may be chased. You may be shot because of the color of your skin.’ This is a reality in America today and we must acknowledge the fact that far too many young men of color in our nation have a legitimate fear for their safety and we must address this as a collective concern.”
“Let’s speak truth. Russia interfered in the election. We can have an extensive conversation, of course, about Foreign policy, but the idea that the Commander in Chief of our nation is taking the word of a Russian dictator over the word of the American Intelligence community, taking the word of a North Korean dictator over the word of our Intelligence community; now these are in the face of the interference with our election system as it relates to the President of the United States, this is relation to a student, an American student who was tortured and died. A Saudi Prince over the word of our Intelligence community as it relates to a journalist who was assassinated with American credentials. These are truths we must also speak about what is at stake in terms of this election and our national security.”
Photo credit: Creative Commons
“I could go on, and on with many more truths, but I’m going to close with one truth that I believe is fundamentally important that we not only speak but that we know in our hearts, in our souls, in our brains, and in particular at this moment in time, where we have so many powerful voices that are trying to sow hate and division among us, and that truth is this: The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. I know it to be true. We know it to be true. For so many Americans, ‘Can I get a job, keep a job, pay my bills at the end of the month? Retire with dignity?’ For students, ‘Can I pay off a student loans?’ For so many families in our country, ‘Can I help my family member get their opioid addiction?’ The vast majority of us has so much more in common than what separates us. So, as we march towards 2020, I say this: Let’s one, hold onto that knowledge and not buy what they’re trying to sell and try to divide us. I also say this: Part of the strength I believe of our country is that by our very nature we are aspirational. We are aspirational as a people and as a nation. We are a nation that was founded on noble ideals. The ideals that were present in the writing of the Constitution of the United States and all of its Amendments and the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. The aspirations and the ideals that were present when we spoke those words in 1776 that ‘We are all equal’ and should be treated that way. We’ve not yet met those ideals, but our strength is that we fight to get there. Let’s own that strength. Let’s harness that strength at this moment in time as we go towards 2020, because I do believe this is a moment where we must fight for the best of who we are. In many ways we are in a fight for the soul of our country. We are in a fight for the identity of our country. The standing of our country, and this has to be a moment in time where we own our strength and we have the ability to see what can be, unburdened by where we have been.”
“So, my last point is this: Years from now our children, our grandchildren, others, they will look in our eyes each one of us and they will ask us, ‘Where were you at that inflection moment?’ And what we each will be able to say is something more than just how we felt at this moment, what we are going to be able to tell them is what we did. What action we took. That we stepped out, that we spoke up, that we were engaged and involved, and that we fought for the best of who we are. I thank you all for being here.”
Footnote
The Truth: This has been heavily edited for brevity purposes.
