What's Tony Thinking

Pressure’s On, Pressure’s Off

Here it is, the eve of tomorrow’s big Harris v. Trump debate.

Feels as if the two Presidential debates have book-ended the summer. The June 27 Biden v. Trump came early in the summer and set-off a wild time of fruit-basket upset. I still wish the Democrats had had an open convention and that  a more centrist candidate like Whitmer or Shapiro had emerged. But here we are.

While the pressure is on for both Trump and Harris with tomorrow’s debate, I’d say there’s more pressure on Harris.

She will need to rise to the occasion, as she did in her Convention acceptance speech, but failed to do in her subsequent and much anticipated interview on CNN with Dana Bash. In the convention speech she was direct, clear and in command. In the interview she played it safe. Playing it safe tomorrow night will not be good enough.

In August, Harris was buoyed by general relief that Biden had bowed out and by the combined Harris/ Walz newness factor. Now, she needs to continue to define herself (and not let Trump do it for her), while she puts distance from her ultra-progressive 2019 – 2020 stances on, for example, policing (defund) and immigration (open).

I don’t think the latter is all that hard to do — if she wants to do it. I agree with James Carville on that one. She needs to say, “Look, I’ve been in White House for 4 years. I’ve learned things, I’ve changed, I’ve grown.” That’s a good thing, not a bad thing. We want, don’t we, leaders who are capable of growth?

The Seattle-based, Post-Alley site, to which I contribute, will do a round-table of debate responses from contributors immediately following. I’ll post that response here as well.

With Labor Day behind us, the Presidential campaign moves into high-gear with, as I say, the pressure on Kamala Harris. Though I devoutly hope she will win, she will not glide to victory. If the pressure is on for her, for whom or what is the pressure off post-Labor Day?

Well, local wildlife. A seasonal drop in numbers of human visitors — and dogs — leads to more wildlife visitors, starting with this handsome fella, a young black bear who stopped by the other evening.

With autumn, the bird population too is on the move. Up until a week or two ago, we had lots of Black-Headed Grosbeaks. Western Tanagers were also regulars as were a couple species of wrens. They have all headed south, as have the Rufus Hummingbirds. Non-migrators, so still around, are Nut-Hatches, Downey Woodpeckers and Black-Capped Chickadees, as well Flickers and Stellar Jays.

In addition to the yearling Black Bear pictured above, a couple of handsome Bucks, have been feeding and lounging on the clover in our yard. Deer will soon be gathering in the safe-haven of local farmers harvested fields out in the valley as the hunting season begins later this month.

There are two species of deer here, Mule Deer, which these bucks are and White-Tailed Deer. The Mule Deer population has declined some in recent years. Some locals attribute that to state-wide bans on hunting cougars with dogs, a measure that was popular on the blue west-side but less so here. So the cougar population is up and Mule Deer down. Not to worry, there are plenty of deer.

The Columbia Ground Squirrels, regulars around our cabin, have all disappeared, i.e. hibernated. They go to ground by mid-August, spending about 10 months of the year underground. Seems a long time. How do they pass the time? Playing pinochle maybe?

But for the pine squirrels and chipmunks this is a busy time of the year as they squirrel-away nuts and seeds underground for the coming winter. They are hopping here and there and chattering noisily at one another, and at us.

Here are the two bucks enjoying the post-Labor Day, pre-hunting season lull.