Young Cars and Fast Women

At the race track, a now-deceased but beloved horse partner of mine would comment on the quality of the horses as they entered the paddock before the race. But sometimes, the eyes of her and some of the other gals would stray from checking out the horse flesh to looking at the women with trainers, owners, and various other forms of high roller flash. 

Sometimes, they would be the fashion police. Can you believe what, or how little, that dame is wearing? It's the kind of thing everyone thinks but usually doesn't say out loud. But in the end, it usually boiled down to a simple poll question, "OK, is she daughter or date?" 

As someone who lives in a glass house, I am not one to throw stones at the former mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown. But this little clip from ABC News profiling Willie Brown made me think I was back at the race track. He is leaving the podium after a little victory rah-rah with the crowd, and the reporter asks the chick at his side if she is his daughter. And in one of those rare moments of truth coming out of Kamala Harris's mouth, she says no.  

In this, as in other aspects of her rise to the top, there is a patina of inauthenticity that clings to Kamala. It is why the immediate take of the pundit class that she won the debate was so off-base. The facial expressions — the attitude — didn't quite cut it with focus groups. It is nothing you said, Vice President Harris; it is who you came across as that would sum up your failure to score with undecided voters. When the economy is hurting everyone voters want real answers.

My take on the debate was that instead of looking at the camera, Harris kept turning away from it to make goo-goo eyes at Trump. He never looked at her, playing hard to get. The only question was, are they going to go on a date? Will this be the ultimate fusion ticket?

Maybe that's a bridge too far. She certainly told enough lies about him and dissed him enough to make you think she really did dig him. But seriously, look at the happy, smiling Kamala in this video. Is that the joy and glow of youth? Or was it just her before the sting of ambition, and the ruthlessness required to climb to the top, took their toll?

Related: Adios, Kamalamania, We Barely Knew Ye

According to the internet site Quote Investigator, a saying about a person's face often attributed to Lincoln actually came from his Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. You can be the judge of whether it applies to Kamala Harris's debate performance. 

“Did you ever in all your life see the head of a human being which so closely resembled that of a cod fish?”

“[He is not responsible for his head or his face.] But why do you say he is a fraud? The newspapers call him a reformer, and give him credit for great efficiency.”

“I deny your conclusions,” he replied. “[A man of fifty is responsible for his face!] Yes, I know he is courting the newspapers: that proves him a humbug and presumptively a fraud.”