Kamala Harris’s latest call to America’s highest ideals may have come too late.

The most striking difference between what has been clearly described as Kamala Harris’s final argument and what we must assume will be Donald Trump’s final remarks (which can hardly be considered arguments) is that her remarks were entirely dedicated to her audience, and his – exclusively to himself.

Of course, she had something to say about him, but much more could be said about the people of the country and what she considered her duty to them. She spoke of his overwhelming vindictiveness and bitter resentment towards his many enemies, against whom he would take revenge using all the power that the next presidential term would provide.

But there was a broader theme to this. She presented Trump as the supreme voice of division and chaos: hatred and resentment. The only possible result of this incitement was to be a bitterness that would destroy the American ideal of national unity transcending differences of origin, creed, and outlook.

It’s a compelling picture that draws on Trump’s own words and behavior. To say that he is “unstable” and “obsessed with revenge and resentment” hardly needs proof: he provides evidence of this in every speech he makes, including the last one, in which he did not even bother to distance himself from him. horrific remarks made on his behalf by a disgusting comedian.

The country, she said, must reject Trump’s message to save its true spirit from being corrupted by the great idea on which it was founded: that people can disagree without becoming the enemy (or, in Trump parlance, the “enemy within”). . “). That national identity can survive despite controversy and passionate debate. (“Stop pointing and start clasping your hands.”)

But perhaps, for all his idealism and wonderful intentions, it is already too late for that. Trump’s own bitterness has affected too many. Perhaps appealing to the middle class (which in America means the respectable working class) to common sense no longer convinces. The claim that politicians should not use the immigration issue as a way to stoke fear may seem unconvincing to those who live in fear.

To say that this is not us: that we, the American people, still believe that there is more that unites us than divides us, sounds very good. But is this true? We’ll find out soon enough.

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