Kamala Harris had a very low bar to reach with her speech last night at the Democratic National Convention. Did she disintegrate into one of her indecipherable word salads? Cackle like a mad witch in a cheap Halloween haunted house? Slur like she’s just emerged from a hard night at the Whiskey a Go-Go? No, she did not.

Plus, unlike the man she helped unceremoniously dump from the Dems’ presidential ticket, Kamala Harris did not shake hands with invisible people, talk to the dead, or stop in the middle of a thought and go, “Well, anyway … “

So in that sense Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech was a triumph.  It’s certainly being hailed that way this morning.

Sure, some are saying Harris talked too much about herself at the beginning of the speech. But she’s running against a guy who splashes his name on skyscrapers across the globe, so you can call that a wash.

More Haley Than Harris

The problem with Harris’s speech is it had no connection to the reality of who she is politically. At times she was more Nikki Haley than Kamala Harris — all in on Ukraine, pro-military, getting the economy going, tough on the border, Donald Trump is a menace. Had she slipped into a Southern accent again, the impersonation would have been complete.

The problem is that’s all an illusion, a concoction. As a speaker at the Congressional Black Caucus’s meeting said the other day, “We got 70 days to act right, y’all. Now, after 70 days, we can go back to acting crazy, right?”

Harris was “acting right” all right, last night. Take what she says here about the border. “I know the importance of safety and security especially at our border.”

KAMALA HARRIS: “I know the importance of safety and security especially at our border.”

Blatant LIES. pic.twitter.com/hKFd9NAlxS

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 23, 2024

She should. After all, Harris has been responsible for the border since Day One. And yet at least ten million illegal immigrants have flooded in, causing all manner of death and havoc. She hasn’t even spoken to the heads of the Border Patrol about this. The closest she got to the border in four years was buying a bag of Doritos.

She talked about how she had gone after the Mexican drug cartels. To do what, though? Cater their Sunday brunch? Under her watch, the cartels have taken control of entire swathes of the southern border, soaked both sides of the Rio Grande in blood, and have seen their profits go through the roof.

If she knows about safety and security, what has she done about soaring crime? Has she sought to prosecute the vicious criminal gangs she’s let into the country? Done anything to halt the smash and grabs in our cities? Taken a stand against the atrocities Hamas has committed against Jews since October 7?

Let’s look at her new vow to get domestic prices down. Where has she been while her policies sent them skyrocketing?

A “New Way Forward”? “We are not going back,” she said. What are we not going back to, though? Peace and prosperity?

“A vote for Trump is a vote for the past,” she said. The past is when I could fill my SUV without filling out an application for a bank loan or a second job. Besides, what does that even mean? Wouldn’t a vote for the person who has been vice president the past four years also be a vote for the past? 

The Woman Who Prosecutes Journalists and Political Opponents Warns About Trump Prosecuting Journalists and Political Opponents

If any moment illustrated the dishonesty of Kamala Harris’s speech, it was when she warned that Donald Trump would jail journalists and political opponents. This is like Harvey Weinstein warning us about the dangers of Hollywood casting couches. Her administration right at this moment is trying to imprison her political opponent, so she’s gotta know about it. It’s been on all her favorite channels, and it’s not like half the convention wasn’t filled with speakers talking about Trump being a “convicted felon.”

As for journalists, this one really takes some nerve. When she was California Attorney General, Harris authorized a raid and launched the prosecution of David Daleiden, the journalist who exposed Planned Parenthood’s illegal baby-organ selling operation. She eagerly tried to lock up a journalist who reported on the crimes of one of her biggest benefactors — and those who have occupied that office since she vacated it are still trying.

Is Donald Trump a threat to journalists? Only by threatening to talk their ears off.

“For the People”

Harris did offer a moment of great humor when she said she accepted the nomination on behalf of “the people.”

🇺🇸 US Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president: “For the people”#american election pic.twitter.com/o4pM0t3UaJ

— Darknight.worldnews (@Darknightws) August 23, 2024

Which people? Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi? Because it sure wasn’t on the behalf of Democratic voters. They had zero say in her getting onto the ticket. And it wasn’t the folks in the other half of the country, whom she’s spent the past four years demonizing.

A Fraud, a False Rumor

What we’re really dealing with when it comes to Kamala Harris can be symbolized by the biggest buzz of the night. The DNC spread word that she was going to have a “special guest” appear, possibly Beyonce. Perhaps even Taylor Swift. Perhaps even both!

The idea was to keep eyes glued to the television and delegates from leaving early.

But there was no surprise guest. No Beyonce. No Swift. Beyonce was never scheduled to perform, her reps told The Hollywood Reporter.

It was a sham, a scam, a promise broken. In other words, a con.

Kamala Harris promised in her speech to “be a Beyonce” as president. But come morning, we realize she’s just offering cheap karaoke and will really be singing the same radical, failed tune she’s been singing for years.

The Angry Tug That Spells Big Trouble

Let me make a prediction. Last night will be the apex of Kamala Harris’s campaign. As we’ve mentioned, she has a history of starting out high, but coming apart the more people hear and see her. And if she thought the 2020 primaries were tough, she’s now going toe-to-toe with a pumped-up Donald Trump for the next 70 days. In 2020, she couldn’t even take out Pete Buttigieg.

Also, today, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who may well have won the Democratic nomination had the DNC not rigged the primaries against him and forced him out of the party, is expected to team with Trump. If that happens, Harris’s road will get a lot rougher.

But there’s one other thing that could bring any momentum Harris has to a crushing end, perhaps even doom her campaign: the latest news involving Tim Walz.

A video clip of Walz after his Wednesday night acceptance speech started going viral last night. It shows the supposedly lovable and jolly governor giving his son Gus a nasty tug.

MUST WATCH: Is it just me or did Tim Walz aggressively yank his son last night on stage?

Seems like he could be a very different person behind closed doors… pic.twitter.com/Csuw92XTFF

— Sophie Louise Delquié (@SophieDelquie) August 23, 2024

Perhaps it was inadvertent exuberance — though even that would show a troublesome inability to control emotion. But the gut response to seeing it suggests something darker. Coming after his proven charges of stolen valor, pathological lying, and radical actions as governor, it’s easy to imagine this moment blowing up into something huge. Indeed, it’s starting to pop up on the X feeds of bigger outlets and influencers, and I’m not sure the liberal media will be able to ignore it forever.

Kristi Noem had her chances of becoming Trump’s running mate destroyed simply by revealing she’d once shot a troublesome farm dog. In 1972, Democrat Thomas Eagleton was dumped as George McGovern’s running mate after admitting he had visited a psychologist. And now you’ve got Walz appearing to viciously jerk his special-needs son around on live TV.

Harris may have had a great party last night. But I strongly suspect she’s looking at a horrible hangover from here on out.

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.