Kamala Harris' campaign rocket, which rose to dazzling heights when she entered the race, is losing altitude.
Despite raising $1 billion and overwhelmingly positive coverage by mainstream media, she has been unable to convey a convincing message and has struggled to garner support, especially among Black and Latino voters. I'm having a hard time getting it. There is no doubt that many Democrats who are used to reading about who will be in Harris' Cabinet are panicking.
Now, looking at the glass half-full, I would say it's amazing how a relatively unpopular vice president has gone toe-to-toe with Donald Trump in such a short period of time. A new NBC University poll puts her in a tie nationally. However, for Harris, it is a 5 point drop from the previous poll in September.
Trump is the ultimate Teflon candidate. The media may pounce on her requesting that she undergo cognitive testing despite refusing to release her medical records (as Harris did earlier). Whether it's using inflammatory language against illegal immigrants, or vowing to protect women despite being the Supreme Court justice who overturned Roe.
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The Harris campaign's hype appears to be coming to a screeching halt, but whether they want to admit it or not, Democratic Party intellectuals are taking notice. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
it doesn't matter. MAGA supporters can't stand the media and aren't going to change their mind now. He has the advantage of having taken the job. They increasingly recall Trump's presidency fondly, especially for the strong economy and expanding restrictions at the border, and ignore the negative developments on January 6th in particular.
Harris does make policy recommendations and has given numerous softball interviews. But she made a huge mistake on “The View” when she said she couldn't think of anything that would be different from Joe Biden. It's not intended as a gotcha question.
How can she seize the mantle of transformational candidate and cast herself as Biden 2.0 on those terms?
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If she feels any loyalty to Joe, it's misplaced. As a veteran Paul, he would understand if I said she did a good job, but there are some things I don't agree with him on, so I would take things another way – pardon the word salad. Not done.
Axios and others have reported on tensions between Harris' campaign and the Biden campaign — she replaced the president's top strategist and press secretary — exactly the kind of leaks that characterize a sputtering campaign.
When people complain that they don't know Kamala well, what they're really saying is that they're not yet ready to trust her with the nuclear codes. She still has to pass the commander exam. But she also needs to look warm and friendly. This is a difficult task in a country that, unlike many countries around the world, has never elected a female president.
Kamala Harris' last-minute media blitz would be better spent in enemy territory than opening beer with Stephen Colbert. (Screenshot/CBS)
Below is Andrew Sullivan's British tirade on Substack.
“The more I heard her in these interviews, the more I worried that she didn't actually believe anything…
“Her team either fears or knows she might not be able to withstand it. And this is clear: she rarely faces the press and never gives hostile interviews. A presidential campaign that never addresses and never gets reporters is a campaign defined by fear.'' You can smell it from miles away. ”
By the way, Andrew is voting for Harris primarily because she will do anything to keep Trump out of the White House.
Kamala keeps talking about being an underdog, but she's running a very measured campaign. Now that President Trump is once again dominating the news, the fear of making a mistake should take precedence over the need to make news. Her presence on TV continues to be small compared to Mr. Trump, who is driving up ratings.
It is smart of her to agree to some network town halls now, but she should have done these from the beginning instead of reciting the same stump speeches at rallies. Having a beer with Stephen Colbert is not at all satisfying.
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And who would have thought that women of color would lag behind regular Democratic support among blacks, especially black men and Latinos?
Things got to the point where Barack Obama had to scold black men for sexism and accuse them of being reluctant to vote for women.
Polls in the battleground states are so close that Harris clearly still has a chance to win. But she essentially needs to camp out in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, rather than targeting these Sunbelt states.
If the Harris campaign wants to take things to the end, it should continue campaigning in the Rust Belt, where former President Trump seems poised for an easy escape, rather than the usually competitive Sun Belt. need to be focused on. (AP Photo/David Iasel)
In fact, if she had put aside her personal conflicts and chosen Josh Shapiro, she probably would have had an even bigger advantage in his state. Instead, she went with Tim Walz, who, no matter how much pheasant hunting he did, didn't do much for tickets. However, he did well in his second consecutive interview with “Fox News Sunday.”
A big step forward: Harris yesterday agreed to an interview with FOX anchor Bret Baier in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Some headlines are calling this a risky move, but Brett has extensive experience with such interviews and would be absolutely fair. The advantage for her is that she can reach the largest audience ever in cable news.
“I believe there is a sense within the campaign that we have to change our strategy, we have to change,” Brett said on the air, adding that they are losing black men…The campaign has to do more. I think he recognizes this, he said. Outreach. ”
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Perhaps this is too much weight to put on Kamara's shoulders. Perhaps she's doing all she can against a former president whose message is clear and simple: stop illegal immigration, stop mass deportations, fight inflation, and end wars in the Middle East. It might be. And incumbents are always subject to counterclaims. “So why haven’t we done it yet?”
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The vice president simply hasn't been able to generate the same excitement he did at the start of his first campaign. Three weeks is a long time for a politician, but whether Harris can reignite momentum for her candidacy remains an open question.
