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No, the super-rich political consultants who run Harris-Waltz aren't playing a great game of 3-D chess. Of course, David Plouffe & Co. and its big donors want her on TV to answer questions — after all, Barack Obama did it all the time. They want to see her on Jimmy Fallon, Bill Maher and The View. They want to see her on Meet the Press, Face the Nation and even Fox News Sunday.
No Democrat wants to see Trump and Vance spending so much free time on TV while Harris and Waltz hunker down on the sidelines or (presumably) preparing for endless debates.
But they're keeping her off TV anyway — not because they think it would be a mistake for her to be interviewed, but because they think it would be a mistake for her to be interviewed. And they have similar concerns about Waltz. In other words, they're not avoiding the press because they want to avoid the press; they're doing so because their candidate is so bad that they don't have any good options.
37 Days: VP Harris refuses to take policy positions, hold press conferences or give interviews
It's clear that Harris' aides have analyzed the polls, the candidates and the issues and come to the following conclusion:
1. It's impossible to defend the Biden-Harris record.
In fact, it's so bad that Harris will have to somehow pretend she has nothing to do with Biden and claim she's running on a platform of change. Of course, campaign consultants usually prefer to work for incumbents, but in this case Biden's record is so bad that he's willing to forgo the perks of incumbency.
2. Harris won't give interviews, even to friendly members of the media.
Her consultants have seen the same footage that we've all seen. They know how incompetent and verbally inept she is. Plus, they've talked to her, they've given her practice questions, and they have even more information about how badly she performs on TV. So they've decided that the best thing to do is keep her on the sidelines.
While Trump and Vance have made headlines with their interviews with the media and public comments, Harris and Waltz have remained on the defensive, which could be a real pain for Democrats.
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3. Waltz is no better than Harris.
Certainly, the campaign would want to use the VP as a surrogate, but anti-Semitism within the Democratic Party meant they could not choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as their candidate, and were forced to choose Waltz, a deeply flawed candidate who lied about his military service, has long ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and has a long history of far-left politics in Minnesota.
He would be questioned about all this if he went on television, even on a friendly network, so again the campaign decided it was best to keep Waltz quiet. So he, too, is on the sidelines.
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This is why they are in the position they are in, not because they hate the press (they love the press), but because they have two terrible candidates. All they want now is for Harris to take the lead and stay there for another 10 weeks without answering any questions.
It's a risky gamble, with the polls so close. Harris and Walz are on the defensive while Trump and Vance fill the press with interviews and public statements, which could really hurt Democrats. Swing voters in states like Wisconsin and Michigan want their questions answered. They don't like being ignored, and they'll be even more frustrated if they think Harris is trying to avoid talking about the issues.
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Resist the Harris hype. This isn't 3D chess, but it's a campaign that will win by any means necessary. Some in the consultant class are crafty (and sneaky), but they can't erase Kamala's connection to Harris and Biden's dismal records with “memes” and “vibes.” Their inability to make even the slightest effort to defend it says a lot about her as a candidate and as a person.
If Trump and Vance continue to talk, answer questions, and grill Harris and Waltz on the issues, the pressure on Harris and Waltz to speak out will be enormous.
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