If the media are to be believed, Kamala Harris is coasting her way into the White House. She brings 'joy' and 'vibes' and 'brat' to the campaign.
And who needs policy when you've got those things?
Things are going great in America, after all. Inflation is no longer an issue. It's not like egg prices are up 147%, or that nearly 40% of American adults are concerned about expenses outpacing their income. Poll after poll shows two-thirds of the Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction.
And what does Kamala Harris do? She runs the campaign as if she hasn't been the incumbent -- tied explicitly and irrevocably to the Biden-Harris administration -- for the last 3.5 years.
She's admitted in her campaign speeches that bread and ground beef have gotten 50% more expensive under her watch while saying the only way to improve this situation is to elect her and she'll make changes.
When she's inaugurated in six months.
What changes, exactly? Well, price controls -- the communistic idea government can run a complex economy full of complex business models. One that's been tried, with utter disaster as a result, throughout contemporary history. And maybe something about tax cuts for service workers (after she's done taxing the wealthy to the point they won't be able to go out to dinner anymore).
'We won't go back!' she cried at the convention. We won't go back to what? Affordable groceries? Reasonable rents? Yeah. If we elect Kamala, kiss affordability goodbye.
As with all things, the media -- in this case specifically Politico -- are burying the lede with this headline:
Are Republicans losing the culture wars? https://t.co/vEsE8dvkzq
— POLITICO Pro (@POLITICOPro) August 24, 2024
The question of culture wars and how to wage them is a topic for another post (in short: look at Ron DeSantis). But the interesting tidbit in this article comes waaaay down in the tenth paragraph:
Walz is currently the most popular member of either presidential ticket, according to polling conducted last week by the Democratic research firm Blueprint. It concluded about half of voters and independents said the free school lunch law caused them to view the governor more favorably.
This is a Democratic party polling firm, so I'd expect the favorables/unfavorables for Walz and Trump to be in the tank. But the best they can do -- after weeks of media adulation and a DNC where they had to lie about Beyoncé to get eyeballs on Kamala's speech -- is Walz favorability is +10? And the polls? The Real Clear Polling average still only has Harris up by 1. percentage points.
So the fact that Walz is -- as of right now -- more popular than the top of the ticket tells us all we need to know as Labor Day looms and the election really kicks into high gear: for the Kamala-Walz ticket, it's all downhill from here. She has no solid policy positions. Even the media are raising the alarm about her price controls scheme. She can't answer questions without rambling like a sixth grader who didn't complete the reading assignment for that day's class. He's a serial liar with a barely hidden temper, something all the free school lunches in the world can't make up for.
From the beginning I've said Kamala brings nothing new to the table. She's part and parcel of the Biden administration and all the negative baggage that comes with it. Baggage Kamala herself has admitted to by saying things are too expensive. Voters who look at outrageous grocery bills, climbing mortgages, chaos at the southern border, and crime in our cities may be in a short honeymoon phase with the shiny new thing. But after the honeymoon ends and eggs still cost 150% more, bread and beef 50% more, than what they did when Biden-Harris took over, cold reality sets in.
The debates are coming up and I fully expect Vance to clean Walz's clock. Especially when the latter tries to shame Vance for leaving Ohio to attend Yale (that's a bad thing now? What happened to the American dream?). Trump, hopefully, is taking prep seriously. Bringing on Tulsi Gabbard to help him go toe to toe with Kamala was a smart move.
The reality is this: vice presidential candidates, even popular ones, do not win elections. No one goes to the polls eager to cast a vote for the second banana. No one went to vote in 2020 eager to elect Kamala Harris. And no one will do that for Walz.
