The Kamala Harris campaign rocket, which soared to dazzling heights when she entered the race, is losing altitude.
Despite raising $1 billion, despite overwhelmingly positive mainstream media coverage, he has failed to deliver a compelling message and is struggling especially to win over black and Latino voters. There's no doubt that many Democrats, who have grown accustomed to reading stories about who will be in Harris' Cabinet, are panicking.
Now you could look at the glass half full and say it's surprising that a relatively unpopular vice president, in a short period of time, is neck and neck with Donald Trump. She is tied nationally in a new NBC College poll. But that marks a five-point drop for Harris since the last poll in September.
Trump is the definitive candidate for Teflon. The press can attack him for refusing to reveal his medical history (as Harris just did) but demand that he take a cognitive test; for using inflammatory language against illegal immigrants, or for promising to protect women when it was Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe.
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The Harris campaign's hype train appears to be coming to a screeching halt, and whether they'll admit it, the Democratic intelligentsia is taking notice. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
It doesn't matter. MAGA loyalists can't stand the media and are not going to change their minds at this point. He has the advantage of having held the position. They remember Trump's presidency with increasing fondness, particularly a strong economy and increased border limits, and brush aside any negative developments, especially Jan. 6.
Harris has certainly made political pitches and done plenty of softball interviews. But she made a big mistake on “The View,” saying she couldn't think of anything that would differentiate her from Joe Biden. It wasn't meant to be a question to get you.
How can he take the mantle of the candidate of change and, with that phrase, present himself as Biden 2.0?
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If you feel loyalty to Joe, you're wrong. As a veteran politician, he would understand if she said she did a good job, but there are several areas where I disagree with him and would do things differently: No word salads allowed.
Axios and others are reporting tensions between the Harris and Biden camps (she replaced the president's top strategists and spokespeople), precisely the kind of leaks that characterize a faltering campaign.
When people complain that they don't really know Kamala, they are really saying that they are not yet ready to trust her with the nuclear codes. He still has to pass the commander-in-chief test. But it also has to seem warm and approachable. This is a huge challenge in a country that, unlike much of the world, has never elected a female president.
Kamala Harris' last-minute media blitz would be better spent on enemy territory than cracking beers with Stephen Colbert. (Screenshot/CBS)
here are some British invective by Andrew Sullivan in his Substack:
“The more I listened to her in these interviews, the more I worried that she didn't really believe in anything…
“Her team fears or knows that she may not be up to the task. And this is very obvious. A presidential campaign in which you rarely face the press, never face a hostile interview and never hold a press conference is a campaign defined by fear. You can smell it from miles away.
Andrew, by the way, is voting for Harris, mainly because he will do anything to keep Trump out of the White House.
Kamala keeps talking about being the underdog, but she has run a very cautious campaign. Anxiety about making a mistake should be outweighed by the need to make headlines, at a time when Trump has once again dominated the news. Many days go by when she has a minor television presence compared to Trump, who boosts ratings.
It's smart that he's now agreed to participate in several network town halls, but he should have done them from the beginning, instead of reciting the same speech at rallies. Drinking beer with Stephen Colbert is not enough.
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And who would have thought that women of color would be lagging behind the usual Democratic margins between blacks – particularly black men – and Latinos?
Things got to the point where Barack Obama had to scold black men for sexism, accusing them of not feeling comfortable voting for a woman.
Battleground polls are tight, so Harris can obviously still win. But you basically need to camp in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin instead of trying to pick these Sunbelt states.
Harris' campaign, if it hopes to go the distance, must continue to focus on campaigning in the Rust Belt, rather than the usually competitive Sun Belt, states that former President Trump appears willing to easily escape. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)
In fact, if he had put aside any personal friction and picked Josh Shapiro, he would probably have more of an advantage in his state. Instead, he went with Tim Walz, who doesn't help much with the ticket no matter how many pheasants he shoots. However, he has done well in two consecutive interviews with “Fox News Sunday.”
A big step forward: Harris yesterday agreed to an interview with Fox host Bret Baier on Wednesday in Pennsylvania. Some headlines call this a risky move, but Bret has extensive experience in these types of interviews and will be absolutely fair. The good thing for her: reaching the largest audience, by far, in cable news.
Bret said on air that he believes there is “a feeling that they have within the campaign, their strategy has to change, they have to change. They are losing black men… I think the campaign realizes that they have to do more.” beat.”
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Maybe all of this is too much to put on Kamala's shoulders. Maybe he's doing his best against a former president whose message is clear and simple: stop illegal immigration, mass deportations, fight inflation, end wars in the Middle East. And an incumbent is always subject to the counter-accusation: Well, why hasn't he done it already?
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The vice president simply has not been able to generate the enthusiasm that surrounded the initial launch of her campaign. Three weeks is a long time in politics, but it remains an open question whether Harris can revitalize her candidacy.
