Kamala Harris must define herself soon.
Meanwhile, Republicans are busy trying to define her.
Is she is a New Deal Democrat, in the mold of FDR and the Biden who ran for president in 2020?
Or, is she a "New Democrat" in the Clinton-Obama mold, which is how Biden governed once in office?
Kamala Harris is female and of mixed race. For better or worse, her identity is part of her brand. Republicans are already at work making those a negative, defining Harris as a mediocre, unqualified, whore. They say she is not merely unqualified to be president; she is ineligible to be president. JD Vance reprised the "birther" attack, saying that even though she was born in an Oakland hospital, she isn't really a natural born citizen because her mother and father were both immigrants studying for the Ph.D. degrees at Berkeley, and not U.S. citizens. Republican officeholders and media call her a "DEI hire" -- code for unqualified and unfairly promoted -- chosen because of her sex and race. The "whore" attack references her long and well-known former relationship with California politician Willie Brown. Trump merchandise calls Harris a "HO."
Solid performances by Harris can blunt those attacks. Vance understands that they sound misogynist and racist and have the potential to backfire among voters Republicans want to attract. Former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy called that line of attack "totally stupid and dumb." Vance is attempting to parry the racism charge by saying that Democrats think everything is racist, even harmless comments, so he will drink some Mountain Dew to prove the charge of racism doesn't bother him.
In 2020 Biden projected a "retro" Democrat in the New Deal style of Democrat. He was the alternative to the dozen-plus Democratic candidates who were either Bernie Sanders or candidates crowding each other leftward to be nearly-Sanders or Sanders-lite. Biden won the 2020 Democratic primary because there was a split between Democratic voters and Democratic thought leaders and policy leaders. Voters prefer the New Deal Democratic style. Democratic policy and branding is shaped by the activist members of the "New Democrats," primarily people in the advocacy groups in the Democratic coalition of environmentalists, reproductive rights advocates, racial justice advocates, gay and trans rights advocates, and similar groups. The Clinton-Obama-Sanders-Elizabeth Warren style of Democrats represent the economic and cultural leadership of socially liberal college graduates. They usually live in coastal cities or in college towns. Their work integrates them into the national and global economy by moving around data and ideas. They work in offices. They are succeeding in this economy.
Biden's 2020 campaign spoke repeatedly to a different group of people, often sharing his memory of his father, a working man who lost his job. A job gives a working man respect, Biden says. It lets a man provide for his family. It isn't about self-actualization. It is about making a living to pay bills. Many of those jobs take place outdoors. People get hot, dusty, wet, and dirty. The best of those jobs are "union jobs," Many of these jobs are highly skilled, but the knowledge is gained on the job, not in college. These are the jobs of old-style New Deal Democrats.
The Democratic brand is shaped by the liberal advocacy groups, but a majority of Democratic voters rejected them in 2020. Some of the policy goals of the advocacy groups are irrelevant to the lives of working people. Some are too "out there," too forward to be popular, at least now, and they are off-putting. These include banning natural gas heating and cookstoves in new construction; cities not allowing new gasoline stations; unenforced borders with hundreds of thousands of amnesty claimants gaming the system; trans athletes demolishing records in women and girls' athletics; late stage abortions; tampons in elementary school boys' bathrooms; DEI as a central mission of universities, and hard and soft quotas on diversity hiring. They become wedge issues that peel working class Americans out of the Democratic Party.
Harris has a tightrope to walk. The presence of Jill Stein, Cornell West and RFK mean that she cannot openly oppose virtuous-but-still-unpopular liberal causes, but she endorses them at her peril. Biden walked the tightrope by emphasizing jobs -- American jobs for working people in heartland areas. Urban liberals don't insist that those chip factories be built in their already-crowded cities.
The other great unifier for Kamala Harris is Trump. Trump has openly and proudly made enemies. Somewhere between 55% and 60% of Americans loath Trump. Kamala Harris wasn't well-known. A unknown, unspecified generic Democrat decisively beats Trump in polls. Harris cannot remain generic. She is a real person who will draw opposition based on some element of her looks, her manner, her laugh, or her policies.
But if she appears both reasonable and competent she will match up very well against Trump. There is widespread public sentiment favoring a reasonable and competent alternative to Trump. It seems like a small thing to ask.
[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your emai go to: https://petersage.substack.com. Subscribe. Don't pay. The blog is free and always will be.]
As Republicans get more desperate, they’re racism becomes more blatant, calling Vice President Harris a “ho,” a DEI candidate, and they’ve also revived Trump’s racist “birther” nonsense. Just when you think they can’t sink any lower, they act even crazier. But for sheer madness, you can’t beat their threats of civil war if Trump loses. These are people who have whined for years about the 2020 election they failed to overthrow. Can you imagine such pathetic losers taking on the U.S. Armed Forces? It would almost be worth watching if Trump would lead the charge, but that’s not his style.
ReplyDeleteNo, he's got those bone spurs and now half of an ear.
DeleteBeing 59 versus 77 will be enough for some. One of my golf buddies said” I don’t know much about her, but I would vote for a dead man against Trump.” The women’s rights issue is front and center with her candidacy. Those 3 might just be enough to get her elected. The environment, Putin, the Supreme Court are just extras. I’m back to being optimistic and even can imagine a blowout of Republicans that leads their return to sanity. Will see as it still possible for things to happen.
ReplyDeleteShe may not be a "DEI hire" as such, but there's no argument Harris wasn't selected by Biden because of her sex and race. Biden himself pledged his Veep would be a woman, during the debate with Bernie Sanders, and Democratic kingmaker James Clyburn reported that in discussions over his dispositive support for Biden he'd insisted Biden make it a black woman.
ReplyDeleteThe honest response by Democrats to complaints about identity group politics should not be feigned ignorance or indignation over the role of sex and race, but a defiant "Yes? And what of it?!". Strong performances by Harris in speeches, interviews and debate will demonstrate that the concerted elevation of historically overlooked equals is appropriate.
Women, in particular smart, accomplished women, do not like being questioned about their competence, nor do they like seeing other women endure it. Republicans will, I believe, be unable to restrain themselves in this regard and it will backfire spectacularly.
ReplyDeleteThe misogyny is the brand, and it will be unrelenting because there is nothing that threatens the patriarchy more than a powerful woman. A mixture of sexist insults and racist dog whistles will emanate from every dank fetid corner of right wing media.
For this reason it is vitally important that Democrats unite behind this candidate and put aside whatever disagreements they may have about process, policy or politics and vigorously defend her.
Trump’s kryptonite is a strong woman with good people behind her, ask E. Jean Carrol or Stormy.
Finally a normal person running. No age factor. No competent factor. An ex-prosecutor running against a convicted felon. From what I've seen she's a good debater. That's why I think there's a good chance Trump may try to avoid a debate. If he does debate, he won't do very well and he kind of knows that. So, avoiding one gives him a better chance.
ReplyDeleteThen there's Vance. Any VP Harris chooses will unveil the hard-right Vance's stance on about everything. Vance was a mistake, but there's no going back.
So, now we have a real horse race. May the best woman win.
When we elected a black guy, the Republican Party went berserk. Electing a woman of color will probably make their heads explode. They attack her on the basis of her race and sex because she’s so much more qualified than their old, psycho candidate, but by doing so they’re shooting themselves in the foot while it’s in their mouth.
ReplyDeleteExpect to see Joe Biden resign from the Presidency tonight in his State of the Union address.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't realized the normal date for the State of the Union had been moved from late winter to midsummer. Did I miss something ?
DeleteNOTE TO ANONYMOUS COMMENTERS:
ReplyDeleteI understand that some people wish to write comments that dump on Kamala Harris. People want to accuse her of being stupid and incompetent. People want to accuse her of being from California. People want to accuse her of being a liberal.
If you don't sign your name then I consider it a low-value comment, something approximately equivalent to Twitter/X troll comments written by AI bots. I am open to publishing stuff that praises Trump. I would even publish your saying that you think Kamala Harris is a "HO" and that you much prefer the sexual behavior of Trump. But you need to own it.
Sign your name. If you say something controversial and nasty, write me an email from a legitimate email address, or send me a text at my phone 541-261-3506 that says, "Hello, I am _____ and yes, I am the person who sent for publication the comment that I signed with my name."
I need to be a little careful about publishing comments with names because a local Trump-supporting Republican, Curt Ankerberg, regularly sends me comments using the names of identifiable people, hoping I will publish it and perhaps get them in trouble for defamation.
But if you want to have something published put your name and reputation on the line. Maybe people will love it and send you fan mail. Maybe they will think you are a racist misogynist. Maybe they will think you are in a cult. Who knows. But sign it.
No matter whose identity Curt tries to steal, he would only be capable of sounding like a White-wing whacko with “water on the brain” whose anger and hatred are usually on full display.
ReplyDeleteWhat Republican politicians who refer to Harris as a DEI candidate are saying is that she couldn’t be as qualified as a White person because she’s Black. That certainly plays into the ignorance and resentment of their White nationalist base, but hopefully it won’t win a national election.
High point so far in this was Stephen Miller squealing like a skewered rat about people filling in circles on ballots and spending money to go against the President. The Panic Sweat was palpable even on TeeVee.
ReplyDelete