Kamala Blows It Again
I know I’m going to get creamed for saying this, but too much is at stake for anyone to self-censor: Kamala Harris seems to be a wonderful human being who offers nothing as a strategist or a candidate. I could easily use more vituperative language, but I’m trying to audition a more moderate self.
It’s not that she isn’t saying—and doing—good things. She has apparently established a political action committee to act influentially in coming elections. Based on their performance in recent contests. Democrats seem to be doing just fine without her, so this is probably more about promoting the brand.
Yes, I was happy to have her run for president. She acted forcefully to seize the advantage and position herself as Biden’s inevitable successor. I liked her swagger after his abdication. She shut down the competition, seized control of the party, and gave us a dignified counterpoise to Sauron. I felt hopeful all summer until we were pulverized last November.
But since that time, she has been either missing in action or failing to connect the dots on the electorate. Her fundraising appeal this month was a case in point: high-minded and even a little bit inspirational, but also remote, abstract, and too far from the ground. She wanted my five bucks to oppose those in power, who “punish truth tellers, favor loyalists, profit from their power,” and abandon all others. All well and good, but where are the soybeans? Where is health insurance? Where are SNAP benefits? Where is the price of beef and the ruination of tariffs? If we’ve learned one thing, it’s that Americans are concerned about the authoritarian essence of this administration, but what they really care about is affordability. As a smart group of strategists once said for the ages: “It’s the economy, stupid” and nothing else.
Kamala needs to find those strategists. New potential candidates are emerging quickly, who speak the language of this perilous moment. They know the meat-and-potatoes concerns of the electorate, and if they’re right, they will win their elections everywhere and restore the civilized values of the country. But if they don’t connect with low propensity voters who gave their souls to MAGA and Trump, their concerns about freedom and the rule of law won’t amount to hill of soybeans. Sorry, Kamala, that’s edamame to you.