VPs have a tough job. They clearly want to have the top job, in most cases, but they can’t set policy. What they can do is to bargain with the President for visible “win” opportunities to set their own success path. Most try to do this, even when the task isn’t easy. Mike Pence did a good job managing Covid; he couldn’t help it that the chief advisor, Fauci, was a government tool, not capable of acting like a scientist and pivoting quickly when new data came in. In this, Fauci was like many politicians. Even when a policy fails, they don’t eliminate it and choose another way to solve a problem. They simply double down on it (like Fauci did with masks).
Harris has been blaming Obama and George Clooney and many others for her loss, but she (and other politicians) needs to look at their own behavior instead.
Her Mistakes
There are too many to fit in a blog, but I’ll hit the highlights.
1. Trying to win women over on abortion issues. It doesn’t work when you lie about your opponent. Trump has never said he would work to ban abortion, eliminate morning-after pills or birth control. It’s too easy to tell a lie, but when you’re caught, it will hurt you.
2. Trying to claim her executive experience working so closely with Biden, when all the polls showed rejection of many of Biden’s policies. She needed to differentiate herself, but didn’t understand what issues mattered to voters. Instead, many felt she shared the blame.
3. Failing to speak to the issues that people actually care about: the economy, the border, and crime. She was the Border Czar – epic fail. And she kept saying that the economy was doing better. You have to look at the statistics and the polls. The Biden economy was a failure.
4. Wasting money in a very public fashion, which didn’t hearten people struggling to make ends meet. Does any Presidential candidate have to pay Oprah for an interview? Do stars need big money to stand up for you, or just simply request T&E? The lack of enthusiasm from her so-called star supporters was obvious. How do you not get singers to do a song for you? Her ads were poorly done. Where did the money go? How do you spend more than $1BB in four months?
5. Identifying with the Far Left. There are so many ways she could have moderated her message, assuming she even had one. She stood up for the idiots who rioted to support Hamas. Many Jews abandoned Democrats because of this. She was for massive government spending. She doubled down on DEI and CRT. She backed transgender transitions, even for children, ignoring clear medical issues, especially given that there is no way to reverse it nor do we have data on the impact of the medications required. Did she have a moderate view? I didn’t hear any. Anyone with female children who enjoyed sports hated letting “men” in, risking their girls from being injured by men and taking away awards and scholarships from the girls who deserved them.
6. Failing to give substantive interviews to differentiate herself from Biden or Trump. Almost every tough question was answered by “I grew up in a middle-class family…” which was a lie.
7. Believing that anyone cares anymore that she’s a woman and mixed race. Obama won. Most of the country is not racist. How does your race or gender make you a better candidate? If there is a reason, then say so, don’t just put it out there as a reason to vote for you. Clinton made many of the same mistakes Harris did. Women – get over it – this doesn’t work. She was pretty condescending to women too, a strategy that failed. How many married women have to lie about their vote to their husbands? Women who love men don’t like her nasty tone about men.
8. She picked a lousy running mate. He subtracted from his campaign with his embarrassing past and his loony antics. Some strong candidates pick a loser as assassination protection, but you have to consider that’s not enough. She had better choices, but she picked stupidly.
All of this leads one to question: just how smart is she? This was a terrible campaign, designed to fail. The only reason she got as many votes as she did is due to the Never-Trumpers. Kamala—get out of politics and find something else to do. I hope she loses again in the California gubernatorial race, so we might see the end of her.
As you noted the issues weren’t addressed, and even now that the election is over, the discussion within the Democratic Party still revolves around “winning” the election and not meeting the needs and desires of the constituents. I’ve said it before….the election seemed to take on more the spectrum of voting for a homecoming couple than the leader of the country and the western world. Not voting for a candidate simply because you don’t like them personally is asinine. Stay home!