Thoughts on the “new” Kamala Harris and her quest for the presidency:
I. Reinvention
Kamala 2.0 has now been playing for approximately eleven weeks. In at least one major respect it has proven remarkably successful.
I refer, of course, to the “Twilight Zone” style remake of the sitting vice president – a process whereby the American people have been instructed to forget/ignore/revise Harris’ twenty-plus-year record as a prosecutor, United States senator, and second-most powerful person in the world. Not to mention her avoiding even the most basic expectations of a candidate’s addressing questions about her policies.
The seemingly overnight attempt to create a brand spanking new political identity (and all in front of your lyin’ eyes) is simultaneously audacious … and dangerous. The former because of the considerable heavy lifting required when performing the resuscitation of a substantively weak and perhaps uniquely inconsistent candidate. (Recall Harris was the first Democrat to drop out in the 2020 presidential primaries and only three months ago suffered from the worst vice-presidential poll numbers in modern history.) The latter because the actual policy prescriptions she desires to impose on the country (Green New Deal, mass immigration, price controls, taxation of unrealized income, taxpayer-financed healthcare for illegal migrants, biological men in women’s sports, etc.) remain far outside the cultural mainstream. (RELATED: BOB EHRLICH: Harris Will Just Be More Of Biden)
II. The Base
I (almost) admire the Democratic base’s broad acceptance of the reinvention. Indeed, herein is a level of political sophistication that the GOP base has never indulged. To wit: progressives quietly understand – and accept – that Harris’ sudden lurch to the middle is required because her actual record (reflected above) continues to be an impossible sell in flyover America. How do we know this? Well, the widely recognized leader of the Democratic progressives, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the quiet part out loud on NBC news just recently. The precise quote: [Harris] “is doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election.” Here, even the movement’s leader recognizes the essential fact that the real Harris could never play in Peoria…or Pittsburgh.
III. The Shameless Media
None of the foregoing could go down without the willing participation of the uni-party media and political establishment writ large. In other words, it’s not just the usual self-appointed masters of the universe (legacy networks – public radio and TV – MSNBC – CNN – The New York Times – The Washington Post) that are doing their utmost to promote Harris as a mainstream center/left Democrat in the same mold as Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. You can add to the mix a group of Bush-era GOP anti-Trumpers (including a former Republican vice president of the United States) who continue to claim the “conservative” moniker while endorsing a California progressive who only four years ago was too far left for the Democrats.
Regardless, you can bet the reimagining – faking – lying – revisionism – and winks & nods that have characterized her campaign will be unrelenting until the clock strikes 8 p.m. Pacific Time on Nov. 5, 2024. (RELATED: BOB EHRLICH: About That ‘Protecting Democracy’ Thing)
Still, the mere scope of the exercise makes its successful completion unlikely. You see, the establishment’s narrative of “Amtrak Joe” – “Grandfather Joe” – just regular ol’ liberal Joe (but never progressive Joe) was pretty accurate at the time. Not so much the California progressive. The voters remember her poor approval numbers from the spring. They also believe the Biden-Harris administration broke the border – the economy – and our standing in the world. And no amount of Rod Sterling (ask your parents if you’re under age 40) parallel-universe dream-making is going to help this against-all-odds makeover work.
Bob Ehrlich is a former Governor of Maryland, Member of Congress and State Legislator. He is the author of five books on American politics and opinion pieces that have appeared in America’s leading newspapers and periodicals. He and his wife, Kendel, can be seen and heard on their weekly podcast, “Bottom Line with Bob & Kendel Ehrlich.”
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