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Shep Bostin's avatar

Hey Ross - your perspective is pretty much 100% in line with how I feel. Yes, Biden kinda screwed up by picking Harris vs. other more popular, likable options in 2020 (even if you narrowed it only to African-American women). But in the context of late July 2024, V.P. Harris is a comparatively, young, experienced, energetic, female, pro-choice, multi-ethnic, SANE candidate running against a duplicitous (yes...an understatement), geriatric, racist, narcissistic, and just plain NUTTY white man who gave us the SCOTUS that overturned Roe v. Wade and Chevron while granting broad immunity to the Executive. (Oh yeah...he stared into the sun, told us to drink bleach, called war heroes suckers, discussed "secretly" bombing drug cartels on Mexican soil, etc., etc. - how were none of THOSE things permanently disqualifying?)

Kamala Harris was the Attorney General of California – tough on crime in a liberal state, which often didn't win her popularity contests, but also makes her kind of a “centrist” and perhaps takes a little of the "crazy California liberal" stink off her in a general election fight. This also means that it’s the Prosecutor vs. the FELON - the ads write themselves. And if they debate under the same rules as the Trump-Biden debate last month, the Prosecutor will mop the floor with the Felon.

In answer to my fellow left-leaning readers of your substack who point out Ms. Harris' lackluster performance in the 2020 primaries, allow me to respectfully remind you that she was running against a field of (mostly) sane, accomplished candidates who had a wide range of resumes and views to offer the electorate. In this case, she is running directly against Donald J. (for January 6th) Trump.

It won’t be a landslide…but I think she clearly has a better shot than Biden did (even before the disastrous debate). Consider this (and I apologize in advance for a bit of identity politics here): Kamala Harris is a comparatively young, female, half African-American, half Asian-American married to a Jew. In a race that is likely to be decided by a handful of votes in a handful of states, she may get JUST enough people who would have stayed home on the couch to come out to the polls instead. I'll take it!

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Lasagna's avatar

You kind of elided over the most important point, though. Harris, when put to the test, has proven to be incredibly unpopular in her own right.

I know we can expect every paper to start drafting hagiographies any minute. I think the last month has demonstrated that they really might hurt. When it’s obvious that something is wrong - and a lot is dramatically wrong with the Democrats right now - and the press refuses to dig into it, lots of us just assume the rest.

My point is that Harris loses in November. Someone else might have had a chance, though this election cycle is going to rank the Democrats reputation like the Iraq war tanked the republicans; but Harris? No way. And the fact that nobody important is ever going to hold her feet to the fire is going to make it worse.

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