After five weeks of slobbering media coverage akin to the rhetorical version of a hot stone massage, Kamala Harris finally left the bubble that has carried her to record fundraising and competitive poll numbers with Donald Trump in key swing states.
And then the bubble burst.
The candidacy of the past 40 days as the Democratic nominee has been almost out of an Artificial Intelligence creation.
Harris was not allowed to speak to the press, nor was her running mate, Tim Walz.
Everything was packaged, scripted and homogenized.
When the candidates did speak, they were guided by their new god: a teleprompter.
But now they had to take questions from CNN’s Dana Bash.
And even with their hands practically being held after the anchor asked questions that included multiple-choice answers and little follow-up, the potential president and veep fumbled and lied during the relatively short 18 minute, pre-taped interview.
Harris especially hurt herself in the places it matters most: Those key swing states.
Kamala Harris is not in the swing of things…
Swing . . . and a miss
In the topics that matter most in three key swing states, Kamala Harris showed that she was out of touch in Thursday’s interview:
ARIZONA
Top issue: Immigration
58% of Arizonans, of either party, think that the United States does not have control over its border — a reality they see every day as a border state, according to a Redfield and Wilton Strategies poll.
Kam’s response: CNN’s Dana Bash claimed Harris was put in charge of “root causes” — avoiding the term used at the time, “border czar” — and even then Harris corrected her, saying she was only tasked with dealing with “Northern Central America.” So she dodged all responsibility on the flood of migrants from Venezuela and other South America nations (and maybe Nicaragua? What counts as “Northern?”) Harris insisted the biggest problem was that a recent border bill didn’t pass, while she has been in office for three-and-a-half years without any action.
MICHIGAN
Top issue: The auto industry
Just 20% of Michiganders, home of much of America’s auto industry, back an electric vehicle mandate, the lowest of any state surveyed, according to Morning Consult.
Kam’s response: “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed, and I have worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.” Harris has previously said those deadlines include getting rid of gas cars.
PENNSYLVANIA
Top issue: Energy and fracking
83% of Pennsylvanians believe drilling for more for gas and oil in the US would lower costs, 86% say it would improve national security, according to Morning Consult.
Kam’s response: “There is no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” she said in 2019. In the interview, she claimed she no longer wanted to ban fracking, but insisted, “My values have not changed.” Harris dubiously said she still favored the Green New Deal but would make an exception for fracking.
A flip and a flop
Take Harris’s answer on her flip-flopping on a myriad of issues: “Dana, I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” Harris replied.
“You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed, and I’ve worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.”
Yes. We should include holding ourselves to deadlines around time. That’s literally the definition of a deadline.
And if Harris believes the “climate crisis” is real and her values haven’t changed, then shouldn’t we believe the 2019 version of Kamala Harris when she declared she would absolutely ban fracking, end the fossil fuel industry and end all offshore drilling?
