By this point, it is seriously a toss-up which is more embarrassing. Is it that Kamala Harris is attempting to win the White House with a campaign that is more vacant than Joe Biden’s in 2020, or that at the same time, the press is not only approving this gambit but selling it to the American public with all the vigor of college sophomore wanna-be wonk on his first election tour? Finding an objective opinion of Harris in the media – let alone a critical one – is harder to find than a can of White Claw in a biker bar.
What has become stark is that while there has long been supportive coverage of Kamala for the past 56 days, there is a sign that this effort in the press is beginning to strain. They worked hard to make this honeymoon last all the way up to the November deadline, but now they are finding out that the sources of non-political subject matter are drying up. You can sense the anxiety from some journalists that the need to avoid her record and the lack of a cogent policy platform looms if more deflective topics are not found.
This is the press corps that began covering her campaign with deeply insightful pieces about how wild it was that she adopted the “Brat” persona of singer Charli XCX. She was hailed as a social media digital savant for the marvelous move of renaming the Biden-HQ account on Xitter to “Harris-HQ.” Politico raved that Kammy was a “meme queen” online. Then there was the Washington Post gushing over her on a near-daily basis, marveling over her clothing choices and writing rhapsodically about a dance track created from her signature cackling laugh.
The echoes from the Barack Obama campaign have not only been noted, but in many ways the press shielding her flaws has been worse. The current insistence that this is a Harris campaign “built on JOY” seems to mirror Obama’s Hope & Change tagline – with the difference that Harris is selling a change from the administration of which she is integral. Obama had many elements from his past (his Harvard records, an alignment with William Ayers, etc.) shunted to avoid controversy, while Harris is experiencing a complete rewriting of her record by the press.
Indications of stress are beginning to emerge. One sign of challenges is the press trying to sell the public on how grand of a move it is for Harris to not campaign. The New Republic offered this as not only a cagey move, but if she were to grant interviews, it would hinder her efforts. “Their best strategy to win the election isn’t to push out white papers and hyper-detailed plans for policies; it’s to continue to make the vibes- and values-based argument.”
Axios has recently come forward to criticize the lack of interaction with the press – sort of. In a piece calling out the lack of contact and media interviews, they fed the campaign its approval of this tactic as it accepted an explanation on some policy stances not from Harris but from an unnamed staffer. At Politico, Jonathan Martin not only supported the taciturn approach to campaigning by the Harris camp, but he actually attempted to sell the concept that Trump pointing out that Harris has no agenda served as proof that Trump does not have an organized agenda.
This is the level the media have descended to keep a positive spin going while clearly showing the well of positive topics is running dry. In just the past few days, these are a few of the scintillating reports delivered to us about Kamala Harris:
James Hohmann from the Washington Post covered Harris making a stop at Pensey’s Spices. The journalist felt it vital to give us an itemized list from her shopping receipt. This will earn a Remmys nomination, to be sure, but it is not alone in the lame reporting.
This weekend the Associated Press felt that it was noteworthy to report that – get this – Kamala likes food! No, guys, we totally swear! She’s, like, this total foodie and stuff!
From talking about nacho cheese Doritos as her snack of choice to washing collard greens in the bathtub, Harris is aiming to connect with voters on a more personal level. While learning that she likes to munch tortilla chips at snack time likely isn’t enough on its own to sway anyone to vote for her, the small — and sometimes amusing — details could help Harris show she can relate to people and their concerns.
And that is not the worst. Author John Pavlovitz dug to the bottom of the relevancy barrel, and he managed to scrape paint off and gouge metal flecks in the process of gathering something approximating content. You see, what sets Kamala apart from Donald Trump is that…it is that she…okay, what makes her better is that she…walks.
Yes, we are just as stunned at this revelation as you are.
Something Trump and Melania have never done.
Normalize normal. pic.twitter.com/5rPwRspQ2B
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) September 8, 2024
Now, okay, you might be thinking that surely Donald Trump and his wife Melania have walked before. You might even have it in mind that you have seen them walking, and doing so together. Well, we are sorry to inform you that you have been victimized by false memory recall, because we have it on expert authority that this is something Trump and Melania have NEVER done.
So there you have it, the choice for the leader of the free world this November is quite simple. Do you want someone who has a song remixing her hackles-raising chortle, likes eating food, and is able to walk? Or will you make the mistake of choosing the other candidate?!?!
