Well, why not? They are bombarded with constant negative scrutiny: that the race is too close to call, that the Harris campaign has screwed up royally, that the pollsters are all over the lot, that the choice of Tim Walz was a disaster.
Zak Cheney-Rice, a sharp writer for New York Magazine, tells us some of the things that have made for this “autumn chill” on the campaign. The joyous liberal response after the demise of Biden has given way to anxiety and jitters. I think the biggest problem is that Harris looks unsettled and has pivoted to the center. Per Zak, she “has betrayed [the campaign’s] original promise of unbridled possibility, the consequences of which will reverberate beyond November 5 regardless of who wins.”
Walz successfully went after Vance before their debate, then played nice during their encounter. Worse, from my point of view, is Harris’s failure to move off the Biden stance on Gaza and Israel. Young voters are particularly turned off by this. Zak says:
Israel’s brinkmanship is an issue in which Harris has failed to create meaningful daylight not only between herself and Trump but between herself and the unpopular Biden. The result will be her co-ownership of atrocities against Gazan civilians as well as further confirmation that, for all the history-making potential of her candidacy, we have seen these politics before.
Harris wants voters to embrace change but she is not giving them a real roadmap of how to get there. For many, I believe, it looks like more of the same, and they have clearly repudiated Biden. Trump will wave his magic wand and all will be well. In his rallies, he pledges to end the war in Ukraine “in twenty-four hours.”
Under my plan, incomes will skyrocket, inflation will vanish completely, jobs will come roaring back, and the middle class will prosper like never, ever before.
Maybe MAGA means “Magic AGAin.” When these people have lost power over things they value, magical thinking gives them a sense of control. Obviously, this notion is fundamental to Trump’s appeal. For such voters, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. From that point of view, as many have pointed out, Harris is really the unknown quantity. She is offering them what they perceive as more of the same policies that have made their lives dismal.
Wise politicians — and Harris is that — know that the only way to run is scared and so she is. It is a close race because of a very basic split within the electorate. She’s running well and wise to ignore the counsel of the many critics making her job more difficult by suggesting they know how to run a more successful campaign. A good rule of thumb is to ignore those who don’t have a track record to confirm their wisdom.
Therefore, only those who have a track record can offer comment? Jim likes to pick at most things I write. It makes him feel superior, I guess. The New York Review writes: “In recent weeks, Harris and Walz have replaced a dynamic movement with a meat-and-potatoes campaign. That needs to change.” A host of others agree.
Democrats should be jittery but the alternative to Kamala Harris is so repulsive that it’s still an easy choice. We can either vote for Kamala even though disappointed in her refusal to break with Biden or not vote. Another Trump term with the changes his puppet masters are proposing is unacceptable.
We shouldn’t forget that Harris still has her day job and she can’t deviate too much from Biden until she has the right to do so. That means…not until she is President.
Her campaign, rightly or wrongly, has determined that the best way for her to get the lion’s share of the narrow slice of uncommitted, persuadable voters is to tack to the right.