46 Comments

It seems quite clear that no matter what the VP does she gets bashed and nothing will ever be enough for those who only yap and don’t do.

Expand full comment

I'm sorry, but I am getting mightily sick and tired of hearing that Harris needs to put out some info on her plans. If some people would would bother to read, or go to her web site, maybe they'd find some. What I am NOT hearing is "gee, Trump should put out some details." instead of continually lying and bashing. Oh, wait, his plan is out there. Project 2025.

Expand full comment

🙄

Expand full comment

The media is like a dog with a bone. Harris gets no credit for what she's done . Pundits always want more. She did the debate, and she excelled. She asked for another debate. Trump chickened out. She's put out position papers. She's talked about her plans for tax credits, immigration, reproductive rights, housing, etc. She's done two sit down interviews with national media and several gaggles and, as I understand it, sit downs with local media. It's never going to be enough. People like Noonan and Stephens complain she is vague when , in fact, she's put out plans that are more detailed than most candidates. The mission is to reach the voters she needs. The undecideds are not readers of the Times or WaPO. The rallies and ads are good. I think she could use more exposure to some of the alternative media to access younger and unreliable voters.

Expand full comment

Well reasoned, Todd. It does seem like she is putting out specifics and her plans are being analyzed. Any time I have seen her talk she has mentioned specifics. She's running a good campaign. It seems a false comparison between Clinton and Harris. Frankly she is just a lot more likeable. Personality probably shouldn't matter as much as it does, but she is a beath of fresh air. I think her campaign of staying local is smart.

Expand full comment

I agree with both of you. She has outlined what her policies are going to be. If people are too lazy to find these things out, shame on them. Many people today don’t rely on the MSM media for their info - whether that’s good or bad is debatable for another time - but she’s reaching out to those people in ways they get their news.

Contrast that to Trump who does “interviews and press conferences” and spews venom and hate and talks like the demented old man that he is. No matter what the NYT editorial says she should,be doing, what we need to do is put Kamala in the White House

Expand full comment

The arm chair quarterbacks opine on what Kamala needs to do to win. Let’s reflect. 71 days ago, Biden dropped out and Kamala declared. In 71 days she is in a tie with a man who has been campaigning since 2016. He held a rally within weeks of taking office. As reprehensible as they come, Donny has flooded the airwaves with his image for decades. And in 71 days SHE IS TIED WITH HIM. A Black and South Asian woman who has the temerity to run against an old white man. Robert Reich’s recent opinion piece is spot on. Those who say they need to know more about Kamala are really saying they can’t vote for a Black and Indian woman for president. I can only hope that voting segment realizes that the alternative is is truly evil.

Expand full comment

I don’t like Trump and I’m definitely not voting for him. I’m not a fan of either party. I’m willing to vote for someone that can transcend party politics and not get in their own way (ego, legacy, self-righteousness, etc). I saw that in Obama. Don’t see it in Harris. Alternative is not voting.

Expand full comment

My partner is an Indian woman, I voted for Obama, and I've voted for minorities and women all up and down the ballot. I need to feel more supportive of Harris to back her for POTUS. Not everyone that is unsure is a racist or misogynist. Geez.

Expand full comment

I guess I am mystified as to the alternative. Is it Trump? I really want to understand this.

Expand full comment

The sitdowns do not help. She reacties out to podcasters and influencers, which is a better strategy than to sit down with Hannity. Everything she says gets analyses and a thumbs down, while the Orange Idiot can blubber on gor hours without so much as a pearl clutch. There is no way to win for President Harris with the MSM

Expand full comment

Okay Chris you agree with one criticism of Harris in that great NYT piece endorsing Harris. Do you agree with the daming but true criticisms of Trump in that piece?.

Expand full comment

Everybody seems to forget the impact of Jim Comey announcing shortly before the 2016 election that he was reopening the investigation into HRC's emails. I think that had a lot to do with Trump winning that election. So an HRC and Kamala campaign comparison is not applicable.

Expand full comment

Agree

Expand full comment

A question for Chris - in all of the pounding about Harris, have you ever addressed the issue of the fragility of our democracy, and the threat Trump poses? In fact, have you had any pieces that were about Trump at all? His lies, his flip flops, his re-writing of history?

Expand full comment

P S - I'm still waiting for the Trump flip-flop piece. and did I miss the one about maybe listing all of Trump's lies? Of late, he is taking credit for the $35 insulin cap. and "millions" of illegals are pouring across the borders. And that is so dumb - just how would that be happening? there aren't pictures of caravans of millions coming though Mexico, or thousands of planes disgorging people into airports. would love to see a column just listing his lies.

Expand full comment

Harris and Walz have, in speech after speech, articulated in detail what they plan to do. She has a voluminous website. The idea that she should sit for a “gotcha” interview is misguided. All they want to do is manufacture a story that gets clicks and money. Anybody who isn’t familiar with Harris’ platform is too lazy to listen or to read. What she needs is heavy Democratic turnout. These purposefully uninformed voters are not going to vote for her no matter what she says. Those who claim they are undecided are largely liars.

Expand full comment

Really good analysis....thank you! As far as I'm concerned though, the NYT (and WaPo, CNN, etc.) have completely forfeited any credibility as a result of the indulgent (and do I dare say biased) coverage of Trump during this campaign. Regardless of the "Chinese Wall" between Editorial and Political, the NYT as a whole appears to be a "sane-washing" Trump apologist, rather than the standard bearer of top-flight journalism in the US... Sad....

Expand full comment

I'm genuinely dumbfounded that anyone can look at the last 10 years of American politics and think that the broad public are desirous of more policy detail. Donald Trump is proposing two of the most disruptive policy proposals in American history, and we have no idea how either will be achieved.

Expand full comment

Good morning, Chris! I have a book recommendation for you. I just finished reading An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I am a history geek and I loved it! The behind the scenes POV of the JFK, RFK and LBJ campaigns and administrations is amazing. I was born in 1961, so I lived through those times, but have no direct memories of most of them. It's also a beautiful story about their relationship. A must-read!

Expand full comment

Laura, thanks for jogging my memory about the Doris Kearns Goodwin book. I just ordered it. I lived through those times as a teen and young adult. JFK's bid for the Democratic VP nomination at the 1956 convention got me interested in politics as a 13-year-old. The Kennedy-Nixon campaign was beyond exciting. Does anyone remember Quemoy & Matsu? The missile gap? And I briefly covered Barry Goldwater's campaign as a cub reporter when Goldwater ran against LBJ in 1964. Fascinating times!

Expand full comment

I think she should do more local or state news interviews. But if she has a vision she wants to get across, which I believe she does, a speech or a townhall would be on-message; an interview might not even address it. Her speech on the opportunity economy was a good one.

If she chooses to do more interviews, I'd probably avoid the New York Times for now. James Fallows has a Substack newsletter and he's noted numerous ways they are not the paper they used to be -- though whether that's actually helped them to survive the death-of-newspapers era or just coincided with it, I don't know. For example, he was appalled by their coverage of the Stephanie Ruhle interview and did a brutal takedown of it.

More generally, he points to the fact that it's this publisher who got rid of the NY Times ombudsperson, a position that was created after the embarrassing scandals pre the Iraq War, that had been doing a great job and that has never reappeared. Go to the Washington Post if you want to do such an interview -- or maybe the LA Times since she's from California -- or a local or state paper in a swing state.

Expand full comment

Point #3 and the Hillary Clinton comparison made me think of the book Shattered by Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen, which chronicled HRC's campaign. Part of the trouble her campaign ran into was that the after Clinton campaigned in states such as Wisconsin, her poll numbers would drop. The more visible she was, the less popular she became.

Harris certainly runs the same risk.

Expand full comment

Clinton and Harris may belong to the same Party, but there the similarities ends.

Expand full comment

It feels like she's running not to lose. She is flush with cash. Run ads explaining how your policy positions will help voters and how his policy positions will hurt voters.

Expand full comment

She is running such ads all over the country. On TV and in social media.

Expand full comment