Issues & Insights "There’s a reason nobody expected far-left Kamala Harris to pick a far-left governor from a deep blue state as her running mate. It’s never worked.
"In the wake of Jimmy Carter’s crushing defeat in 1980 and repeated Democratic losses thereafter, the party decided that to win presidential elections they had to at least appear as moderates.
Bill Clinton won by labeling himself a “new Democrat” and picked Al Gore, then a fellow moderate Southerner. Gore in turn tapped Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Barack Obama tried to position himself to the right of John McCain and ran with Scranton Joe Biden. Hillary Clinton picked Virginia moderate Sen. Tim Kaine to balance the ideological scales. Biden ran as a sensible centrist with a talent for working both sides of the aisle (and picked Harris more as an insurance policy against impeachment than anything else).
Which is why pundits across the board expected Harris – in what amounts to the first important decision she has made as presidential candidate — to pick a more mainstream governor with cross-party appeal from a swing state like Arizona or Pennsylvania.
But the radicalized, hopeless woke Democratic party couldn’t bring itself to OK anyone like that. So instead, Harris decided to “balance” the ticket with another leftist.
As Axios reported today: “Many Republicans expressed surprise and relief at the choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, readying renewed ‘radical’ liberal attacks.”
No matter, it goes on, because “Walz has backing from many influential Democratic voices, including the progressive wing of the party which has at times turned on President Biden, especially over his handling of the war in Gaza.” . . .
How 'weird' became the internet's favorite political insult (nbcnews.com)“I hope Republicans have the nerve to fight like that,” he added. “It’s the only way. Fire with fire. It’s going to get ugly.”
As the use of “weird” gained traction, Republicans responded, pivoting to use the word against Harris and to describe trans and other LGBTQ people, as well as gender-nonconforming individuals. Anti-LGBTQ efforts, particularly those targeting trans people and drag performers, have been a major pillar of conservative legislation, campaigning and online rhetoric that can spill into real-life conflict.
Donald Trump Jr. has leaned heavily on redirecting the word “weird,” using it against Harris five times, including in a caption on a video of her high-fiving a drag performer. Libs of TikTok, one of the most followed far-right accounts on social media, has used “weird” as a pejorative in 14 posts since July 23, most of them alongside images and videos of drag performers and people displaying what some might perceive as gender nonconformity, like Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff with unshaven armpits and men wearing makeup." . . .
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| Tony Branco |
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