August 27, 2024

"So, Harris is trying something no sitting vice president has ever attempted: running as an insurgent and treating Donald Trump as the incumbent."

"In her telling, she is the fresh new face on the political scene, while Trump is the one running for reelection. She is asking voters to forget that she co-presided over an unprecedented panoply of disasters over the last four years and is now campaigning on a message of denying Trump another term. This is absurd. Democrats have been in power for the past 3 1/2 years and have held the White House for 12 of the past 16 years. But, so far, that strategy is working.... Trump needs to make clear that Harris not only helped craft those Biden catastrophes, but also she plans to double down on the administration’s failures — and that a Harris presidency would be a second Biden term."

Writes Marc A. Thiessen, in "A sitting VP has won once in 188 years. Harris won’t likely be next. Only one sitting vice president has been elected to the top office in the last 188 years" (WaPo).

67 comments:

Wa St Blogger said...

Trump needs to make clear...

It really doesn't matter what Trump makes clear. It only matters what the media communicate about what Trump says.

Sebastian said...

"This is absurd." It is, but no prob. Dems will eat it up.

"Trump needs to make clear" He won't. He is the issue. Advantage: Dems.

Wa St Blogger said...

He won't. He is the issue.

Trump is creating adds linking Harris to the current situation. He probably mentions it in his speeches. I don't have time to listen to them. Maybe someone else can report on that. So I would say it is mis-information to say that he won't.

gilbar said...

while Trump is the one running for reelection.

i've wondered How Long it would be; before the dems started admitting that Trump won the 2020 election, and that EVERYTHING that has happened in the last 4 years is HIS FAULT.

if it was for That Darn Trump pushing his bidenomics and senseless wars, Kamala could have finished her wall by now!
DAMN Trump! and all the Evil in the World!
Transism, illegal aliens getting registered to vote, EV's.. Do you realize? that That Darn Trump was even trying to ban gas stoves!!!?!?!?!?
A vote for Kamela is a vote for common sense!

robother said...

Marty Van, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can.
Kama, Kama, Kama-chameleon, if she can't do it, well at least she's not weird.

Mason G said...

"He won't."

Really?

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

She's the Plastic Fantastic Harris! She can be anything you want.

tcrosse said...

I'd walk a mile for a Kamala.

Yancey Ward said...

This strategy doesn't work because it is, in fact, ridiculous. However, the Democrats have an absolutely solid 51% of the two-party vote vs the GOP's 49%- and this holds regardless of the strategy employed. Harris could, for example, don a monkey suit on the campaign trail and eat and shit bananas all day long and still get that 51%. There is a race only because Trump is competitive in states that are otherwise solidly blue such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Original Mike said...

""So, Harris is trying something no sitting vice president has ever attempted: running as an insurgent and treating Donald Trump as the incumbent."

Think about what underlies this strategy; an admission that the state of the country is a mess. If it weren't, they be taking credit for it rather than trying to blame it on someone else.

Breezy said...

Whatever this is, Harris isn’t running it. Let’s be clear.

rehajm said...

If they don’t steal it I’ll eat my hat…

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

Daily reminder: the betting markets show the race as a tossup.

Iman said...

Joe Kamala?

Iman said...

Bingo

Iman said...

She gotta hidee hidee hide. She gotta jump and run away…

Achilles said...

Trump got 75 million votes. He is objectively the most successful retail politician in our country's history.

Desantis was just another 60 million vote Republican. Democrats wouldn't even have to cheat to beat him.

Romney Democrats are just as invested in Joe's voter fraud as Democrats are.

JK Brown said...

It's worse. No one believes Biden has been making the decisions, neither has Kamala. The Democrat operatives in the WH have been running things and there is no indication that Harris is going to throw them out.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Red State is reporting that the Harris-Walz campaign have caved on the debate changes and the rules agreed upon by Trump and Biden still stand.

Leland said...

ABC debate rules agreed upon. The convention is over, so the DNC is stuck with Kamala.

Oso Negro said...

I am sorry. I can’t comment until I know what Inga has to say

Deep State Reformer said...

It's a pretty cogent analysis. The chickens, or in this case the turkeys, have at last come home to roost.

PM said...

"Harris presidency would be a second Biden term."
Absolutely right.
The same behind-the-scenes, unnamed, unelected group would perform the duties for a, literally, sitting President.

Original Mike said...

The Inga-bot is recharging.

Original Mike said...

"The same behind-the-scenes, unnamed, unelected group would perform the duties for a, literally, sitting President."

Otherwise known as on oligarchy.

Original Mike said...

A few days ago Harris said she was not in favor of a ban on fracking, even though she has unequivocally called for one in the past.

Today, she says she is not in favor of an EV mandate (i.e. she does not support government-imposed elimination of IC cars), even though the policies of her administration inexorably leads to one.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

“Democrats have been in power for the past 3 1/2 years and have held the White House for 12 of the past 16 years.”

12 of the past 24 years. 20 of the past 32 years. 20 of the past 44 years. 24 of the past 48 years. 24 of the past 56 years. 32 of the past 64 years. 32 of the past 72 years. 52 of the past 92 years. 52 of the past 104 years. …

Inga said...

Aw, it’s good to know you missed me.

Inga said...

Well, changing one’s mind is acceptable when it comes to JD Vance. He doesn’t think Trump is America’s Hitler anymore.

Readering said...

You could also write only one sitting vice president has won in the last 36 years. Or four in the nation's history. (Others were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren.)

Yancey Ward said...

They really have no choice- can't back out and can't get Trump to cave to the changes.

Ambrose said...

Humphrey tried - unsuccessfully in the end - to run against LBJ's Vietnam policy. Maybe with today's media he would have had more luck.

robother said...

Changing one's mind is one thing: having no mind to change is what we're seeing here. When she changes every single significant position she took in 2020: decriminalizing illegal immigration, defunding ICE, banning all fracking, defunding police, no funding for a border wall. EV mandates her administration imposed. That is evidence of no mind there to begin with: whatever she has to promise to get elected. But if elected, she'll actually do whatever her handlers tell her to do.

Mark Nielsen said...

Iman says: "She gotta hidee hidee hide. She gotta jump and run away..."

[They sent] the Old Man down the road.

walter said...

On same day as posts about guvmint/social media collusion, maybe the historical record not so relevant. I mean..maybe 1984.

Kakistocracy said...

The number of times we have elected a convicted felon is even smaller than the number of times we have elected a sitting VP as President. So there’s that also.

Harris has two things going for her. She's not senile and she's not an idiot. I'm a Republican but unless she does something egregious between now and November I'm voting for her.

I don't like the Democrats' policies, but I don't think the country should be run by a moron either.

Original Mike said...

She hasn't changed her mind. She's lying to get elected.

Aggie said...

My prediction is, this won't work. People don't always mind being thought of as slow or out of touch, but they object to being thought of as stupid. And this gambit comes off as being so outrageously premised, there really is no other possibility than that the Democrats have absolute contempt for the intelligence of their voters.

Even with the white vans full of paid cheerleaders, even with all that astroturfing, it's not going to be persuasive - nobody likes being thought of as this stupid.

Jamie said...

Daily reminder: the betting markets show the race as a tossup.

Yup. I'm limiting myself to checking the same single site every day, just to see where public opinion is - currently Harris at +104, Trump at +105. I don't actually understand how that works - is the money on global apocalypse at -150 or something?

(I think it's clear that I don't gamble... But it does seem to me that having both candidates in "positive" territory, that is, that you bet $100 to win &104 or $105, is odd.)

walter said...

Four more years!

Kakistocracy said...

The number of times we have elected a convicted felon is even smaller than the number of times we have elected a sitting VP as President. So there’s that also.

Harris has two things going for her. She's not senile and she's not an idiot. I'm a Republican but unless she does something egregious between now and November I'm voting for her.

I don't like the Democrats' policies, but I don't think the country should be run by a moron either.

Jamie said...

I prefer Politburo

Jamie said...

The number of times we have elected a convicted felon is even smaller than the number of times we have elected a sitting VP as President. So there’s that also.

The number of times that the party in power has colluded with its faithful functionaries in several jurisdictions to cobble together "felonies" out of gauzy - and expired - misdemeanors that are literally never brought to trial except for this one defendant, to the point where the governor of New York has to assure businesses that they have nothing to fear in her jurisdiction because they aren't Trump, in order to be able to label the political challenger a "convicted felon" is likewise considerably smaller than the number of times a sitting VP has been elected President.

So there's that.

Jamie said...

unless she does something egregious between now and November I'm voting for her.

So I guess hiding the utter and dangerous incapacity of the President of the United States for God knows how long isn't "egregious" in your book? Or is it just that she's keeping mum on that point now, so it doesn't count as "between now and November"?

Republican. Sure.

walter said...

LLR, no doubt. How full is your migrant hostel? Don't want the child rape screams invading your slumber? Ask IngAI about sound proofing.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

I think the +104 and +105 are saying that each has a 48% chance of winning, and there is a 4% chance of someone else winning. For instance, either could drop out of the race or die. It has already happened once this season.

Rocco said...

Rich said...
"The number of times we have elected a convicted felon is even smaller than the number of times we have elected a sitting VP as President."

Rich, you're doing it wrong. The Democrats are supposed to be the party of " firsts", not Republicans.

robother said...

So you voted for Joe Biden and are going to vote for Kamala Harris--someone who can't string a coherent sentence together in an unscripted debate or interview-- because you DON'T want a moron for President? I think we've established who is the moron here.

Kate said...

Incumbent. Insurgent. These are words for politicians. Queens don't speak of voting. They speak of moving forward, and never going back. They point at weirdos and laugh. She sits on the throne while the Apparatus moves the levers behind the curtain. Ignore policy, and come join the joy.

wendybar said...

To Inga, lying to get elected is okay. Progressives are like Muslims that use Taqiyya to fool the masses.

wendybar said...

"Kamala Harris should be very comfortable with the muted mic. We're on day 34 with her not doing any interview with a major journalist. Her mic's been muted for a month!" - Republican strategist Brad Todd

wendybar said...


Katie Pavlich
@KatiePavlich

The woman who wants to be the first female president of the United States can’t do an interview on her own? Interesting…and embarrassing.
5:12 PM · Aug 27, 2024

wendybar said...

Trump War Room

@TrumpWarRoom

BREAKING: On Thursday — 39 days since being installed as the Democrat nominee — Kamala will sit for her first formal interview.* **

* Joint, since she’s not competent enough to do it on her own.

** Taped, so her handlers have time to play damage control.

Rusty said...

"I don't like the Democrats' policies, but I don't think the country should be run by a moron either."
Hence Trump.
You might want to consider that every man who signed the Declaration of Independance was a felon. Some of them became president.

rehajm said...

The only reason Trump is ‘the issue’ is because he is the opposition. Do not try to infer there is something unique about Trump in this context. The next one will be an impeachable Hitler, too…if they allow a next one…

Achilles said...

Rich's post demonstrates conclusively that Trump is far more intelligent than Rich is.

Achilles said...

Kamala's candidacy ends September 10th.

Everyone is going to watch her cry into her muted Mic as Trump repeats what Tulsi Gabbard said that ended her 2020 campaign.

She kept men in prison past their sentences for forced prison labor. Her Grandparents were slave owners so it makes sense.

Then she is going to speak with no interruptions and it will get even worse.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

I love the passive construction, as though this isn't a joint effort by Harris and the media--as though this is just something that's happening, not something that's being done BY the media itself.

AlbertAnonymous said...

She’s just insufferable….

Hopefully, the interviewer or one of the debate moderators will ask her if, based on her vast experience as a prosecutor, she still believes that Jussie Smollet was the victim of an attempted modern day lynching…

alfromchgo said...

Also known as the "I didn't know the gun was loaded" gambit.

Kakistocracy said...

The Harris team quickly took hold of the narrative and made Trump reactive. I felt like Biden, even in 2020, was too reactive to Trump and as a result, his trolling became dominant. The more persistent Harris’s team is, the harder it’s going to be for Trump to catch up.

SAGOLDIE said...

"if it was[n't] for That Darn Trump pushing his bidenomics and senseless wars, Kamala could have finished her wall by now!"

Now that is funny. Thank you!

Rick67 said...

One has to give the Harris-Walz campaign handlers credit. They're genuinely clever. As clever as Obama.

mindnumbrobot said...

It's not uncommon to misjudge somebody, and is often easily explainable. JD Vance did just that with Trump, and it was credible because many people (myself included) have done the same regarding Trump.

Harris, on the other hand, has done a complete 180 on many important policies. Policies which require thoughtful consideration and thought, and she has done so without explanation.

Given those facts, it's easy to see Harris hasn't given any real thought to those policies and was willing to switch to a completely opposite opinion out of political expediency. Basically, she a liar, and a very dumb one at that.

Drago said...

A "report" from our North Korean "correspondent"...

LOL

Jim at said...

... she's not an idiot. I'm a Republican

Yes, she is and no, you're not.

John Althouse Cohen said...

Why is “sitting vice president” the standard? Who cares if they’re “sitting”? Most VPs who’ve run for president have ended up being elected president, including the current president. It’s not rare. You could just as well argue that Trump won’t win because he’s trying to do something that’s happened only once in 200 years: win a non-consecutive term.