August 18, 2024

"That Trump loses this election is important. But how he loses matters. The Democratic Party’s first strategy for the 2024 election was..."

"... to try to force voters into an unwanted choice between Biden or Trump, with the president ducking interviews and news conferences along the way. Their second approach, at least so far, is to select a new candidate with no primaries and then shield her from taking questions from voters or reporters. I’ve spent much of the past nine years saying that I am against Trump because he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values. Those aren’t just partisan talking points. So I’m frustrated that the main anti-Trump candidate has started her candidacy by breaking with the democratic values of treating the press as an important institution and answering questions from reporters and the public."

Writes Perry Bacon Jr. in "Harris should talk to journalists more. Particularly the wonky ones. Not talking to the media or taking questions from virtually anyone for weeks further erodes democracy" (WaPo).

109 comments:

Dixcus said...

They aren't going to let voters see Kamala Harris talk because Kamala Harris is an idiot. And the Democrats need to hide that from their voters. Trump's voters already know that she's a moron. So the Democrats aren't hiding anything from Republican voters.

It's Democrats they are trying to fool.

I hope she wins and they cheat and make it as obvious as they did against Trump with Biden. Our nation needs to be cleansed. And the best way to do that is for the Deep State to steal another election in broad daylight, surround the capital with razor wire again and keep Americans away from her installation.

They had better be planning well how to keep Americans out of Washington DC. We aren't bringing our cell phones this time.

Aggie said...

Funny how a perceived offense against 'core democratic norms and values' is a mortal sin when sensed in a political opponent, but a simple case of bad manners when it's the candidate from your own party. Almost like..... I dunno - a double standard? A Weak Intellect?

Make a list of the offenses against 'core democratic norms and values' for each, and then rank them. Circumventing the Political Primary process? Not revealing core Policy Positions before an election? Not holding press conferences during a political campaign? Sounds like pretty big infractions against 'core democratic norms and values' to me. What did Trump do, beside refuse to be assassinated? Speech while wearing a red tie? What else?

Mavens of Democratic Norms and Values gotta know !!

Inga said...

“ Our nation needs to be cleansed. And the best way to do that is for the Deep State to steal another election in broad daylight, surround the capital with razor wire again and keep Americans away from her installation.

They had better be planning well how to keep Americans out of Washington DC. We aren't bringing our cell phones this time.”

Sad violent loser.

narciso said...

yes the bureaucracy that doesn't secure the border doesn't teach doesn't heal doesn't provide enough energy for a growing population needs to be pruned

Will she show up on morning joke or lester dolt, or any of a half dozen nitwits,

Dixcus said...

Nobody said anything about violence except for you, Inga. Protesting our government is an American tradition. We intend to do it. Without being tracked by an out-of-control Deep State intent on denying us our civil rights.

narciso said...

Simple questions like why is she on the side of Hamas ansars, of the Revolutionary Guard, how does she feel about the Kabul capitulation, the backwash from the mass invasion,

PM said...

The Democrats hid an enfeebled President for two, maybe three years. Propping up a smiling, waving, adept airplane-stair-climber should be a doddle.

narciso said...

Btw the rally is in detroit not Howell, for a supporter of Dearbornistan, I can see why you'd be confused

Inga said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin said...

The Democratic Party’s first strategy for the 2024 election was to try to force voters into an unwanted choice between Biden or Trump, with the president ducking interviews and news conferences along the way.

Actually it was to convict Trump of something, anything, to say he was a convicted felon. Then it was to remove him from state ballots to deny him the votes to win. When that didn't work, they tried to assassinate him.

It was only as a last-ditch effort they reverted to a strategy of winning over voters. And frankly, the election isn't over yet...

Inga said...

“Our nation needs to be cleansed”. Oh please, your meaning is quite clear. And it’s not the first time you said something similar to this. Explain just how you are going to “cleanse the nation”.

GatorNavy said...

I am so very amused by this one man’s ridiculous screed. He writes as if he employer hasn’t lied for Democrats for decades. He must have drawn the short straw when they were handing out assignments.

narciso said...

the people who have tried to minimize even erase the assasination attempt, they have some nerve

narciso said...

no that would be capehart or eugene robinson, they are so easy a mark

but yes the people who insisted 'deep fakes' were what was right in front of our face,

Dixcus said...

I noticed that Inga wasn't along in 4 seconds to decry this political violence that was visited on Donald Trump. But once people begin discussing plans to visit Washington DC, she's all about decrying violence all of a sudden. She's OK with violence as long as Democrats are the ones doing it.

Inga said...

“Harris and her advisers might say they don’t need to talk to reporters to reach voters and honestly believe that journalists will use interviews and news conferences more to prove that they aren’t in the tank for her and other Democrats than to ask questions relevant to the American public.”

Also there is still plenty of time for her to do interviews. I’m quite sure she is incredibly busy putting together her policies and doing rallies right now.

narciso said...

they showed in 2020 how they celebrated the destruction of cities, like Minneapolis still hasn't recovered to cite one example

Dixcus said...

And now they're just going to put him in prison and murder him there. I'm sure Inga will decry this violence when it occurs.

boatbuilder said...

So I’m frustrated that the main anti-Trump candidate has started her candidacy by breaking with the democratic values of treating the press as an important institution and answering questions from reporters and the public."
Yeah--the press lost any right to demand to be treated as an "important institution" sometime around the Nixon administration, and completely exposed themselves during the last eight years. Kamala is just taking advantage of the disrespect that "the press" has brought on themselves. Trump broke the code by dropping the pretense that these hacks are entitled to "respect," while providing them with the opportunity to write something other than Democrat press releases.

Boo hoo.

Michael K said...

Inga thinks it is all a game. She doesn't know enough to understand that the Democrats are crazy now.

rehajm said...

They will never let anywhere near non-propaganda media. This sounds like a set-up to sit her down with a 60 Minutes Snuffy CNN Mika hard hitting tongue bath. See, she has nothing to fear in front of journalists like Joe does (you know, the current ‘President’

Dixcus said...

I don't see Inga here decrying the violence that was visited on Minneapolis by Democrat thugs, arsonists and looters.

narciso said...

much as they take the Hamas press release without removal the glottal stop,
so what they will be incisive this week, after the tongue bath they have given her for a month

narciso said...

well 60 minutes sure, thats the comfy chair, but they have proved how servile they were in 2020

Michael K said...

I would have to disagree here. The Media broke the code first. Beginning with Clinton.

boatbuilder said...

italiacto!

Inga said...

“Harris and her advisers might say they don’t need to talk to reporters to reach voters and honestly believe that journalists will use interviews and news conferences more to prove that they aren’t in the tank for her and other Democrats than to ask questions relevant to the American public.”

And I’m quite sure she is incredibly busy putting together her policies and doing rallies right now. There is still plenty of time for her to do interviews with the press before the election.

narciso said...

it was this same Washington Post, that mourned the austere Islamic Scholar Al Bagdadi as with the moderate Hamas leader Haniyeh was it not

pacwest said...

"I am against Trump because he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values."

What are these core democratic norms?? Can anyone (Mark, Inga,etc) enumerate them for me? Anyone?

loudogblog said...

"I’ve spent much of the past nine years saying that I am against Trump because he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values. Those aren’t just partisan talking points."

Yes, they are.

Notice how he doesn't raise any examples to back up this outlandish claim.

Ann Althouse said...

@boatbuilder

Do you have the secret for turning off the italics?

john mosby said...

i think this is the italic shutoff method.

boatbuilder said...

Hey Perry, you have time on your hands. Maybe you can interview Mollie Hemingway? Or Mike Flynn? Or Tony Bobolinski? Hell, I bet Willie Brown will take your call.
Aren't there a whole lot of former staffers for Kamala you can track down?
Try doing your job, instead of whining about the fact that your team sucks.

narciso said...

it comes and it goes, it does give a certain ornamentation to some comments,

Inga said...

Well, here’s a couple big ones. Trying to steal an election after you’ve lost. Fake electors to replace the real electors. Sending in your followers to disrupt the counting of the electoral vote with a riot. Saying you’d like to suspend the Constitution.

Just a few.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Wonky is to edgy what fuck you is to Alain Delon's sperm

tcrosse said...

Trump is the straw nominee of the straw party the Democrats argue against.

boatbuilder said...

C'mon, Inga, you're not even trying anymore.
God forbid the candidate should talk to the press about the policies she's working on, THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTION.

FullMoon said...

"rehajm
They will never let anywhere near non-propaganda media. This sounds like a set-up ..."

Yep, keep mentioning lack of interviews so they can make a big deal out of how brave, articulate, intelligent and joy ful she is when she finally consents,

boatbuilder said...

The media broke the understanding that provided a basis for respect. "The Code" that Trump broke is how to break through the media wall.

Dixcus said...

She's been in office with Joe Biden for 3.5 years, Inga. She has already "put together her policies." These would be high-inflation, $5/gallon gas, untrammeled illegal immigration, bailing out hardened criminals who then go on to murder, sitting idly by while political opponents are being shot at, taxing hard-working people's tip money, not giving people $6,000 child credits for the last 3.5 years, etc. etc. Those are the "policies" she's worked on for the last 3.5 years. We don't need another 4.5 years of those.

Sebastian said...

"But how he loses matters."

Why? Dems don't care. Trump is a fascist. Abortion ueber alles.

"I’m frustrated that the main anti-Trump candidate has started her candidacy by breaking with the democratic values of treating the press as an important institution and answering questions from reporters and the public."

Mistake right there: the press matters to "our democracy" only and insofar as it helps get the right people into power and keep them there.

"Not talking to the media or taking questions from virtually anyone for weeks further erodes democracy"

Only a handful of posturing Dems believe it. Joe hardly took any serious questions, did no press conferences, and no one complained. DJT talked to the press all the time, and no one viewed it as a great exercise in democracy.

boatbuilder said...

No. I thought I had. was what I tried--but other people had posted without italics. It seems like they are off now. Maybe someone else turned them off.

Dixcus said...

Inga is against "Trying to steal an election after you’ve lost."

Yet she supported Al Gore trying to steal the election when George W. Bush won.

It seems to me that Inga is FOR trying to steal elections when a Democrat is doing it, but only AGAINST "trying to steal elections" if Republicans sue. (Of course, the courts wouldn't hear any Republican lawsuits ... but they allowed Al Gore to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court in our two-tier policing system where Democrats get many bites of the apple and Republicans get none.

I'm unimpressed with her outrage and it seems to me like she is very selectively outraged by election lawsuits.

narciso said...

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/08/18/off-script-disaster-kamala-harris-confounds-pa-crowd-with-word-salad-duality-democracy/

boatbuilder said...

It doesn't appear in this format, but I use the "less than" symbol, forward slash, I, more than

boatbuilder said...

Symbol.
If you are getting technical assistance from me, you are lost. :^)

Michael K said...

I'm all for her explaining her new "economics' and why it isn't communism.

Michael K said...

The dullard does not explain why Nancy Pelosi had her daughter there to film how successfully she obstructed the Republicans' plans to challenge vote counts in several states. The "riot" was staged.

boatbuilder said...

Perry: as you seem to have time on your hands, and Kamala Harris won't talk to you, maybe you could interview: Mollie Hemingway, Mike Flynn, Tony Bobolinski, any relative of any of the people still locked up for "trespassing" on January 6. Or even the Republican V.P. Nominee, J.D. Vance, who I'm sure would be happy to talk to you. Hell, Give Donald Trump a call--he most definitely will talk to you.
Try doing your job.

traditionalguy said...

The latest on Kommunistllla is shes drunk so she laughs at herself but cannot be seen in public .if true its disquallifying.

gspencer said...

Avoiding the press erodes democracy? This guy is really out to lunch. Ds are unconcerned with such trivial matters.

traditionalguy said...

Maybe the Russkies shipped her casses of vodka.

Dave Begley said...

Exactly. Just ipse dixit.

Jim at said...

he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values

I get so sick of this line. Ever think we're in such a mess precisely because of your precious norms and values? That ever cross your mind?

Leland said...

The quoted parts of the article are full of comments that ring false:
"Harris should talk to journalists more." - It seems a primary complaint of the article that Harris isn't talking to journalist at all. Perry even suggests Biden was previously ducking talking to journalists.
"Those aren’t just partisan talking points." - That's exactly what the previous statement was, because the author failed to provide any support for the claims made.
And as Kevin noted above, the first strategy of Democrats was to get Trump removed from Primary ballots, so that he couldn't be in the campaign. They are still saying Trump isn't qualified to be President, and if they have to, they'll disqualify Trump at the certification of the Electoral College, which would mean Trump would have won the election using Democratic norms.

n.n said...


WaPout. She's just not that into you. Look elsewhere.

rhhardin said...

How can you not vote for Trump when he says that he's better looking than Kamala?

Ambrose said...

".... treating the press as an important institution..." The U.S. press has not been an important institution since at least Obama's election in 2008.

gilbar said...

Trump because he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values.

could someone NAME some of these "core democratic (party?) norms and values?

Enemy Within said...

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said exempting tips from taxes could cost between $150 billion to $250 billion — and possibly much more if employers shift compensation from hourly wages to tips.

The cost for the tipped wage proposal would come on top of the estimated $4.6 trillion price tag for extending the Trump 2017 individual, estate and business tax breaks. The Trump campaign believes revenue from the tariffs would help pay for the tax cut extensions.

Center for American Progress peg the cost of the tariffs on the typical middle class family as being between $1,500 and $1,700 per year

Neither Harris nor Trump plans make any sense. Let’s stop pretending it’s any different for any election.

Both candidates are illiterate on finance and economics.

Yancey Ward said...

Uh oh- talk of pruning is violent rhetoric! It might cause someone to bash Doug Emhoff in the head with landscaping equipment!!!

robother said...

If you were too stupid to answer an unscripted question about the economy, US foreign policy, immigration enforcement, crime, would you welcome a press interview? Of course not. Especially after witnessing the one time Biden came out of his basement to engage in a debate, and what happened to him. Everybody, even Inga, knows the score. I will be very surprised if Kamala actually appears at the one debate.

Yancey Ward said...

Oh, Inga has commented on that before- it was Boogaloo Boys who did all that violence in 2020.

robother said...

He beat Hillary, the Democrat nominee in 2016. That is the only democratic norm and value. Whatever it takes.

Ralph L said...

It's so normal to nominate for Prez someone in obvious physical and mental decline--twice! These people live in a Zuckerman painting.

Yancey Ward said...

There is a contest right now to find which journolister has the brown enough nose to do a Kamalamadingbat (sorry for the violent rhetoric, Inga- bats scary, I know) tongue bath.

Enemy Within said...

"A tariff is a tax on a foreign country. A lot of people like to say it’s a tax on us. No… It’s is a tax that doesn’t affect our country." ~ Donald Trump (PA rally)

I’m not sure he’s lying; I think Trump genuinely doesn’t understand how tariffs work.

"Tariffs hurt consumers because it increases the price of imported goods. Because an importer has to pay a tax in the form of tariffs on the goods that they are importing, they pass this increased cost onto consumers in the form of higher prices." ~ Investopedia

Honest to Pete I don’t have the energy to do this for another 4 years.

Skeptical Voter said...

Well Rich one might say that a tariff increases the price a US purchaser will pay; and since the price is increased, the demand will fall. OTOH if you are a Chinese manufacturer using the cheapest of all labor, you can still lower your price for a $1.29 cotton tee shirt (sold for $2.50 Stateside) to $1.19 to account for the ten cent tariff. Investopedia doesn't seem to understand the effect of increased final price for a product on the demand for said product.

Iman said...

Looks like old prune face Biden is in the final stages of the pruning process.

SteveWe said...

Inga, Trump might lose fairly. But if he loses unfairly because the Democrats cheated again, there could be trouble.

tcrosse said...

According to Ricardo's theory of competitive advantage, the US should concentrate on producing what it's best at, and trading with other countries to buy what they're best at producing. We seem to be best at producing fentanyl addicts, degreed baristas, trans activists, and grievance studies majors. Unfortunately, there's not much of an export market for these things.

Rory said...

”The Democratic Party’s first strategy for the 2024 election was... to try to force voters into an unwanted choice...."

Strategy since 2016.

Ann Althouse said...

“ No. I thought I had. was what I tried--but other people had posted without italics. It seems like they are off now. Maybe someone else turned them off.”

But yours was the first post without italics so it seems that you caused them to go off. The remedy I’ve been needing to use is to delete the first comment that has them, but that requires me to do an otherwise unwanted deletion.

Ann Althouse said...

“ No. I thought I had. was what I tried--but other people had posted without italics. It seems like they are off now. Maybe someone else turned them off.”

But yours was the first post without italics so it seems that you caused them to go off. The remedy I’ve been needing to use is to delete the first comment that has them, but that requires me to do an otherwise unwanted deletion.

Mason G said...

"breaking with the democratic values of treating the press as an important institution"

"An important institution"? Hahahahahahaha... That's gold, Jerry- gold!

Christopher B said...

I believe what happens with the continuous bold or italic text is that someone enters a comment with the end tag reversed .. b/ or i/. This is accepted by the blogger comment engine as a valid tag but is ignored by most browsers.

I noticed a previous comment (can't remember who) who figured out that entering the proper end tag and only the proper end tag (/b or /i, enclosed in carets) will restore normal display that from that point forward.

Deep State Reformer said...

The decision about America's future has already been made folks. It's really only a matter of it comes about. Whether quickly via a Harris victory, or slowly, messily, and with violence via a Trump victory. The big decisions about immigration, trade policy, global empire, and untethered deficit spending were made decades ago. Us American frogs can boil quickly or slowly, but that's about all we frogs can decide at this stage.

Clyde said...

"Democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off." -- Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey

Michael K said...

Maybe you could volunteer to give him some advice on economics. After all, you are both billionaires. Aren't you ?

MadTownGuy said...

"That Trump loses this election is important. But how he loses matters. The Democratic Party’s first strategy for the 2024 election was... to try to force voters into an unwanted choice between Biden or Trump, with the president ducking interviews and news conferences along the way."

Isn't that a bald admission that the (D) Party is still engaging in election manipulation, as in 2016 and 2020 at the very least?

Static Ping said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
robother said...

Hence the need for open borders.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Shorter Leftwing Media Bore.
*Don't care about our nation going full Maduro - just hate Trump so much - that it will be worth it to ruin it all for good. *

Butkus51 said...

I need to play poker against that guy.

Achilles said...

What a stupid clapping seal. You are so pathetic.

Achilles said...

Is it about closing your tags?

Achilles said...

Rich is cool with taxing people who build stuff here but is opposed to taxing people who build things in other countries.

He totally knows how tariffs work. They increase costs to consumers.

But raising taxes doesn't raise costs for consumers according to these people.

And he wants you to know he is super smart.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

You're next

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

hahahaha totally.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

up-ding.

MikeD said...

Has anybody caught her "answer" to the question "how will you pay for it?" Somebody musta mentioned Return on Investment to her as I lost count of how many times she showed zero understanding. BTW, How about Rogan's show wherein he showed DJT on The View prior to running. They hugged him and the audience applauded him. Go figure?

TeaBagHag said...

Empty Bucket > Bucket of Shit

Big Mike said...

I’ve spent much of the past nine years saying that I am against Trump because he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values.

Which
"norms and values." List them, and tell us precisely how Donald Trump has violated them? Betchya can't.

Those aren’t just partisan talking points.

The Hell they aren't.

Big Mike said...

@Dr. Michael K., let’s not forget that Donald Trump has a degree in economics. And ftom Sharyon. Back when it was still Wharton.

Gk1 said...

Oh please. This is the typical boiler plate the media puts out to act like they aren't a total slut for democrats running for office. Kamala is no exception. In 2008 when they were'nt fellating Obama, they were explaining why it was no big deal Obama had no concrete plans for exiting Iraq or Afghanistan or how to fix the economy. It was all "a moment" don't you see? I think this go around it will collapse around their ears the same way Biden did a month ago. They have to have something to work with and Kamala ain't it.

NotABoomer said...

Neither the American press nor the academics have served the American people well in "checking" politicians or "holding their feet toward the fire."

The press and the academics are learning how irrelevant they are in rebuilding American people living in American communities. Go study abroad, and interview those who will have you still...

There's going to be a great cleansing in this country, and many of you once at the top who contributed nothing will not hold places of importance in American society anymore. You put yourselves out of jobs by refusing to actually do them.

boatbuilder said...

That is what I did. Just the end tag.

Rusty said...

Inga is a sociopath. You aren't real people to her. Just encumbrances to her leaders goals.

Rusty said...

You certaqinly are. The above only makes sense if you assume that all money belongs to the government.

Jamie said...

It was entirely predictable that this guy would claim, without evidence, that Trump is constantly breaking small-d democratic norms, and that's why he and all right-thinking people hate him.

Funny, though, that the hate started on Election Night 2016...

Makes me think it was the big-D (take that any way you like it, I guess) Democratic norm that it was Her Turn that actually aroused their ire.

Robert Cook said...

"They aren't going to let voters see Kamala Harris talk because Kamala Harris is an idiot. And the Democrats need to hide that from their voters. Trump's voters already know that she's a moron."

Hahaha! So..."Trump's voters already know she's a moron," yet they (and apparently you) cannot (or refuse to) see that Trump's mind is a complete vacuum, null of ideas, insight, ethics, or any concerns or thoughts beyond the purely animal drive to sate his own physical and ego appetites.

GRW3 said...

This is a common complaint about Trump that he varies from 'core democratic norms and values', stated like it's inherently obvious but they never enumerate the specific things he has done. I suspect it's because if they told us their specific complaints, we would recognize them as nonsense.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

"Trump's mind is a complete vacuum, null of ideas, insight, ethics, or any concerns or thoughts beyond the purely animal drive to sate his own physical and ego appetites."

What is here described is an animal. I've been told that it's a total effrontery to portray one's opponents as animals. Dangerous, even.

I think it's not dangerous if the description is outlandish enough. Past a point, it makes the describer look/sound like a 12 year old or a crazy cat lady, like the above quote.

Also indicates a refusal, for whatever reasons, to engage on issues. Either way, it doesn't get anybody anywhere.

Gravel said...

So. Fucking. Weak.

She's not putting policies together. She's made herself crystal clear for decades; she is her father's daughter, and plans to enact price controls, various subsidies for her voter base, enact gun control, nationalize IP, etc.

The only thing she's busy doing right now is figuring out which of her consistently stated policies and priorities she can afford to walk back with a wink and a nod to the faithful. She hopes to fool the independents - which is why she can't be interviewed.

Gravel said...

With the caveat that the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data' ... in practice, that's not necessarily how tariffs work. Example: my wife is a customs broker. She helps various importers file the paperwork, calculate the duties, etc when they import foreign goods. Tariffs are based on the price of the good being imported. One of her clients imports oilfied equipment (valves etc.) from China. When the tariffs were enacted on that type of goods, their Chinese suppliers - wait for it - LOWERED THEIR PRICES enough to fully compensate for the increased tariffs.

Again, not saying that will always happen, but if your price is so high that you can't sell in the US market, you can either take a bath, or quit exporting to the US. In the illustrated instance, they decided to make less money.

One Fine Day said...

It's all projection for the Dem talking point repeaters. Most of them had the sadz when their attempt to kill Trump failed in July.

Rusty said...

No. She's just not very deep.

The Genius Savant said...

This statement: "I’ve spent much of the past nine years saying that I am against Trump because he constantly breaks with core democratic norms and values." is total nonsense and, as usual with these types of statements, is presented without any evidence but said as though it is obvious. Trump was president for four years once already and our "democracy" wasn't threatened in any way -- certainly not any more than Obama using the IC apparatus to spy on, and make up charges, against his chief political opponent.