Three weeks before Election Dayhuuugebet, there is a growing chorus of opinion that the Kamala Harris campaign is not exactly peaking at the right time.
Even in the friendly company of adoring interviewers, she is not ticking off the necessary boxes as defined by analysts across the political spectrum. Foremost among those are the need to explain policy shifts that seem crafted for the election, the urgency of reconnecting with the historic Democratic base among unions and voters of color, and the cultivation of a serious demeanor needed for the leadership of the free world.
Many of her extemporaneous moments have made considerable ripples in political social media. Unfortunately, it has often been in conservative circles, accompanied by mockery of the latest clumsy explanation or tortured turn of a phrase.
Much of this is normal election home-stretch aggressiveness. Democrats have not been shy in their slaps toward Donald Trump as the days tick by, so casual observers might chalk this up to the normal October sniping we see every four years.
But when allies start sounding alarms, the story becomes more than the usual partisan back-and-forth. Veteran Democratic campaign guru James Carville has been complaining for months that the Harris messaging seems to be missing the mark. His recommendations that she distance from Joe Biden’s White House record and moderate some of what he called her “exotic” positions have not been realized.
In her defense, it’s tough to point out policy flaws from a president whom she still serves. But as she telegraphs moderation on some issues, the broad reaction has been disbelief, and not just from Republicans. Bernie Sanders, asked on “Meet the Press” last month whether Harris was genuinely changing her views on some issues, replied: “I don’t think she’s abandoning her ideals. I think she’s trying to be pragmatic and doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election.”
The candidate herself would do well to share such honesty.
The most glaring example of Democratic unease over Harris’ slide comes from a source of great historic relevance: Barack Obama, who invoked his own ascendancy when addressing a group of young Black men at a Pittsburgh campaign field office last week. Identifying “the brothers” as the problem, he noted: “We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running.”
Sidestepping the possibility that he was a talented candidate and she is not, Obama sought to persuade them toward enthusiasm not with sharp logic about why her policies are better but with the tired racial identity politics supposedly dissolved by his own presidency. “You have somebody who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, understands the struggles and pain and joy that comes from those experiences,” he explained to the gathered group, without checking whether they had grown up in Berkeley and Montreal as Harris did.
Obama’s point, of course, was that the “brothers” were shirking a racial obligation by failing to sufficiently appreciate that “she’s had to work harder and do more and overcome … [to] achieve the second highest office in the land.”
It is a rejection of this kind of condescension that fuels Trump’s approval numbers in communities of color, just as familiar Democratic constituencies, union members, notice that he is addressing their concerns while yet another Democrat takes them for granted.
As Harris watches her post-debate polling leads evaporate, her running mate is not exactly a remedy for the bleeding. Faced with a growing list of untrue pronouncements, Tim Walz’s stock replies have been a combination of “I’m passionate,” “People know me” and “I’m a knucklehead.”
A pro-Harris media culture now clings to questions designed to ding Trump’s credibility: Does he think he won in 2020? Is Washington slow-walking hurricane relief to Republican areas? Did the occasional family pet hit the grill in Springfield, Ohio?
These distractions are born of deep concern about where the election seems to be headed. The challenge for Harris and her media protectors is that while they may find areas to successfully nitpick Trump, voters are asking other questions: Is he right about the border? Is he right about the economy? Were they better off under his presidency?
Polls show majorities of Americans saying yes. While Obama may have correctly described what Harris had to overcome during her career, what she must now overcome is facts — and voters — turning in favor of her opponent.
Mark Davis hosts a morning radio show in Dallas-Fort Worth on 660-AM and at 660amtheanswer.com. Follow him on X: @markdavis.We love to hear from Texans with opinions on the news — and to publish those views in the Opinion section.
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