Dear Republicans: Resist the impulse to be 'dumb'
Harris is a weak opponent, yes, but bigoted, sexist messaging is helping her build a stronger coalition than she might otherwise have earned.
Eds. Note: I wrote this post nearly 10 days ago, so a lot has happened since, none of which I’ve kept up with, owing to an un-tethered vacation in New England.
There have been a number of times that I’ve watched Sen. Tim Scott speak and thought, “I know exactly what he’s thinking or feeling.” One of the more famous occasions was after the Charlottesville incident, when Pres. Trump said, “there were very fine people on both sides.”
Sen. Scott, speaking to the media shortly thereafter, was less than flattered at the comments coming as they were from the sitting president, who was also a Republican:
“What we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority. And that moral authority is compromised.”
But the image of Sen. Scott that’s most indelibly etched in my mind came after Sen. Steve King of Maine had, for the umpteenth time, espoused bigoted comments to the times, which would eventually lead to him being stripped of his appointments in the party. When Sen. Scott was asked about King’s comments and whether they were further proof that the Republican party truly is a house for those with bigoted, racist views, he said what I’d like to think I’d say:
Calling King “an extremist,” he said the senator’s “comments are not conservative views but separate views that should be ridiculed at every turn possible.” In a separate interview, however, he said the issue is not whether King or other members of the party provide safe haven for those having bigoted, racist views. The real issue, he said, was that he and other members continually have to address this issue, which takes time and energy away from constructive actions that could be taken to help the American people.
Bravo, brother Tim. Bravo!
Old habits die hard
Scott’s words, and the actions of some within the party, were brought to mind this week when I learned the House Republicans held a closed-door meeting where leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, insisted that party members focus on Kamala Harris’ record, not her race in the runup to the election.
“This election will be about policies and not personalities,” said the speaker. “This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris, and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
Harris had barely taken the reins before the unnecessary nastiness began.
“Intellectually…just really kind of the bottom of the barrel,” said U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming. “I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that’s what we’re seeing and I just don’t think that they have anybody else.”
Maybe the weirdest were the folks online digging up the old trope about Harris, who was born to immigrant parents, saying she is “ineligible” to run for office. Harris, however, was born in California. For many, this is eerily similar to Trump’s asinine, nonstop birther conspiracy theories.
My first thoughts upon hearing the DEI hire, birther BS?
“Here we go with this BS again.”
Don’t be dumb
I get it: Politics is a dirty game, and it is certainly fair to hit Harris, whose party is overrun with folks who wield identity politics like it’s the only arrow in their quiver. And, besides, when has accuracy been the centerpiece of political combat? However, using the same approach on Harris that was used on Obama to mixed (but largely unsuccessful) effect, might prove counterproductive. This is especially dumb when polls show an opening with Black voters.
First, the folks who are already voting for the former president have their minds made up, but the suburban women who’ll likely determine the outcome of the race are surely sensitive to such arguments. (J.D. Vance isn’t helping things either, with his idiotic cat lady comments.) Also, with Trump gaining ground with Latinos and Blacks, he has to think of maintaining a loose coalition, some of whom aren’t likely to cotton to a Black woman being discredited for ascending to the nation’s second highest office.
After all, it’s factually incorrect to say that she’s a DEI hire, using the assertion, as some have, that Biden promised to pick a Black woman VP. He did not. He said he was considering four Black women, which included Kamala, but they were part of a larger group up for consideration. What’s more, it would be a mistake to assume that minority voters, especially Black voters—many of whom are unlikely voters who might never have considered voting for a Republican—would be receptive to the same message as the former president’s base. They would not, I presume.
“[These Black voters] moving toward Trump are not MAGA Republicans,” said Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst and senior editor of The Atlantic, appearing on The Bulwark Podcast earlier this year to discuss Black and Latino voters choosing Trump over Biden. “They are voters who don’t see a reason to vote for [the Dems this time around]. They are very different still from non-college whites in their votes on most things.”
The facts speak for themselves
Harris is a weak opponent battling a similarly weak opponent. As one pundit said, the selection of Harris amounts to giving the Dems a 20% chance of victory, as opposed to 5% with Biden. What hasn’t changed, however, for either party, is that voters would much rather have someone else at the top of the ticket.
I’m no Republican strategist, but if I were, I’d be giving the former president a staunch talking-to about staying on message.
“Biden’s record—on the economy, on the border, on crime, etc.—is her record. We have plenty of wood to throw on the fire and remind folks of how the Biden-Harris team has left our country and our communities less safe while they showed more concern for issues of race and gender than they did for the all-important dinner table concerns. Don’t lose the election by veering off course.”
I hope someone is listening.