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No, the mega-wealthy political consultants running the Harris-Walz operation are not playing some brilliant game of 3D chess. Of course, David Plouffe & Company, and all their big donors, would prefer that she go on television and answer questions. After all, Barack Obama used to do that all the time. They’d like to see her on with Jimmy Fallon, Bill Maher, and “The View,” and all those types of shows. They’d also like to see her on “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation” — and even “Fox News Sunday.”
No Democrat likes to see Trump and Vance getting so much free time on TV, while Harris and Walz are on the sidelines or (supposedly) hunkered down doing endless debate prep.
But they are keeping her off the air anyway—not because they think it’s a mistake to do interviews, but because they think it would be a mistake for her to give interviews. And they have similar concerns about Walz. In other words, they aren’t avoiding the press because they like to avoid the press. They’re doing it because their candidates are so bad that they don’t have any better options.
37 DAYS: VP HARRIS REFUSES TO REVEAL POLICY POSITIONS, GIVE NEWS CONFERENCES OR INTERVIEWS
It seems clear that Harris’s people have analyzed the polls, the candidates, and the issues, and have reached the following conclusions:
1. It is impossible to defend the Biden-Harris record
In fact, it’s so bad that Harris must somehow pretend that she had nothing to do with Biden, and that she’s running on a platform of change. Normally, of course, campaign consultants like to work for the incumbent, but in this case, Biden’s record is so bad that they’re willing to give up the benefits of incumbency.
2. Harris cannot be trusted to give interviews, even to friendly media types
Her consultants have seen the same clips that we’ve all seen – they know how inept and inarticulate she is. Furthermore, they’ve talked to her, and run practice questions by her, so they have even more information about how bad she would be on TV. So, they’ve decided their best play is to keep her on the sidelines.
With Trump and Vance blanketing the media with interviews and public appearances, while Harris and Walz remain in a defensive crouch, that could start to really hurt the Democrats.
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3. Walz is not any better than Harris
Certainly, the campaign would like to be able to use the vice president as a surrogate. But because of antisemitism in the Democratic Party, they couldn’t take Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for the ticket and they had to take Walz. Walz is a very flawed candidate – he lied about his military service, he has a long relationship with Communist China, and he has a long record of hard-left governance in Minnesota.
If he goes on TV, he’ll get asked about all of those things – even if they put him on a friendly network. So again, the campaign has decided the better play is to have Walz say nothing. Thus, he’s also on the sidelines.
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This is why they are where they are—not because they don’t like the press (they love the press)—but because they are stuck with two terrible candidates. Their hope now is that Harris can get into the lead and stay there for ten more weeks without having to answer any questions.
This is a risky bet with the polls so close. With Trump and Vance blanketing the media with interviews and public appearances, while Harris and Walz remain in a defensive crouch, that could start to really hurt the Democrats. Those swing voters in places like Wisconsin and Michigan want their questions answered—they don’t like being ignored, and they will grow more restive if they believe Harris is trying to avoid talking about the issues.
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Resist the Harris hype. This is not 3D chess—but this is a campaign trying to win by any means necessary. As crafty (and sleazy) as some in the consultancy class are, they cannot “meme” or “vibe” away Kamala’s connection to the disastrous Harris-Biden record. Their inability to make even a passing effort at defending it speaks volumes about her as a candidate and a person.
If Trump and Vance keep talking, and taking questions, and hammering Harris and Walz on the issues, the pressure on Harris and Walz to say something will become enormous.
