Americans suffer from 20% Biden-Harris inflation (annualized at 5.6%) and are demanding answers. Twenty percent are now skipping meals to make ends meet. Poll after poll has shown that the economy is the top concern for voters, with most Americans feeling worse off than before Biden and Harris took office. Yet, Kamala Harris has failed to outline a clear economic plan or demonstrate how her administration would break from the Biden-Harris playbook. Instead, her campaign centers around “joy,” as if optimism alone can address economic hardships. This disconnect is a major reason Harris is under-performing compared to Biden and Clinton in key battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin. It also explains why 59.6% of rank-and-file Teamsters support Trump, with only 34% backing Harris.
An interesting exchange happened on the Bill Maher show on Friday between an avowed Trump hater (MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle) and New York Times conservative columnist Bret Stephens, also a Never Trumper.
Ruhle’s responses underscored the Kamala Harris campaign strategy – relying on an excited Democratic base to turn out in such substantial numbers, even though Harris’s only value on the presidential ticket is that she is neither Trump nor Biden. Essentially, Ruhle was saying that the “turning the page” idea was so appealing to voters that it could power Harris to victory.
But Stephens pressed on, making the philosophical argument that Harris, hiding from the press and refusing to engage in critical unscripted one-on-one meetings with journalists, was not serving America well, especially Independents.
Bret Stephens: “I’m an undecided voter. I’m not sure I want to vote for Kamala. My fear is that she doesn’t really have a very good command of what she wants to do as president. It would be great for her to sit down with you (Bill Maher), or George Stephanopoulos, or you Stephanie. It’s not too much to ask Kamala, ‘Are you for a Palestinian state if Hamas is going to run that state?'”
Stephanie Ruhle: “If you don’t like her answer, are you going to vote for Trump? Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, she is running against Trump. We have two choices. There are some things that you might not know her answer to. In 2024, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy.” [Audience roars in applause].
Bret Stephens: “The problem that a lot of people have with Kamala is that we don’t know her answer to anything.”
Ruhle: “But you know his answer to everything.”
Stephens: “People also are expected to have some idea of what the program that you’re supposed to vote for. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for her to sit down for a real interview.” Some applause.
Ruhle: “When you move to Nirvana, I’ll be your next-door neighbor. We don’t live there.”
Ruhle’s comments were a remarkable conviction in the Left’s belief – powered by an eight-year protracted battle to malign Trump in every way possible, including mocking a second assassination attempt on his life as an “apparent incident” – that America so hates Trump’s return to the White House that anyone atop the Democratic ticket, even Kamala Harris, would carry them to victory.
With just 44 days left and early voting already having begun in several states, including Virginia, the Harris campaign earlier in the week continued with the Ruhle idea.
Harris appeared before a relatively formidable trio of Black Journalists, most of whom were unknown to the nation. While they asked Harris about topics relevant to Black audiences – such as racial justice, rising prices, and abortion – the journalists were stunned that Harris resorted to canned responses from her debate with Trump. Harris talked again about “aspirations and dreams,” the opportunity economy, about assisting homebuyers, and a country with “more things in common than what divides us.” The campaign’s strategy was clear: Run out the clock, don’t answer questions directly other than repeat grandiose, poll-tested statements, appear like a leader, and move on.
It was only towards the end of the sit-down that the campaign realized their strategy hadn’t moved the needle. Harris’s handshake with the journalists was rather gruff as she hurriedly walked away – not turning to the seated audience for an encore applause. The journalists were also in a daze, smiling sheepishly, wondering what the entire interview was all about.
The same scene played itself out again in Michigan a few days later. Now, Harris was with the friendliest of audiences and across the couch from Oprah Winfrey, the legendary talk show host. Winfrey had assembled a studio audience in a town hall format and fed live comments on Zoom from Hollywood’s best celebrities, including comedian Chris Rock, Julia Roberts, and Merryl Streep. Some members of the public also joined in on Zoom.
But, actor Harris fell far short. On immigration, she ranted for so long about her role as a prosecutor in California and the Senate bill that she claimed Trump helped kill that Winfrey had to interrupt her helpfully. “Now that the bill has come and gone, will you re-introduce that?” Harris’s response: “Absolutely. When I am elected President of the United States, I will make sure that the bill gets to my desk, and I will sign it.” Choreographed applause.
The truth is that the bill – which the campaign has been heavily promoting – would not pass the Senate even if Harris won. The Senate is likely to tip over to GOP control, with Montana and West Virginia being carried by Republicans. Even in a 50-50 Senate, Harris couldn’t push the bill through. Many senators felt it did not do enough to strengthen border security, which is a high priority for them – very little funding was provided for the border wall, and too much money was given to sanctuary cities. The inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants has been a significant sticking point, even more so today, with more immigrants having crossed the border since the bill’s failure. It was clever of Harris to evade the question of her performance on border security by blaming Trump, who is not in power, for the bill’s demise. But the audience could see that she was avoiding accountability.
Harris’s dramatic closing comments about America being an optimistic people—Hollywood style, faking empathy with raised shoulders and confident smiles—were such a word salad that the camera showed even Oprah Winfrey wincing. At the end of a two-minute diatribe, Harris had said nothing of substance.
The Harris campaign is beginning to realize that being anti-Trump alone is not enough. On the other side, referring to the Trump campaign’s internal polling data, Cory Lewandowski, a senior campaign strategist, said:
Our numbers are tracking better today than they have ever been, whether it’s four years ago or eight years ago. We are in the strongest position in an empirical way than we have ever been to be successful come November.
We estimate that Trump will win by an electoral vote margin of 312 to 226 if he overperforms in battleground states, similar to 2020.
What is the Harris campaign’s latest plan? For a side that boasted last week of a decisive victory in a 3-on-1 Philadelphia debate, they want to challenge Trump to another one on October 23, this time on CNN.
It is not a move of a winning campaign.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Hezbollah-Israel Escalation Imminent But All-Out War Still Preventable: U.S. Officials – Al Arabiya
Officials familiar with U.S. intelligence told Al Arabiya English that they had still not seen any ground preparation by the Israeli military to suggest a ground invasion was forthcoming.
Hezbollah is expected to try to keep the battlefront to military targets despite suffering an embarrassing week of attacks. At the same time, there is no U.S. belief that Israel will ease the intensity of its campaign against high-value Hezbollah targets.
2. Israel Orders 45-Day Closure Of Al Jazeera West Bank Office – BBC
Armed and masked Israeli soldiers entered the building of the news broadcaster Al Jazeera in Ramallah during a live broadcast and ordered it to close for an initial period of 45 days.
Viewers watched as the troops handed the closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari who read it out live on air. Israel raided Al Jazeera’s offices in Nazareth and occupied East Jerusalem in May having described the Qatar-based broadcaster as a threat to national security.
3. Pro-Iran Groups In Iraq Claim Drone Attack At Israel: Statement – AFP
“The fighters of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq targeted on Sunday morning a strategic location in the occupied territories using drones,” the Iraqi coalition said in a statement on Telegram, referring to Israel, and adding it was carried out “in support of our people in Gaza.”
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups, has claimed several drone attacks targeting Israel in recent months, which have all been intercepted, according to the Israeli military.
4. Russia Says Will Not Attend Ukraine Peace Summit – AFP
Russia said it would not attend a possible second Ukraine peace summit in November despite Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky signaling that he would invite Moscow’s representatives this time.
“The summit will have the same aim: to promote the unviable ‘Zelensky formula’ as the only basis for resolving the conflict, get support for it from the world majority and with that present Russia with an ultimatum on capitulation,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
5. Zelenskyy: No UK, U.S. Nod To Use Missiles – AFP
“Neither America nor the UK gave us permission to use these weapons on the territory of Russia, on any targets, at any distance,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters. “I think they are worried about an escalation [of hostilities].”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that firing long-range weapons into his country would signify that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member nations were at war with Moscow.
6. Russia Uses Mexico As A Hub For Spying On The U.S. – NBC News
Russia has added dozens of personnel to its embassy staff in Mexico City in the past few years, even though Moscow has only limited trade ties with the country.
Russia has a long history of spying on the U.S. from the relative safety of Mexico City, dating back to the 1980s. Decades before that, Stalin had his chief rival assassinated there.
7. Biden Tells Quad Allies: China ‘Testing Us’ – D.W.
Biden was caught on a hot mic saying that China was “testing us all across the region.” The comments came as the president hosted a Quad summit with Australian, Japanese, and Indian leaders.
“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits,” Biden was overheard telling Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
8. Satellite Photos Show Chinese Heliport In Tibet Near Disputed Border With India – RFA
The heliport features a 600-meter runway and multiple hangars in Nyingchi, just 12 miles from the disputed border with India. Experts say the move would allow Beijing to rapidly deploy troops to remote areas during an armed clash with India.
The heliport is the latest addition to China’s extensive network of military installations in the southern part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, underscoring Beijing’s concerns over security along the border area.
9. China Targets High-Ranking Officials Who Read Banned Books – RFA
A series of state media reports suggest that China’s Communist Party is clamping down on the secret hobby of some high-ranking officials: reading banned books.
Former Communist Party officials said in recent interviews that senior officials have traditionally enjoyed privileged access to materials banned as potentially subversive for the wider population via the “Seibu,” or internal, publishing system. Now, it appears that President Xi Jinping is coming for their personal libraries and private browsing habits in a bid to instill the same ideas in all party members regardless of rank.
10. New French Government Announced In Shift To The Right – D.W.
Following months of political uncertainty in France, President Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff, Alexis Kohler, announced the formation of the new government.
More than two months after the snap runoff elections, a hung parliament was produced. The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition secured the most seats in the June-July elections but failed to win an outright majority. The 38-member Cabinet announced on Saturday includes primarily ministers from Macron’s centrist alliance and the conservative Republican party.
11. Somalia Accuses Ethiopia Of Shipping Arms To Breakaway Region – AFP
Somalia has accused neighboring Ethiopia of supplying weapons to its northeastern Puntland region, which this year unilaterally declared it would act as an independent state despite protests from the central government.
Tensions between the Horn of Africa countries increased on January 1, when Addis Ababa signed a deal with another northern region of Somalia—the breakaway territory of Somaliland—that gives landlocked Ethiopia long-sought-after access to the ocean.
12. Elon Musk To Comply With Brazilian Court’s Orders To Restore X In Nation – UPI
Billionaire Elon Musk has decided to comply with court orders in Brazil to end the ban on his social platform X, which began on Aug. 30.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the company had not filed the proper documentation showing that it had appointed Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao as its Brazilian representative. The company was given five days to present documents validating her appointment.
13. Left-Leaning Candidate Leads Sri Lanka Presidential Race – BBC
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a leftist politician, leads Sri Lanka’s presidential election.
The election on Saturday is the first to be held since mass protests in 2022 unseated the country’s leader, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, after the country suffered its worst economic crisis.
Dissanayake promised voters tough anti-corruption measures and good governance – messages that have resonated strongly with voters who have been clamoring for systematic change since the crisis.
14. FDA Approves FluMist For Upcoming Flu Season – UPI Health
The FDA said FluMist, which can be used for children 2 to 5 years old, does not need to be administered by a physician.
The FDA said FluMist’s most commonly reported side effects are a fever of more than 100 degrees in children 2 to 6, and a runny nose and nasal congestion in people 2 through 49.
15. Metals Can Build Up In Body, Worsen Heart Disease – HealthDay News
Cadmium, uranium, cobalt: These and other metals found in the environment can collect in the body and exacerbate heart disease, new research suggests.
People are typically exposed to cadmium through tobacco smoke, while the other five metals are linked to agricultural fertilizers, batteries, oil production, welding, mining, and nuclear energy production.
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
