Staff Reports
Kamala Harris is running for president but has somehow managed to ignore press conferences altogether in the first 50 days of her campaign. This absence speaks volumes about her approach, which seems to include keeping her policies as vague as possible—likely to adapt to whatever keeps her electable. Critics have already dubbed her strategy the “basement plan,” suggesting that her silence may indicate an empty vessel ready to say or do anything to squeeze into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Harris campaign has taken a peculiar stance that most voters are far more interested in personality and pizzazz than the fine details of her policies. As the Commerce Secretary so aptly flavored it, the American public doesn’t really need to understand how Harris plans to crank up taxes. They’re just in it for the aesthetic, apparently. If only voters realized that the nuanced machinations of tax schemes could be the difference between emotional comfort and economic catastrophe, perhaps they’d demand a little more substance from their candidates.
Harris Avoids Press Conferences for 50 Days Since Joining Race https://t.co/7sKJyOpf5m pic.twitter.com/V1HDh5XmlT
— FutureTrump2️⃣⏺2️⃣4⃣🍊 (@RealTrump2020_) September 9, 2024
Harris’s recent economic proposals do spark some serious alarm bells: price controls that would make even the Soviet Union proud, a tax on unrealized capital gains, and a potentially expanded death tax sound like a recipe for a financial nightmare. And then there’s the income tax hike that everyone loves to forget until Tax Day rolls around. Concerns voiced by Americans worried about their livelihoods highlight the gravity of what a Harris presidency might usher in—essentially, the end of America as we know it, according to some.
With a dismal track record in the press and only one interview to her name in eight weeks, Harris has become a magician of sorts, flipping her positions on key issues more times than a pancake at a Sunday brunch. From fracking bans to a questionable stance on a border wall, it’s almost perplexing how someone can remain consistent in their inconsistency yet still claim to offer tangible change. The average American should probably keep a scorecard handy just to track where Harris stands on various policies.
The stakes are high for her debate performance coming up, especially since she’s spent more time hiding from scrutiny than engaging with the electorate. With the Trump team expecting a “fine” showing from Harris—whatever that means in the world of 2023 politics—it remains to be seen if she can capitalize on the contradictions presented by her past and present. Harris finds herself in a tight corner: she needs to sell the Biden-Harris record to prove her qualifications while simultaneously positioning herself as the agent of change. That contradiction will likely be a prime target for Trump and his team, making for some must-watch political theater.
