I'm driving 105 miles from Raleigh to Winston-Salem, NC. I have made this trip more than one hundred times. All the while, I'll be on I-40, which, if you continued beyond Winston-Salem, would take you to California.
Signs of Futility
On this particular journey, days before the election, I saw many electronic billboards for the first time, where you can change what is depicted every couple of seconds. All of these billboards are promoting Kamala Harris. This is an odd development because this strip of highway is deep Republican territory.
According to numerous reports, the Harris/Walz campaign has raised more than one billion dollars in campaign contributions for allocation everywhere. My immediate thought? It wouldn't matter if they had raised two billion dollars; Harris would not have been elected.
As I drive down the highway and encounter one billboard after another, it strikes me that these ads are not saying much. One message states that Harris voted to lower taxes on middle-class families. However, how many dozens of other senators have done the same over the years? Another billboard says that she supports maintaining social security for seniors. Okay, but where is the impact here? All she is doing is emulating Donald Trump, as she sought to do on many issues.
Nothing to See Here
As I encounter endless lame billboards, I eventually get the message. She doesn't have much to say, and her achievements are minuscule. Any notable achievements would be widely touted. Her handlers would ensure that anything with an excellent impact would be included. Since the Harris campaign has little or nothing to emphasize, they can only cite how she voted in the Senate five and ten years ago, even if she's never lifted a finger beyond merely saying that she supports this or that issue.
Another billboard exhibits a picture of JD Vance. It doesn't mention anything about him except for the word “weird,” with an exclamation point for emphasis. Is this all Harris and company have to say about Trump's running mate? Do they believe calling Vance weird will convince anyone to vote for Democrats?
Now, the message could be effective if a split billboard, cited Tim Walz as the opposite of weird (a monumental challenge). Still, what would you call Walz? Normal? Rational? Composed? Nothing seems to fit.
Do Harris and Walz think that they are not, to use the operative word here, weird themselves? What's weirder than being the presidential candidate for a major political party, having never received any primary votes, and having only to make one backroom deal? That's not merely weird; it's anti-democratic.
Messages with Impact
Exiting the highway, I've only seen a handful of pro-Trump billboards. One in particular stands out. It's a traditional billboard featuring a picture of Kamala Harris on one side and Donald Trump on the other. Under Harris, one word appears: cackles. Under Trump, one word appears: solutions. Only two words, but the message is striking.
Another billboard supporting Donald Trump explains how he will restore the economy. He will resume American drilling and energy supply, stop the flood of illegals, and stimulate manufacturing, thus helping to create more jobs in America.
His messages are on target. Since he's done these things before, these are not hollow promises but well within his capabilities.
Money to Burn
When you have more than one billion dollars in your coffers, you have money to burn. Various such billboards across America likely mirror these billboards in central North Carolina. In total, will they have any effect? Will voters driving along think, “Okay, that billboard convinced me.”
When your name is Kamala Harris, joined by Maoist wannabe Tim Walz, and you're running on fumes, with no idea how to run the country, to lead, to get things done, or to stand toe-to-toe with the world's autocrats and dictators, you need a lot of slogans and a lot of name-calling.
If this is the best that Democrats can generate, their fate is sealed. Without massive cheating, they have no chance.
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