The Democratic Party is pulling out all the stops in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention this week, relying on old faithfuls like Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton to bring in viewers and garner support for the Harris-Walz ticket.
But notably absent from the DNC lineup will be vulnerable Democratic Senators Jon Tester (MT) and Sherrod Brown (OH), who are taking a page from Kamala’s own playbook and deploying the basement strategy instead of attending the year’s biggest Democrat pep rally.
Both men are attempting to hide from the national spotlight and distancing themselves from the Harris campaign, a notable shift from their previous national endorsements. In 2015, Tester was responsible for recruiting Harris to run for Senate in California, later praising her “powerful campaign.” Brown’s praise is also well documented with an endorsement earlier this summer of her candidacy, and during his 2018 election, he said he “couldn’t be more grateful to have” Harris’ support.
The senators’ alignment with Harris is also clear in their Senate votes, with Tester voting in lock step with the Biden-Harris Administration 91% of the time and Brown 98.5% during the first two years of the Administration.
After years of devotion to Harris, Tester and Brown’s decision to skip the convention and Harris’ inevitable coronation as the Democratic nominee less than 80 days before the election can only be for one reason: They both know that the Harris-Walz campaign and its far-left agenda is unpopular among voters in Montana and Ohio.
Jon Tester doesn’t want to explain to voters in Butte why he supports Tim Walz for vice president, a candidate who has both attacked rural America as "mostly rocks and cows," and also advocated for the policies that continue to worsen America's affordability crisis. And Sherrod Brown would probably prefer not to remind hardworking Ohioans that, together, he and Harris were key votes on the bill that led to skyrocketing inflation and massive price increases for everyday Americans.
Tester and Brown are also likely eager to avoid association with the Harris-Walz border and immigration crises. Illegal border crossings reached historic highs during the time that Harris served as Biden’s “border czar.” Walz believes that hardworking taxpayers in this country should foot the bill for Harris’ incompetence, and he’s signed off on bills funneling taxpayer dollars toward healthcare and college tuition for illegal aliens.
Brown and Tester will find it hard to distance themselves from these failures, as both men joined Harris in voting against legislation to hold sanctuary cities accountable and prevent the release of illegal aliens who have committed crimes.
In fact, the Harris-Walz apathetic approach to crime more broadly will be a visible debacle the incumbents are running from during this campaign. When Harris takes the stage at the convention, she’ll be doing so in a city that experienced a sharp rise in crime since she and Biden took office. Her long-held, soft-on-crime positions are matched by Walz’s decision as governor to allow Minneapolis to burn during the height of the 2020 riots.
Skipping the DNC may allow Tester and Brown to temporarily avoid being seen standing together on stage with Harris and Walz, but voters in Montana and Ohio know these Democrat candidates all stand together on the issues of open borders and inflationary spending. These are the same positions that Tester and Brown will no doubt be expected to rubber stamp if they maintain their seats and Democrats retain control of the Senate and the White House.
Regaining a Republican Senate majority has never been more crucial to stop the Harris-Walz dangerously liberal and destructive agenda. Tester and Brown have been in Washington far too long and cannot hide from their history of blind support for the radical Democrat agenda that has pushed our country to economic disaster and lawlessness.
Ohio and Montana voters would do well to tune in to the convention this week and learn more about the unpopular Harris-Walz policies Tester and Brown are trying so hard to dodge. Brown and Tester are Democrats, not independents — for four years, Senators Tester and Brown voted for the Biden-Harris agenda, and everybody knows they would be rubber-stamp votes for the Harris-Walz agenda too.