The theme of my piece yesterday was that Republicans shouldn't get too bogged down over how to run a successful campaign against a Democratic ticket led by Kamala Harris. The playbook is pretty simple: Showcase her high-level complicity in the outrageous deception about Joe Biden's condition, highlight her shared responsibility for failed and unpopular Biden-Harris policies, and make every swing voter aware of her truly radical leftist agenda -- likely in reverse order. On policy, Donald Trump is the moderate in this race; Harris is the extremist. What's useful to her opponents is that Harris publicly and often ostentatiously embraced every far-left fantasy under the sun during her failed 2020 presidential campaign, which died in 2019 before a single vote was cast, due to lack of support. She was trying to run in the hard-left 'lane,' alongside the likes of socialist Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Nobody pursuing that route to the Democratic nomination wanted to be out-flanked to their left, so they ended up embracing reckless and radical ideas that are anathema to sensible, middle-of-the-road voters.
It was that exact fear that drove Democrats to coalesce around Joe Biden, resuscitating his campaign in South Carolina. Biden marketed himself as a grandfatherly figure who was moderate, unifying, and normalcy-minded. But he governed closer to the way that Harris et al campaigned, and the country is much worse off for it. Kamala Harris is dramatically to the left of Biden -- and the country. Harris is going to try to convince a sliver of swing voters in key states that she's not too extreme to be president, and that Trump is scarier. Her own words and record belie that case. Indeed, prior to joining the Biden ticket and administration, Harris worked to become the most left-wing Senator in the entire chamber:
While in the US Senate, nobody was to the left of Kamala Harris. Not even Bernie Sanders. https://t.co/djxj1k4grg pic.twitter.com/My6vAJWhVo
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) July 22, 2024
Number 100 out of 100. She ventured further out onto that limb than Bernie Sanders. Harris is on the record about all of it, often on camera. These aren't grainy, dated-looking pieces of footage from decades past. They're very recent. She looks and sounds the same. Here she is, in her own words. Biden's Border Czar (and despite the shameless revisionism happening at the moment, that's exactly what she has been, resulting in a record-shattering tidal wave of illegal immigration) supported eliminating and 'reimagining' the ICE enforcement agency, de-criminalizing illegal immigration, and forcing taxpayers to fund illegal immigrants' healthcare plans. All of these positions would have made the breathtaking crisis over which she's presided significantly worse. She apparently believes she hasn't quite done enough damage yet:
FLASHBACK: Kamala raised her hand in favor of *decriminalizing* illegal border crossings pic.twitter.com/VLcvvBQFmg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 21, 2024
FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris wants to abolish ICE:
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 22, 2024
“I think there’s no question that we’ve got to critically re-examine ICE, and its role, and the way that it is being administered, and the work it is doing. And we need to probably think about starting from scratch."
Video from… pic.twitter.com/ssrLreycwA
2 years ago today, Kamala Harris said she supports giving illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded health care.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 12, 2021
Rhetoric like this is driving Biden’s border crisis.pic.twitter.com/h7QHvCknc4
The last time @KamalaHarris ran for president, she was one of the first on the debate stage to raise her hand in support of taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/mI7BSlTFzZ
— States Trust (@StatesTrust) July 23, 2024
She wants taxpayers to provide health insurance plans to illegal immigrants. She's also called for the complete elimination of private health plans relied upon by approximately 177 million Americans, the vast majority of whom are happy with their existing arrangements. She wants the government to replace all of it. The cost of this scheme is estimated to be more than $3 trillion annually, on top of all the other deficit-exploding federal expenditures, which would require staggering tax increases on all Americans to even come close to covering. You thought inflation was bad the last few years? Imagine trillions in new and additional spending piled atop the Biden-Harris inflation-fueling binge -- in perpetuity:
Calling for Medicare for All, Kamala Harris says of private insurance: ”Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on.” pic.twitter.com/xT2I5IZDfT
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) January 29, 2019
On energy and environmental issues, Harris is an enthusiastic endorser of the extreme 'Green New Deal,' which a top AOC confidante admitted was more about wielding economic control than saving the planet. Harris supports killing the Senate filibuster to railroad through $50-to-$93-trillion in new spending over the next decade, with a Bloomberg writer pegging the overall price tag at $6.6 trillion every single year. That's more than the US government spent last year on everything else combined, resulting in a stunning deficit of $1.7 trillion. Harris' plan would more than double total federal spending (not counting all the new spending on her healthcare scheme would necessitate). It's genuinely insane, completely unsustainable, and would make Bidenflation look like child's play:
Kamala Harris in 2019.
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) July 21, 2024
"I am supporting the Green New Deal" pic.twitter.com/XDIcjKJ8jr
Harris is a radical. Her failed 2020 campaign, which didn't survive 2019, is a goldmine: pic.twitter.com/IOHVU4gskR
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 21, 2024
There's more. If you're a fan of much higher energy costs, you have your candidate:
This is who Bob Casey just endorsed for the presidency.
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) July 22, 2024
Kamala Harris: “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.” https://t.co/Iwrb2F30XI pic.twitter.com/fASwfSc4u3
FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris: “yes” we should ban plastic straws. pic.twitter.com/yNjATruZOs
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 21, 2024
She also said this, in the name of saving the planet:
CNN: "Would you support changing the [government's] dietary guidelines...to reduce red meat specifically?"
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 24, 2024
Harris: "Yes, I would!" https://t.co/5AbzEsoEYn
On public safety, Harris will lean into her 'tough prosecutor' image, though her priorities in that role have been excoriated by some on the Left, including this memorable debate-stage upbraiding by Tulsi Gabbard. But Harris nearly lost a statewide race to a Republican in 2010, even as the rest of the Democratic ticket sailed to victory by double digits. What issue nearly cost her that race?
As San Francisco district attorney, Harris declined to seek the death penalty for a man who had murdered police officer Isaac Espinoza with an AK-47 in 2004. At Espinoza’s funeral, Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein called on Harris to seek the death penalty and received a standing ovation from police officers in attendance. “This is not only the definition of tragedy, it’s the special circumstance called for by the death-penalty law,” Feinstein said. California enacted a law in 1977 allowing the death penalty only in special circumstances, including when a police officer is murdered. In early April of this year, Espinoza’s widow spoke on camera for the first time. “She did not call me,” Renata Espinoza said of Harris in a tearful interview with CNN. “I felt like she had just taken something from us. She had just taken justice from us.” When Harris ran for attorney general in 2010, the only time she has faced a Republican in a statewide election, her handling of the Espinoza case was a major campaign issue. She won the election by less than one percentage point while every other Democrat running for statewide office won by double digits.
Team Trump should get in touch with Officer Espinoza's widow. That's an ad. By 2019, Harris was paranoid about appearing too tough on crime, given the temperature of her party's base. She 'read the room' and decided that it was time to "reimagine" policing, slash police budgets, and have a 'conversation' over whether convicted mass-murdering terrorists should be able to vote in our elections. During the violence-plagued summer of 2020, Harris urged her supporters to contribute to a bail fund to help secure the release of rioters and criminals, some of whom turned out to be extremely dangerous people. Her appeal is still active. They will yell and scream about the characterization, but Harris absolutely is a 'defund the police' acolyte:
Kamala Harris supporting Defunding the Police in 2020 Harris strongly supported removing funds from police and moving the funds to welfare, housing, health care, and other benefits. https://t.co/WO7rpXfXBn@KamalaHarris @VP #Election2024 #police #crime #DefundthePolice pic.twitter.com/XVoE2k3psX
— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) July 22, 2024
Kamala Harris is one of the original supporters of the “Defund the Police” movement that has swept across America.
— Joshua Walker (@RedsRepair95) July 23, 2024
She’s in favor of creating a federalized police force that will enforce the will of the bureaucrats.
She must not be elected.pic.twitter.com/oRUwJzp03A
FLASHBACK:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 21, 2024
Kamala said it's "wrongheaded" and "outdated" to think police officers make communities safe: "What we will do is reimagine public safety." pic.twitter.com/gQgE7qF50l
FLASHBACK:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 21, 2024
"People who are convicted, in prison, like the Boston marathon bomber, on death row, people who are convicted of sexual assault — they should be able to vote?"
KAMALA: "I think we should have that conversation." pic.twitter.com/Mvkg5GRGlB
Harris is also an unscrupulous virtue signaler with little regard for facts, especially when there's an identity angle she feels she can exploit for political gain. These tweets, for example, are still live:
Michael Brown’s murder forever changed Ferguson and America. His tragic death sparked a desperately needed conversation and a nationwide movement. We must fight for stronger accountability and racial equity in our justice system.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 9, 2019
.@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2019
This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.
Michael Brown was not "murdered," as even the Obama-Holder Justice Department concluded years prior. That's an irresponsible lie. And perhaps one might even respect Harris for declining to take down the Smollett post, given everything that was quickly revealed about the hoax. In fact, the hoax was aimed directly at people like...Kamala Harris. In short, the best case against Kamala Harris are words and soundbytes from Kamala Harris herself. If people dislike what she and Biden have done to the country, the stark reality is that under her preferred, even more left-wing policies, everything would be far worse. She's a San Francisco leftist without the instincts or pragmatism of Nancy Pelosi. Her record and positions are toxic. There is a lot to work with here, and Republicans should focus group which of the statements above are most damaging, which may vary by state. I'll leave you with my commentary to this effect on Special Report, followed by an excellent blueprint for the type of ad that must run in every battleground, as soon as possible. Break it up by issue, and/or condense it down to 30 and 60 second spots. No scary voiceover needed. Just her words:
Echoed this theme on the panel tonight: https://t.co/vjQXnZr4nv pic.twitter.com/Zy2uNrc0Dm
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 23, 2024
Republican operative texts me this McCormick ad and says, “What voters down ballot will be seeing in every Senate race from NV to PA until November”:pic.twitter.com/WHXwEWIXTP
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) July 24, 2024
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