No matter what issue is ongoing in any given election, the economy will always be among the top concerns. It definitely is for the 2024 election, and that's been pretty clear since early into Joe Biden's term. The economic downturn his administration brought on has been on the forefront of everyone's minds, and continues to be re-upped with every bill, grocery trip, and payment at the pump.
But it wasn't just called the "Biden Administration." They made it a point to call it the "Biden/Harris Administration," a clear sign that the puppeteers knew from the get-go that Harris taking over at some point was entirely likely given Biden's mental state. As such, this horrendous economy that America is enduring has the Harris label slapped on it as well.
I know it, you know it, your neighbor knows it, and the Trump campaign knows it.
But Democrats seem to have some hope over it. They believe that, given time, they can cook up some sort of messaging that makes the economic argument for Harris seem realistic and attractive. Moreover, they believe they have that time because Trump's campaign is distracted and busy obsessing over Harris's race and ethnicity, according to The Hill:
Democrats haven’t had to worry much about policy during that time, and Republicans have focused largely on identity politics, including Harris’s race and ethnicity. But Democrats say Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), must go on the offensive on the economy before Republicans bring it back to the forefront of the campaign.
“The big question is, ‘Can you win the message war there? Can you convince the hearts and minds, and win the conversation on what the future looks like?’ said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist. “Obviously Republicans traditionally have an advantage on this. But while you’re litigating the last three years, you need to make sure you’re putting it into context about, “Who do you trust in the future” on the economy.
At the moment, Harris is “getting a free pass” when it comes to the economy and other top policy issues, one major Democratic donor said. “But they need to be ready to have a solid economic argument at their fingertips,” the donor cautioned. “Biden struggled to articulate that message.”
To get it out of the way before I continue, I think it's kind of hilarious that the Democrats and the media believe it's Republicans obsessing over Harris's race when we're simply pointing out that Harris went from being Indian to black in the span of a Biden endorsement. Moreover, we aren't the ones creating "White X for Kamala Harris" groups whose entire purpose is to get together and speak for "BIPOC" people.
That said, the Democrats shouldn't think they have any time on the economic question because the chances of them achieving anything close to a competent and believable message on it is about as likely as snow falling from the Texas sky in the middle of summer. Like I said earlier, Harris partly owns the miserable state we're in, so that's going to be the first and most massive hurdle to get over.
But even if they do come up with a competent strategy, their next issue comes in the form of Harris herself, a woman who can't explain anything without it looking like a comedy sketch written by Larry David.
Do you remember Harris trying to explain the information cloud?
Kamala Harris thinks 'the cloud' literally 'exists above us':
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) August 3, 2024
"No longer are you keeping those private files in some file cabinet. It's on your laptop, and it's then therefore up here in this cloud, that exists above us. It's no longer in a physical place."
There are physical… pic.twitter.com/6onsTkyttS
Imagine her trying to explain the economy. Sure, they'll give her a teleprompter, but she can't hide behind those forever. At some point, she's going to have to talk to someone about it off the cuff, and the laugh track better be ready. On top of that, Harris is consistently spouting off Marxist talking points and rhetoric, so I'm interested in hearing how the Democrats are going to make that work.
Trump's campaign knows this, so attacking Harris on the economy isn't as important at this time. Since that area is fortified, the better strategy is to attack other aspects of the Harris/Walz train wreck, including Walz's stolen valor and Harris's... well, everything.
Believe me, the time is coming when the economic issues will be tackled by the Trump campaign, but this is likely where the Harris campaign will find its most difficult moment. They're fighting uphill on slick, muddy terrain, while Trump is fortified and well-armed at the top. During the debate that Harris agreed to, she's going to have to succinctly defend her lousy economy while Trump demonstrated he knows how to create a great one that was only interrupted by a pandemic.
Trump's strategists are weakening the Harris campaign on other subjects now, that is true, but it's only so that when the knockout punch comes over the economy, it lands squarely and knocks Democrats down for the count.
