The nascent campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris is allegedly strategizing to cast the 2024 presidential election as a contest between a prosecutor and a convicted felon.
However, the intriguing twist in this narrative is that the "felon" is not the villain of the piece.
Harris's decision to highlight her tenure as district attorney in San Francisco and subsequently as California attorney general could potentially backfire. This strategy might expose her as an ineffective investigator, a proponent of incarcerating impoverished minorities, and a fervent advocate for defunding the police while financially supporting criminals.
Let's delve deeper into Harris's problematic relationship with minority communities, a demographic the Democrats are counting on for making inroads against Donald Trump. According to a video from a 2010 appearance at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Harris enthusiastically recounted a story about threatening parents with imprisonment if their children were truant.
"I believe a child growing without an education is tantamount to a crime," Harris informed the audience. "So I decided I was going to start prosecuting parents for truancy." The video depicts a jovial Harris sharing this anecdote, emphasizing her political leverage to "get those kids in school" by intimidating their parents.
Critics were swift to highlight that Harris's aggressive prosecution of parents disproportionately affected low-income minority families. In another video, Harris can be heard detailing her attempt to intimidate a homeless single mother of three children. As reported by RedState, Harris recounted sending her office's homicide and gang prosecutors to school to meet with the struggling woman, instructing them to "look really mean."
Harris later rationalized her actions, claiming she was merely trying to connect parents with necessary resources, after which charges would be dropped. However, another contentious issue for minority voters is Harris's history of escalating marijuana convictions in California.
As California attorney general, Harris presided over thousands of marijuana-related convictions. Detractors argue that these convictions disproportionately impacted black and brown communities, and that Harris's office resisted efforts to reduce sentences or expunge records. Harris's credibility was further undermined when she admitted to smoking marijuana in high school, leading some to label her a hypocrite.
In contrast to Harris's questionable record as a prosecutor, Trump's reputation has been bolstered by his experiences as a victim of overzealous prosecutors. Craig Scott, self-described as a "Black Robinhood" in a Newsweek op-ed, contended that "Trumps repeated run-ins with the law, and what seems like an unfair obsession with catching him and punishing him disproportionately for his so-called crimes, reminds a lot of us of what was done to us in the black community.
Harris's appeal to certain voting demographics is not as strong as Democrats might hope. Her campaign's strategy to frame the election as a prosecutor versus felon contest could backfire.
Harris's record is not only marred by her targeting of poor minorities in California, but also by her failure to address sexual harassment within her own office. As Attorney General, Harris overlooked a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by a top aide. The case, which involved "gender harassment" and allegations of "demeaning behavior," resulted in a $400,000 settlement and the resignation of the accused aide, who was one of Harris's closest professional confidantes. Harris claimed ignorance of the entire accusation and lawsuit, despite it being reported years earlier.
Harris's ineptitude is further highlighted by her decision in 2006 to grant probation to a man who later murdered two people. During the 2020 race riots, Harris urged people to contribute to a bail fund to free violent rioters, one of whom was later charged with murder.
Harris's record of incarcerating individuals for minor offenses and bailing out those with violent criminal records is further complicated by her vocal support for defunding the police. She applauded the Los Angeles Mayor's decision to cut police funding by $150 million during the riots and advocated for the abolition of ICE, the agency responsible for arresting and deporting dangerous criminals.
Harris's questionable qualifications for her previous roles as San Francisco DA and California AG raise serious doubts about her suitability for the White House. Despite the shortcomings of the current administration, Harris's track record as a prosecutor and her limited responsibilities as Vice President suggest she would not be a significant improvement over Biden.
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