In a recent opinion editorial by Christopher Bedford for The Blaze, the author scrutinizes the current state of Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.
Bedford questions whether the campaign's focus can secure an election victory.
Harris's campaign launch was marked by a get-out-the-vote message recorded on RuPauls Drag Race. Bedford wonders if Harris is the politician who can successfully reboot the campaign given its early stage.
The campaign recently held a two-hour Zoom call for white women for Kamala, which was plagued by technical issues. The call featured a poet dressed like Steve Urkel addressing her privilege, a woman questioning the acknowledgment of her white identity, and pop artist Pink calling in from a private jet. Soccer activist Megan Rapinoe also made an appearance.
Meanwhile, Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, was unaware of President Joe Biden's decision not to run because he was attending a SoulCycle session in West Hollywood with gay friends. Bedford suggests these incidents indicate the campaign's political priorities.
Despite technical issues, the Zoom call raised over $2 million, demonstrating the Democrats' eagerness to support a campaign they believe can win. Bedford points out that the combination of activist support, media efforts to rewrite Harris's history, and social media algorithms promoting Harris may not guarantee a win. He argues that the campaign needs to appeal to voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan, the Rust Belt swing states, to secure a victory.
The New York Times newsletter noted that Harris is more popular among younger voters and voters of color but less so with older voters and white working-class voters. This demographic discrepancy could pose a problem for Harris's campaign, as swing states are predominantly old, white, and working-class.
Early polling numbers place Harris slightly behind former President Donald Trump, similar to where Biden stood before his debate. Bedford suggests that if Harris's position remains unchanged after the media rollout, the initial excitement may wane.
Bedford also highlights Harris's left-leaning political stance, as evidenced by her 2019 ranking by GovTrack, which placed her to the left of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. He mentions Harris's controversial views on defunding the police, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, shutting down American energy, decriminalizing illegal border crossings, mandating gun buybacks, and allowing the Boston Marathon bomber to vote.
Bedford concludes by suggesting that Harris's campaign strategy may be more of a feature than a bug, and that those within the campaign bubble, like Emhoff at SoulCycle, may not realize the reality of their situation.
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