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ELECTIONS

“The Election – Character or Issues?” Sydney Williams

http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com

While it appears that we Americans don’t agree on a lot, there is general agreement that our political center has been squeezed by extremists at both ends of the political spectrum. Democrats have moved to the left – toward European-style social engineering. Republicans have become more populist, not in an authoritarian way, but in the sense that they represent ordinary people opposed to elitists in government, labor, finance, business and education. At the far-left are those who fly the Palestinian flag, and sick climate-cultists who destroy works of art to bring attention to their agenda. At the far-right are those who fly the Confederate flag, and xenophobes who would deport illegal aliens. Political choice has become more difficult for those inclined toward a politics of consensus and collaboration.

An emphasis on character by the media has replaced a focus on issues that affect the electorate. While Kamala Harris may have an edge when it comes to character, she is no paragon of virtue. Both candidates are fodder for the tabloids. The crucial differences between them are not in their character; it is their policy prescriptions. Like most politicians, Ms. Harris is chameleon-like when it comes to where she stands, except on issues like abortion, climate change and Hamas. She was, keep in mind, ranked the most liberal of all U.S. Senators in 2019 by GovTrack.us, a non-partisan Congress tracker. In contrast, Mr. Trump, apart from lacking a sense of humor, being a protectionist on trade, and wanting to make America great again, seems devoid of a consistent political ideology. But he has the advantage of not being a pietistic professional politician.

As November draws closer, voters must grapple with multiple issues: the economy/inflation, healthcare, foreign policy/defense, immigration, debt/deficits, abortion, education, climate/environment, entitlements, infrastructure, the Supreme Court, along with myriad concerns regarding the cultural environment, from the role of families, the threat from identity politics, to biological men participating in women’s sports.

Kamala Harris Is a Threat to America by Rich Lowry

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/07/kamala-harris-is-a-threat-to-america/

She can’t disguise it.

A week or so ago, the presidential election got less predictable — and more consequential.

For Kamala Harris, the newly anointed one, there is no part of the American system or compact that’s not up for grabs.

She favors packing the Supreme Court and vitiating or eliminating the Senate filibuster.

In other words, she wants to fundamentally alter two central institutions of the United States government to bring one to heel and to make the other better serve progressive ends. These aren’t 2019 positions. She endorsed Court-packing just days ago and was talking of shooting significant holes in the filibuster in 2022.

She revealed everything you need to know about her regard for checks on executive power during a 2020 primary debate. She laughed off the idea — defended by a Joe Biden then still demonstrating a vestigial institutionalism — that there might be constitutional limits on her ability to unilaterally impose gun-control measures.

It’s hard to imagine a more casual dismissal of the spirit of American constitutionalism.

Harris is hostile to those most American ideals of color-blindness and equality of opportunity, favoring instead the poisonous concept of “equity” that means achieving equal outcomes, as she herself has repeatedly put it. Most politicians at least would have had an internal tuning fork that would prevent them from saying this out loud. Not Kamala.

Of course, she’s a devotee of the 1619 Project, which trashes the history of the country she wants to lead, and a fan of its architect Nikole Hannah-Jones.

She has endorsed the divisive, unworkable, and unjust concept of reparations, although she’s been vague about what it would entail.

Harris Is Recycling the 2020 Democrat Campaign Kamala Harris will struggle to replicate Joe Biden’s 2020 election strategy in 2024 due to her inability to project a moderate image and her radical political history. By Victor Davis Hanson

https://amgreatness.com/2024/08/01/harris-is-recycling-the-2020-democrat-campaign/

Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election through a successful tripartite subterfuge.

One, Biden never really campaigned. His handlers rightly assumed that the more the public and the media saw a debilitated Biden in the flesh, the less they would want him as president.

So, the Biden campaign used the COVID lockdowns to ensure that Biden stayed safe in his basement office.

Biden strategically distanced himself from disinterested journalists, using COVID as an excuse to avoid public appearances. It allowed him to run a 19th-century, front-porch sort of virtual campaign.

In his place, the liberal media, Democratic grandees, and the billionaire donor class served as Biden campaign surrogates—vastly outspending, out-advertising, and out-lawyering the underfunded incumbent Trump.

Second, again using COVID as a pretext, well-funded Democratic legal teams altered the voting laws during early 2020 in key swing states to encourage non-Election Day voting.

For the first time, majorities in many key states voted by mail-in/absentee ballots and during weeks of early voting.

We now know why the left was so motivated to push through radical balloting changes that were otherwise impossible prior to 2020 but have been mostly institutionalized since.

Non-Election Day ballots outnumbered Election Day ballots. They were far more likely to be cast by Democrats. And as the number of such ballots soared, the traditional rejection rate of non-Election Day ballots prior to 2020 fell—even as registrars were swamped.

Once obscure terms such as ballot harvesting and ballot curing became mainstream.

Harris Gets Caught In A Big Fat Lie Right Out Of The Gate

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/08/01/harris-gets-caught-in-a-big-fat-lie-right-out-of-the-gate/

When CNN calls out a Democrat for lying, it’s worth sitting up and taking notice. That’s just what happened last week, after Kamala Harris’ first campaign rally.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” she said in Milwaukee. “He and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. Like, we know we got to take this seriously. And can you believe they put that thing in writing? Read it. It’s 900 pages.

“When you read it,” she goes on, “you will see Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare. They intend to end the Affordable Care Act and take us back, then, to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions.”

CNN, to its credit, read the 900-page document, or at least skimmed it, and in an article headlined “Fact check: Harris falsely claims Project 2025 blueprint calls for cutting Social Security,” it reports that:

The Project 2025 document does not show that Trump intends to cut Social Security; the document barely discusses Social Security at all and does not propose cuts to the program. In addition, contrary to Harris’ suggestion, Project 2025 does not call to ‘end’ the Affordable Care Act or eliminate its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The document does criticize the Affordable Care Act, especially the law’s expansion of Medicaid, but makes clear it is advocating changes to the law rather than terminating the law entirely. (emphasis added)

In other words, Harris is just making sh*t up.

Kamala’s Running Mate Selection Process Takes a Humiliating Turn Matt Margolis

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/07/30/kamala-running-mate-selection-process-takes-a-humiliating-turn-n4931181

Kamala Harris’s search for a running mate has hit yet another snag. Previously, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) took herself out of consideration, and two others have followed suit since dirt dug up on them made them a lot less likely to be picked. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) has been accused of covering up sexual harassment in his office, and then Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has been exposed as the co-founder of a spy balloon company that was partially funded by China. This may not preclude Kamala from selecting either, but it likely hurts both of their chances.

Now, another top contender has taken his name out of consideration: Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.).

According to the New York Times, Cooper “has informed [Harris’s] team that he has withdrawn from the vice-presidential sweepstakes, according to two people briefed on the matter.” 

“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President,” Cooper said in a statement. “I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket.

Clips Of Harris Talking Are The New ‘Cheap Fakes’

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/31/media-now-calls-harris-clips-cheap-fakes/

Credit where due, the New York Times published a report on Monday noting that Kamala Harris has a lot of far-left baggage that she will be struggling with now that the Democratic Party has anointed her as its presidential candidate.

Indeed, she does. And there are reams of videos showcasing her extremist views across the board, fracking, defunding police, abortion, amnesty for illegals, socializing medicine.

But then the Times manages to sabotage its own reporting with this line: “video clips of her old statements and interviews are being weaponized as Republicans aim to define her as a left-wing radical who is out of step with swing voters.” (emphasis added)

Seriously? Showing video clips of Harris when she last ran for president constitutes “weaponizing” them?

This is from the same people who routinely misquote Donald Trump, make up quotes entirely, or try to spin something Trump said as a joke into a national crisis.

In any case, Republicans aren’t weaponizing anything. They are just doing what reporters should be doing, but won’t – informing the public about a person who completely flamed out in her first run for president and whom Biden picked as running mate solely to meet his self-imposed quota.

In a normal presidential campaign, pressing a candidate to justify, defend, or explain away previously expressed views is precisely what the press would do. They’re doing that right now to J.D. Vance.

Kamala Harris: Climate Alarmist, Energy Luddite Succeeding in destroying a nation’s economy. by Chris Talgo

https://www.frontpagemag.com/kamala-harris-climate-alarmist-energy-luddite/

Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s pea-brained energy policies, American families have spent more than $2,500 in higher energy prices since 2021.

Specifically, as detailed in a new policy analysis by The Heartland Institute, under the Biden-Harris administration, energy prices have soared across the board.

In fact, over the past three years, residential electricity prices have increased 23 percent, industrial electricity prices have increased 19 percent, home heating oil prices have increased 69 percent, oil prices have increased 52 percent, natural gas prices have increased 32 percent, and gasoline has increased $0.97 per gallon, or 42 percent.

These steep price increases for energy have taken quite a toll on hardworking Americans, who are also facing persistent inflation outside the energy sector.

To put these statistics in perspective, consider:

“After three years of Biden’s energy policies, the average U.S. driver has spent at least an extra $548 per year in higher gasoline costs while the average household has expended $318 in higher electricity costs.”

Moreover, “Households that use natural gas have spent an extra $586 over the past three years, and those using home heating oil have paid a whopping $3,068 more.”

The Dangers of a President Kamala The coming election: Our Republic’s last chance? by Bruce Thornton

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-dangers-of-a-president-kamala/

As of now, Vice President Kamala Harris looks to be Donald Trump’s opponent in November. She’s secured the pledged support of enough delegates to the DNC for the nomination, and Biden’s $100 million war chest for now will go to her campaign, on top of the donations starting to pour in, and the Democrat Committee’s $91 million. Murkier are her chances against Donald Trump, who leads her in head-to-head polls, and whose campaign has been turbocharged by a spectacular Republican convention and a unified party.

But as Hillary Clinton learned in 2016, and Joe Biden just a few weeks ago, events and contingencies we often cannot predict can change everything in a day. That’s why in politics, as in war, one should heed Sun Tzu’s advice to “know your enemy as you know yourself.”

Harris’s weaknesses are well known from her stints as the District Attorney for San Francisco, Attorney General and Senator for California, and Vice President. All three offices are revealing of her leftist bent, “woke” prejudices, and big-government proclivities, but the latter is the most important job for revealing what kind of president she’ll be.

She is certain to follow Biden’s tax-spend-redistribute economic policies. As the Wall Street Journal writes, “So mark her down as endorsing the spending blowouts that caused inflation, the Green New Deal, entitlement expansions and student loan forgiveness. Until she says otherwise, we should also assume she’s in favor of Mr. Biden’s $5 trillion tax increase in 2025.”And don’t expect a President Harris to increase much-needed defense spending to restore our military’s dangerous deficits in both personnel and materiel.

Liz Peek: America, meet ‘Immaculate Kamala’ – the liberal media’s latest creation

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/america-meet-immaculate-kamala-liberal-medias-latest-creation

With the efficiency of a mob boss scrubbing a hit site, Democrats are cleaning up after Kamala Harris. They are deep into reinventing the presumptive Democrat nominee, lying about her background, removing damaging evidence of her hard-core leftism and presenting to the world, like a proud mom showing off her newborn, a fresh and unsullied face. 

Introducing Immaculate Kamala, an entirely fabricated creation of the left-wing media.

Confused voters must be wondering: why has Kamala Harris been judged one of the most unpopular vice presidents in history? How is it that Democrat kingmakers reportedly conspired for months to eject her from the ticket?    

The liberal media is good at this, and have turned the political conversation on its head in just a few weeks. It seems like yesterday that Donald Trump was cruising to victory in November – some were talking”landslide.” The disastrous debate which revealed Joe Biden’s incapacity, the attempt on the former president’s life, his brave response and a stunningly effective convention showed the GOP united, for once, and poised to clobber the incumbent. 

But now we read the polls are tightening, Harris is hauling in big campaign bucks, rebuilding the Obama coalition, and strengthening her grip on young, female and minority voters. We also read that Republicans are distorting her record. Voters disgusted by the failures of the Biden-Harris administration over the past three and a half years are being told their judgment (and recollections) about Harris are wrong, that she had little influence over decision-making in the White House. 

Frenemies to the End So much for the myth of No-Drama Obama, whose endorsement of Kamala Harris is a win for Joe Biden and a loss for America. By Steve Gruber

https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/30/frenemies-to-the-end/

When an ex-president loses control, when he no longer controls the man who pretends he is president or the woman who wants to be president, when the ex-president is Barack Obama, leading from behind looks like what it is: a losing strategy.

So much for the myth of No-Drama Obama, whose endorsement of Kamala Harris is a win for Joe Biden and a loss for America. So much for the myth of Obama as the silent arbiter—the final voice, so to speak—of the Democrat Party. So much for the myth of Barack and Michelle Obama as the demigods—more like demagogues—of Democrat politics, because their phone call to Harris sounded as sincere and spontaneous as a coerced confession.

The call was a concession. The drama between Obama and Biden, of the former pushing the latter aside, ended with the anointment of Harris. By the time Obama called Harris, his time—the time necessary to back another candidate—had passed. By the time Obama “endorsed” Harris, all other Democrats and donors had spoken.

With Biden still in the White House, Obama is out of time and out of luck. The ex-president lost to a man who was his second-in-command, who is in command of nothing. The country lost, the country is at a loss, as we do not have a commander in chief.

Between an attempt on the life of our next president, Donald Trump, and the attempt to install Kamala Harris as president, between the incompetence of the director of the Secret Service and the incompetents occupying the White House, we do not need more drama.

We recognize the stories about Obama’s purported genius, about his shrewdness as a politician and his sharpness as a leader, for what they are: lies.