There’s a new twist in the run-up to Election Day, and you can file this under “You’re just now thinking of this?” Democrats, it seems, are a bit worried that Kamala Harris’s economic message isn’t getting out.
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I think they are missing the point.
Democrats are frustrated Vice President Harris hasn’t done more to sell her economic message and worry former President Trump continues to have a sizable advantage on what many voters say is their No. 1 issue.
Harris has focused on attacking Trump in recent weeks. But she has lost ground to him in the polls, as voters say they are less likely to be motivated by additional criticisms of Trump, whose flaws are well-known after standing in the national spotlight for more than eight years.
The Harris campaign says it will put more focus on the economy in the final week of the campaign, but abortion-rights and criticisms of Trump’s character get more applause at Harris’s rallies with stars such as Michelle Obama, Bruce Springsteen and Maggie Rogers.
She has lost ground to Trump because her message, to put it bluntly, stinks. Her delivery of her message likewise stinks. Her running mate stinks. Her speechifying stinks. She’s just a bad candidate, but on economic issues, she’s really a bad candidate, and if Democrats are saying, “We’re worried Kamala’s economic message isn’t getting out,” then a significant portion of the American populace is asking, “What economic message?”
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Some Democratic strategists view Harris’s scathing criticisms of Trump as necessary and effective, but they acknowledge she could be doing a better job of talking about the economy — a challenge that also vexed President Biden before he dropped his bid for reelection.
“Where I don’t think she’s done a good enough job is, [Trump] gets away with saying, ‘The economy is the worst it’s ever been, there’s more unemployment, inflation is the highest it’s ever been.’ None of that is true,” said Steve Jarding, a Democratic strategist.
And that’s the problem with strategists like Steve Jarding. He says, “None of that is true,” about a range of things that are literally all true. The economy is not doing well. Unemployment is only fair but labor force participation is only at 62.7 percent. This, unlike the unemployment numbers, includes people who have dropped completely out of the workforce and are not drawing unemployment. This indicator has never recovered to pre-COVID levels. Inflation is still higher than it was during Donald Trump’s first term, even as it’s down from the horrible Biden-era highs.
Steve Jarding, not Donald Trump, is wrong on all these things. And Kamala Harris hasn’t a leg to stand on here.
See Related: New WSJ Poll Is a Devastating Back-Breaker for Kamala Harris
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It’s not that Kamala Harris’s economic message “hasn’t broken through.” It’s that she doesn’t have an economic message. “Making the rich pay their fair share” isn’t an economic message; it’s stoking envy in return (she hopes) for votes. And it’s easy to see why Kamala Harris thinks this is a winning message, as it’s all she knows. Unlike Donald Trump, she’s never been in the private sector – I do not count any rumors of jobs at McDonald’s. She’s never had to make a payroll. She’s never had to pay taxes on inventory or maintain a physical plant. She’s never had to hire and fire private-sector employees. She’s never had to answer to shareholders.
Kamala Harris has no economic message. That’s because she knows nothing about the economy – about what drives it, or what makes it work. That, folks, is the message, and it is getting out.
