A lot of conservatives are quick to declare Sen. Kamala Harris as a miserable pick for Joe Biden’s running mate. That might be a sign that she was actually his strongest pick.
Contrary to what many on the Right are saying, the criticisms that Harris is “a cop” or “phony” and that, “Oh gosh, she once attacked Biden during a debate!” are not white-hot nails to the heart.
If we have learned one thing over the last two months, it’s that people actually like police. That Harris is “phony” means nothing other than that conservatives and Republicans don’t like her (probably because they’re threatened by her). And as far as the attacks on Biden go, voters seem to understand that politics gets ugly. Biden himself attacked Barack Obama as too inexperienced to be president. Then, Biden was picked as Obama’s running mate, and nobody cared about the past.
Fortunately for the Trump campaign, there’s a wide opening to attack both Harris and Biden that will be effective. The president and his team can force the Biden-Harris ticket to own the Black Lives Matter movement.
And I’m not referring to the cute parts about “racial justice” that the national media focus on. I mean the whole thing — the rioting, the looting, the violence, the arson, the ridiculous demands for reparations, “wealth redistribution,” and race quotas.
To call Harris a “cop” at a time when lawlessness is overrunning the country is precisely the opposite of what Trump and his supporters should be doing. They should be forcing the new leaders of the Democratic Party to own every bit of the terrifying chaos they’ve encouraged.
Biden has said he’s in favor of reallocating funds from police to social programs — otherwise known as “defunding the police.” Harris has said she’s in favor of “reimagining how we do public safety in America.”
Make them both explain how that brings the violent rioting under control. Make them both explain what they would do about the city-sanctioned BLM protests in Portland, Washington, Chicago, and New York and the associated spikes in violent and property crimes. Make them choose between defending the institutions that give order to the country and turning America over to the people who are very actively seeking a revolution that will change everything.
Democrats hesitate to criticize any of it because they’re never asked to, and Trump and his campaign can’t count on Fox News anchors to do it for them. The president is the only one who can push that message beyond the realm of conservative media.
Harris was a smart choice for Biden. Undermining it won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible.
