Members of the press want so much to cover the 2020 Democratic ticket the way newsrooms covered the Obama administration, you can practically feel it.
Buckle up. Instead of more of the Trump-era Golden Age of Journalism, expect a deluge of news reports dedicated to the insipid and inane, including the footwear choices of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris.
“Timbs and Converse? Kamala Harris sports Timberland boots after wearing Chuck Taylor All-Stars,” reads the headline to a USA Today article posted this week to its “Money” section.
The Washington Post reported elsewhere, “Kamala D. Harris goes viral — for her shoe choice.”
On social media, Washington Post national political reporter Matt Viser shared the story, writing, “In a presidential campaign, every move is calculated. But not Harris’s footwear. She has white Chuck Taylor All-Stars — and also off-white, black, and even a still-secret sequined pair.”
On an unrelated note, as California’s top prosecutor, Harris and her office ruined the lives of at least five innocent men — at least. Her office also fought like hell to avoid paying the wrongly convicted.
Anyway, back to the important stuff.
“Internet is raving about Kamala Harris’ sneaker choice,” CNN reports.
Mercury News reports, “Kamala Harris’ ‘Timbs’ and other practical campaign footwear wins Twitter attention,” adding, “Converse sneakers and Timberland boots are part of the vice presidential candidate’s ‘relatable’ wardrobe for recent campaign stops.”
“People Are Low-Key Loving That Kamala Harris Has Worn Converse Sneakers For Much Of Her Campaign,” reads the headline to a report by BuzzFeed senior editor Melissa Jameson.
Yahoo! editor-at-large Brian Sozzi wrote a report titled, “Kamala Harris may have made Timberland boots cool again.” Yahoo! also cross-posted an InStyle report titled, “Kamala Harris’s Shoes Are Doing Just as Much Campaigning as She Is.” Yahoo! also cross-posted a Refinery29 article titled, “Kamala Harris’ Timberlands-Pearls Combo Has Our Vote.”
On a related note, first lady Melania Trump, a literal model, wore Timberland brand boots in 2018 during a surprise visit to Iraq. At the time, Yahoo! published an original article titled, “Melania Trump gets mocked for wearing Timberland boots while visiting the troops.”
Look, this is not to say newsrooms should treat the first lady like some sort of fierce, girl-power fashion icon with frivolous, glowing coverage. In fact, it is to say the opposite. Nonfashion-centric news organizations should refrain from this style of coverage altogether, especially when it involves public figures such as the first lady or the sitting senator running to be the second-in-line to the presidency. But if major news organizations with robust political reporting operations do insist on producing this sort of fluff news coverage, they can at least be consistent. They cannot even manage to report consistently on footwear. That is how broken this stupid industry is.
