I keep seeing this narrative that Kamala Harris is seeing a surge and is landing blows against Trump:
As we know in 2016 at this stage in race, the media was hyping-up Hillary in a similar manner, except that Kamala is in a much weaker position.
Most of this momentum can be explained by the fact that Biden dropping out is a huge news event in its own right. The last time the presumed democratic nominee declined reelection was LBJ. So, unsurprisingly, it’s a big deal owing to its rarity. That is how a news cycle works, so it will eventually pass. It’s not because Trump’s attacks are not sticking, but rather she is coasting off the non-stop media coverage and enthusiasm, as she has been thrust to the political spotlight overnight.
What she makes up for by not being a vegetable, she loses by losing key voters in swing states. She is the political embodiment of the 20-something chick on social media who posts BLM and LGBT content and affirmations of body positivity and boss-girl self-empowerment, if by empowered having leveraged her own sexuality for personal political gain. Except she is 59 and not 29 so it comes off as even more cringe. At some point you are supposed to outgrow that.
She’s appealing to a specific type of person who is receptive to this sort of content or persona, which is a small but devoted audience. As far as winning a general election, it’s terrible, as was made evident by her terrible placings during the 2020 primaries. Like Hillary’s downfall, likeability matters in the end. The girl boss and cat woman demographic is not enough to carry an election.
And the Republicans of course make the mistake of signal-boosting her attacks instead of ignoring them and letting them die. As Noah Smith writes:
“Weird” doesn’t seem like a particularly harsh or savage label. It’s much more milquetoast than any number of insults Trump has deployed over the years. But it appears to be driving MAGA types absolutely up the wall:
The art of war 101: you don’t have to respond to an attack. This is why he was never up for consideration for VP and did so poorly in the GOP primaries despite wasting so much of his own money. He comes off as still in college debate mode. If her attacks seem to stick, it is because Republicans waste 10x the energy trying to refute them instead of waiting for them to pass with the news cycle.