In late 2023, Washington Examiner columnist Byron York presented his views on Donald Trump and the 2024 presidential campaign. York wrote, “Trump has the simplest campaign pitch in the world: 1. Things were good when I was president. 2. Everything went to hell when Joe Biden became president. 3. Elect me and I’ll make things good again.” We all know that things have changed since 2023, mainly Biden no longer being the candidate. Since the new democratic candidate is the current vice president, in reality the only change is the personality, not the policies. Despite her attempts to make people believe otherwise, the policies of Kamala Harris have been, and will continue to be, the policies of Joe Biden. She has a record as a senator, a record as vice president, and many video clips of her through the years stating exactly what policies she supports.
Despite her efforts to walk back her past, Harris continues to make statements that reinforce both her record and concerns that many have regarding her policy positions. For example, in a September 2024 interview with Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC, Harris did little to calm the concerns of those who question her judgement and her policy positions.
On immigration, Harris took no responsibility for being border czar and presiding over the border disaster that we have all endured for the last four years. According to polls, there seems to be a fairly broad consensus that the border was better under Trump’s policies and that the Harris-Biden administration wrecked the border by reversing those policies. Instead of owning up to this, Harris tried to blame Trump for a border bill that failed earlier in 2024, while never acknowledging that she is part of an administration that can, without congress, simply reverse themselves and implement the policies that were in place before they took office.
On the economy, Harris talked about tax credit proposals for child care and home ownership, and stated that she planned to pay for these by raising taxes on corporations and those making over $400,000. When Ruhle asked her how she would raise taxes if congress refused to go along, Harris responded in a way that did not really answer the question. Interviewer Ruhle, who is a known Harris supporter, later criticized Harris for not answering.
In addition to avoiding answering questions that related to her own policies, Harris wrongly accused Trump of losing over 200,000 manufacturing jobs during his term in office prior to the pandemic. This prompted CNN, a network which would never be accused of being a fan of Trump, to issue a statement correcting the record. Per CNN, “Harris’ claim is false. Trump presided over a gain of 414,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs, not a loss of ‘at least 200,000,’ before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.” Although they did state that Trump lost some manufacturing jobs during the pandemic, these losses were far below the 200,000 claimed by Harris.
Interestingly, perhaps because of her support of Harris, Ruhle asked no questions about inflation, crime, the Afghanistan withdrawal, or the wars taking place in Ukraine and the middle east. It was just the sort of softball interview that you would expect to take place when the interviewer wants to help the person being interviewed. Despite this, it is obvious that Harris did not hit this interview out of the park. As a matter of fact, when you consider the post interview criticism that she received from Ruhle, CNN, and The New York Times, it is fair to question whether she even got a base hit.
So, what should we make of the Harris interview and her candidacy? In short, I believe it means that Byron York’s 2023 assessment of the race is still valid today. Harris is part of the current administration; she is not a change candidate. The only thing that her election would represent would be a doubling down on more of the same failed policies that we have seen over the last four years.
I have seen some recent news stories claiming that Harris has overtaken Trump in recent polls related to how each is viewed on the economy; however, I have a very difficult time believing such polls are accurate. I once read a quote that said, “torture statistics and they will confess to anything.” This quote accurately sums up what I think about many of the polls that we are seeing each day.
Everyone always wishes there was a perfect candidate to support, but there is no such thing. In this election we have two people who are imperfect, just like all of us, who both have records that we can judge. In the case of Donald Trump, there is a record of a booming economy, energy independence with low energy prices, a reasonable cost of living, a secure border with relatively low crime, and peace around the world. With Kamala Harris, we have a suspect economy, high energy prices with a dependence on foreign oil that threatens our security, a high cost of living, an unsecure border with high crime, and wars around the world. I don’t know about you, but a look at these facts makes the decision for whom I will vote this year relatively easy.
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