In football there’s an old adage that the only thing the so-called ‘prevent defense’ prevents a team from doing is winning. If you’re not a football person it means a team tries to protect a lead by playing “soft” on defense. Being willing to allow the opposing offense to gain yards on ‘short’ plays to avoid giving up a big play that results in a touchdown or near touchdown. Many a team has lost many a game including huge ones due to use of the prevent defense. They either give up a big play anyway, or allow the other team to get close enough that only a short-yardage play or last second field goal is enough. I for one have felt for some weeks now the Harris/Walz campaign has been in a ‘prevent defense’ mode. But as of this weekend it looks like they have decided to play ‘straight up.’
As Politico reports The Harris campaign had dropped an ad flat-out attacking Trump over Jan. 6. It pulls no punches and ends with an ominous warning with the image of J.D. Vance noting ‘this time there will be no one to stop him (Trump). See it for yourself:
It’s not like Harris hasn’t put out some pointed ads and made pointed comments at appearances but using last week’s filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith to create this ad perhaps signals a pretty significant change in the closing weeks of the campaign. It’s taking Smith’s DC filing and putting it front and center. I’d have thought maybe this was a ‘one-off’ except that today VP candidate Tim Walz made like Pete Buttigieg and went into the Fox News lion’s den! And, as this article from Daily Beast indicates like Mayor Pete Tim Walz was ready to verbally slap his interviewer down. Given those two data points and both taking place this weekend I’d say there’s a likelihood things are going to intensify during the next month.
Let’s backtrack some. As you recall Harris consolidated support to become the presumptive nominee with stunning swiftness when President Biden stepped aside. Remember the mantra back then? “The Prosecutor vs. the Felon” was heard over and over again. Harris herself made the point in speeches listing things she’d prosecuted with the tag line about ‘knowing Donald Trump’s type.’ It was effective as hell and put Trump and the GOP back on their heels. The theme resonated with voters and redefined both Harris and Trump in the public minds. Harris hadn’t gotten much positive press in her role as VP and Trump? Well his crimes and even Manhattan conviction was just more noise. But with Harris and that ‘Prosecutor vs. Felon’ theme it all changed.
Trump and his minions kept trying to do the old stuff that worked before. Name calling and lies but Harris kept the pressure on. Then, when it got down to crunch time in choosing a VP candidate there was Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz out there and HE hung the word “weird” on the whole Trump thing and again, it resonated! Polling trends began to shift. Although deep underwater on some things overall President Biden was never as far back as the media made it seem. But Harris slowly and surely built momentum and both she and Walz shined brightly during the Democratic National Convention. Just in time for the Labor Day campaign kickoff.
Then came the one (and it seems only) Presidential debate and Harris cleaned Trump’s clock. She had an almost impossible task in that she needed to whup him BUT not seem “harpy” or “bitchy” about it. Standards that would never be applied to a man. However she pulled it off and since then if she didn’t get a huge bump in polling as I said things seemed to be trending in the right direction. Sure, there were OMFG polls suggesting Trump was suddenly in control but from reputable outlets a close race in the swing states was showing Harris in the better position. And with the funds and organization to turn out the votes AND ready to counter the legal challenges (blocking certification of the votes at the county level) Trump’s campaign had telegraphed.
You might disagree but it seemed like the Harris/Walz campaign went into a ‘careful’ mode. Yes, there were some media interviews since journalists wouldn’t stop whining about it. But for me the real so-called Tell was the VP debate. Vance was/is no dummy. He’s a Yale trained lawyer and knows his way around a political debate podium too. Still, Walz clearly had connected with voters yet as Jenn Psaki noted in post debate coverage for a long while it seemed like Walz had been kept under wraps.
Many, including me were hoping against hope that a plain-spoken Walz would flat-out call Vance a liar during that debate. He was sure to get plenty of chances. Yet while Walz did challenge Vance fairly strongly a few times he seemed to spend much of his time trying to turn the whole thing into a ‘we can disagree without being disagreeable’ show. I’d be okay with that had Vance not spent the entire night in a combination of avoiding answering questions and spouting outrageous lies.
Clearly Walz’s mandate for the night was “be calm and don’t make waves.” I later wrote it was reminiscent of what takes place at many medical schools before their new graduates take the Hippocratic Oath. Contrary to popular belief the line ‘First, do no harm’ isn’t part of the actual oath but my point is that that’s clearly how Walz was prepared going in.
Well, today on Fox Walz was quite willing to call a LIE a lie. It I think startled the hell out of the folks at Fox. Maybe they forgot that Buttigieg had played such a key role in Walz’s debate prep. Mayor Pete always hands them their ass but he keeps getting invited back. I’m not so sure Walz will be!
I’ll admit to some worry these past couple of weeks. As I said if not in a prevent defense it’s seemed to me like the Harris/Walz campaign has been too much about not making any mistakes instead of directly going after Trump (and Vance). Lest we forget Tim Walz was once a football coach, an assistant who didn’t just run the defense – he built one that even won a state championship. He knows all about the prevent defense and the dangers that come from employing it. Today Walz went on Fox and pulled off a “blitz” on the issue of abortion. He pushed back hard at his interviewer and when she gave him an opening he pounced. Walz pointed out that Project 2025 calls for an outright ban and that Trump is trying to walk that back saying he would veto any such ban. From the Daily Beast:
“Are you calling that a flat out lie?” Bream asked Walz.
“Yes, of course. And Senator Vance has in the past said so too,” Walz responded.
He also accused Vance and Trump of making the issue political.
“Now look, they may see this as an election issue. We see it as a right of women to make their own bodily decisions. That’s what the states, like my state, have the ability to put that in.”
“Let’s be very clear: trying to cut hairs on an issue on this is not where the American public’s at.”
So finally we have Tim Walz getting the green light to be plain-spoken midwestern Gov. Walz and call a LIE a flat-out lie. Bluntly. AND on Fox News! That’s why I say they’re unlikely to have him back. Walz isn’t as polished as Mayor Pete but for Fox viewers a plain-spoken Tim Walz is even worse for them to showcase. The main thing is the balloon of Harris/Walz being “afraid” of Fox News has been punctured. I hope this means the campaign brain trust will follow Psaki’s advice and get Walz out there MORE.
As for Harris herself I already alluded to an unfair burden she carries. As a woman, and especially as a model “Strong Black Woman” she has to be unduly cautious in her tone. It sucks but we’re kidding ourselves to pretend otherwise. Worse, black MEN are a group she has to worry about which is why we had the likes of Magic Johnson reminding them yesterday of the promises Trump made to them. And broke. So Harris has become measured in her approach and let’s face it – people don’t like negative advertising in general. However, while people don’t like it the ugly truth is that it’s effective.
With the lies from Trump and his gang coming faster and LOUDER Harris needs to throw some punches. Politically bloody Trump’s nose, and Vance’s too. I’ve spoken about the prevent defense but teams sometimes go conservative on offense. Run “safe” plays and too often wind up punting to the other team. Giving THEM the ball. No, Harris needs to proverbially ‘put the ball in the air’ and stretch the Trump defense. Make THEM defend the whole field.
I’ll close with how I started. The Harris/Walz campaign has as of late seemed to be more concerned with protecting a small lead and not making any ‘mistakes.’ It’s time for the offense to start throwing down field and the defense to start blitzing! It’s time for a return to ‘The prosecutor vs. the felon’ from Harris and the old football coach, Tim Walz the defensive coordinator to start blitzing. Hopefully what we’ve seen this weekend is just the first steps in them doing just that.
You cannot repeat the mistakes made in Europe during the 30s. Bring a rational argument to a knife fight to the death and you’ll end up with your throat cut. THESE ARE NAZIS WE ARE DEALING WITH!
and this time there is someone in the w.h. preparing to clean their clocks. This is not 2020 when a highly stupid and therefore highly dangerous individual occupied the oval.
I will ask this again and continue to ask it until I see something else occurring: do you all think President Biden is sitting on his ass twiddling his thumbs or do you think he is preparing for any possible outcomes?
Harris gives us voters two choices: the past or the future. that’s it. she’s not a boxer in the ring either was Biden. they’re strategists. but is it enough?
watched some football on the TV today. I saw only two political ads. one trump and one Cruz. both ads targeted trans people. I guess that is the last attack that they have left. no inflation nobody is crossing the border economy is booming. so instead they attack a tiny vulnerable population, that’s just sick
I guess it depended on the game you watched. I saw a few Harris-Walz ads and only one or two MAGAMelon pieces, with heavier saturation from the candidates in the NY-04 Congressional race.