One can say a lot of things about Kamala Harris’s transformative campaign but “aggressive” hasn’t been an apt description. Yes, Harris wanted another debate – who wouldn’t, having bested Trump once? Yes, she did a tough “60 Minutes” interview, the one Donald Trump skipped. But she has not done a lot of interviews in neutral or difficult settings, preferring to keep things safe. She had been riding a wave of momentum since taking her spot. But the wave had waxed by the end of September and the gains leveled out. The race was and remains 50-50. And so with little left in the toolbox, she went on to Fox News yesterday and took on the Right. She got beat up a bit but emerged in a much better spot.
The reviews are in. In no way did Harris break new ground or hurl herself over or under a bar. But in an environment where every single point matters, she had to do more. To that end, she accomplished exactly what she needed. She gave as good as she got while proving that she could handle aggressive questioning from the highest level – the most watched cable news network. She likely didn’t lose any support but may have found gains in the only remaining ground – right leaning voters with reservations about both candidates.
Politico broke the interview down and found a lot to like even if Harris stumbled in some areas. As they write:
She fairly smoothly responded to all of the above — even if she didn’t always answer his questions outright. She asserted herself as Baier frequently interrupted her (“But I’m not finished” … “I was beginning to answer” … “May I finish responding, please?”). She pivoted to attacking Trump on the right-leaning network that rarely broadcasts such criticism, emphasizing, for instance, all the former Trump administration officials who say he’s too dangerous to lead again. And she got her points across to Republican viewers
The few remaining votes are not coming from the left. Democrats will either vote for Harris or they won’t vote at all. Fox News happens to broadcast to the people she needs. At the very least the audience heard pushback on an unchallenged narrative. It is possible that some conservative voters have never seen her fight back and may now see her as someone with the stature to stand up to opponents even if her policies don’t align with conservative voters. She did take on the single toughest issue she faces:
Harris found a landing. When Baier played clips of Americans whose loved ones had been killed by an illegal immigrant and asked the VP whether she owed those families an apology, Harris showed empathy and admitted that illegal immigration was a big problem before pivoting to Trump: “But let’s talk about … an individual who does not want to participate into solutions.”
The economy is the number one concern in every single election with the possible exception of this one, at least as seen from a conservative perspective. She had to answer questions on undocumented immigrants and had to offer up her solutions. Congress had part of the answer in a bipartisan bill over the summer and she was right to throw the bill’s demise back into Trump’s lap. He is the one who torpedo’d the stop gap. Trump wanted to run on the issue and wasn’t interested in solutions prior to the election. He played smart politics. It is also smart for Harris to challenge Republicans as to why they stood in the way of a partial solution.
The reality is that she had better be willing to fight because she has a fight on her hands if she wants to win. She needed to show that she’s just as willing to get in the trenches and not give an inch.
But set aside those knee-jerk responses, and you can see the bigger truth: This was a snapshot of a presidential candidate who knows she has work to do to close the deal, and is willing to take chances, play aggressively and, frankly, get comfortable with the street-fight mentality she’ll need to eke out a win.
As I write over and over, the election is 50-50 and Trump can more afford to sit back in a tie and allow supporters to take up the fight while he plays things safe. As frustrating as that might be, it’s very smart – he’s now far too unpredictable in neutral or tough settings to take risks. So, yes – she has to take chances, the ones Trump is unwilling to take. She risks tripping herself up – but that’s also the only way to break through a 50-50 dynamic.
This is an extremely dangerous time. Trump supporters will only accept a victory. They have already shown that they won’t accept certifications in various states. Republicans in Congress have expressed their willingness to ignore norms and procedures, not caring much about the actual vote, wanting to get on with a fight. To that end, fair or not (And it’s not), Harris cannot afford to eke out a narrow victory in one or two states. She has to win decisively. It is not a time to play it safe.
This interview wasn’t optional. She had to go. She did not have to do well – the result wasn’t preordained. She could’ve gotten flattened, blindsided, ultimately losing those few precious points. But she didn’t – she emerged without sustaining further damage. Whether she did enough or even made much traction remains to be seen. The viewers did see bravery and that matters.
She wants to be the first woman president in history. To that end, she had to show fight and the willingness to give back whatever she got. By that measure she did well. The interview was as perilous as it was necessary. Now she must necessarily take more aggressive steps – one sit down will not be enough – nor should it be. But she now has something to build on.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak
This may counter the narrative that she is “dumb” or mentally unable, right to the audience who believe these things.
I agree with your saying Harris didn’t do any damage to herself or candidacy. However I think she gave better than she got from Baier and overall did better than you indicate. I especially enjoyed her calling him out when he tried the stunt of substituting a clip of a Trump answer that didn’t address the matter Baier tried to claim it did. He found himself on the receiving end of a prosecutor pointing out to the judge that the witness’ answer was non-responsive. He smiled through that and some other stuff but he had to be burning up inside. Harris was NOT the least bit intimidated by him and every time he threw a punch she punched right back!
Some of the reaction today from the RWNJs is along the lines of complaints. It’s a tone of them being mad that Harris didn’t just sit there and take her (deserved in their f**ked up minds) beating and collapse in tears. ‘The OMFG she fought back!’ reaction tells me that she came out of the thing just fine. Sure, she probably didn’t pick up many votes from the Fox viewers but Harris and Democrats can taunt Trump the rest of the way over Harris having done that interview and Trump HIDING out from interviews/settings where HE would face adversarial questions. If our side plays this right over time it will turn out to be a win. Not a big one but at the end of a season when the “games” are counted up it doesn’t matter if wins are by small margins or blowouts. They are still wins and every win matters.
I agree Denis, “Politico” and unfortunately Jason, are damning with faint praise! Harris did more than just enough. She told Bret Baier, to his face, that he was a liar and “he knew it!” She called out Baier and all of Fox and other liars! Harris is a skilled prosecutor and politician. She is prepared and ready to bring the righteous anger when it counts most. She is strategic in her aggression and that is part of her brilliance. You may recall that a lot of people pushed at Barack Obama to be the “angry Black man!” Thank goodness, Obama was smarter than that! Anger tempered with singing “Amazing Grace” at a memorial where anger was also in evidence has to be applauded. I trust Kamala Harris! And those who would change her approach (that got her to the VP office Dammit!) can kiss my flabby old ass! 🤬
Oh, I wasn’t trying to give feint praise, only meant to keep it all in context. Put it this way, as you and Dennis note, there wasn’t a ton to “win” in that environment, so it must be seen in that light.
She did extremely well. It was just by its very nature tough to pull a knockout or something – that’s all.
jason
IMO, Kamala has knocked herself-out, proving herself sufficient & fierce. Seems it’s always been this way, when a woman goes-up against “a man’s Job.” I really resent “male superiority” in any form.
Kamala confirmed she has the guts to be POTUS. Yessss!
Let’s see the $90,000,000 rapist on MSNBC . Lawrence would chew him up and spit him out.