Donald Trump Is Flailing
Republicans still haven't figured out how to attack Kamala Harris ... and they're running out of time.
I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to become a paid subscriber, you can sign up here.
If money is tight or you’re already up to eyeballs in subscriptions, here’s another idea — share this article. Email it to a friend (or even an enemy). Post it on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Text or email it to your wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, or even your creepy second cousin who lives in Vancouver. Word of mouth is often the best way to build support for a creative endeavor, so if everyone here sends it to just one person … it would be much appreciated!
My Kingdom For A Message
It’s been 11 days since Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 election and endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, for president. Perhaps the most striking development since then is not how well Harris has united the Democratic Party but rather how poorly Trump has responded to the switch.
The Trump campaign has veered from attack line to attack line and failed to develop a consistent anti-Harris message. Is she four more years of Biden’s allegedly disastrous economy? Is she the “border czar” who is responsible for the supposed influx of undocumented immigrants into the country? Is she a “DEI hire,” “San Francisco Democrat,” or “radical liberal” out of touch with ordinary Americans? So far, Republicans have trotted our various iterations of all three arguments in what has been a collective party flail since Harris’s virtual coronation as the Democratic standard bearer. With less than three weeks until the Democratic National Convention — and momentum on Harris’s side — there is an increasing odor of desperation emanating from the Trump campaign.
The trouble for Republicans is that Harris will almost certainly get a boost from the DNC, but more than anything else, she can use the four-day event to define herself and her campaign. Once that happens, it becomes more difficult for Republicans to cast her in a different and more negative light.
Clean Up On Aisle 5
Part of the problem for Trump and Republicans is that they are dealing with the mess that is JD Vance’s vice-presidential campaign. I’ve been following politics for a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a disaster quite like this, with the possible exception of Dan Quayle in 1988. At least Sarah Palin had a memorable acceptance speech at the 2008 RNC in St. Paul. For Vance, nothing has gone right. His now infamous and oft-repeated “cat lady” attack on Harris and other childless Democrats sparked a furious backlash and served as a potent reminder that you mess with cat owners at your peril.
But it’s not just his bizarre attacks against childless Americans that are causing problems. Every day, it seems there is yet another story about Vance’s past disparagement of his running mate or some weird, insulting statement made about women.
In fairness, none of this should have come as a surprise. Vance was a lousy Senate candidate who dramatically underperformed in the Ohio Senate race. He did 19 points worse than Republican incumbent governor Mike DeWine. He was polling so poorly that national Republicans were forced to dump millions of dollars in advertising into Ohio to ensure his victory.
What we’ve seen from Vance over the past two weeks is a candidate who is not ready for prime time and a campaign that clearly didn’t spend any time vetting him before Trump picked him as his running mate. That Trump picked a running mate with such a long paper trail of trashing him is both astonishing and politically idiotic.
Weirdos
The Vance “step on rake” tour has also helped create one of the most effective campaign attack lines in recent memory — that the GOP ticket is a couple of weirdos. It reminds me, in part, of the way that Republicans demonized Al Gore in 2000 and Michael Dukakis in 1988 … that there was something off about these two and not the kind of people you’d want to join for a beer. Weird is an underappreciated way to negatively define your political opponents. But unlike anti-democratic, mentally challenged, or narcissistic (all traits that define Trump), weird is more demeaning and oddly more accessible. Voters get weird, and let’s be honest, Donald Trump is an odd dude.
As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz likes to point out, Trump never laughs. He hugs flags, is afraid of sharks, and talks about Hannibal Lecter way more than a normal person. As for Vance, anyone obsessed with childless cat ladies is kind of a weirdo. These are strange men, and no one really likes strange—at least not in a president.
Playing The Race Card
Of course, the other problem for the Trump campaign is the man at the top of the ticket.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Truth and Consequences to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.