As the Democratic Party faithful gather in Chicago to bestow the presidential nomination on VP Kamala Harris, the silence from the candidate herself has become a deafening roar. Scripted campaign appearances aside, the 2024 hopeful has avoided speaking directly to the press for a total of 30 days – not one substantive back and forth since Joe Biden announced his withdrawal. But with the media clearly keen to support her prospects, why would she not take advantage of the fawning acolytes who are determined to drag her across the finish line?
A Coverage Tsunami
The Media Research Center examined the evening programming of ABC, CBS, and NBC networks to determine which major party candidate was getting the weight of coverage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kamala Harris rakes in the lion’s share.
“The Big Three evening newscasts have delivered Kamala Harris the most positive start to a general election campaign of any presidential nominee in recent memory,” MRC notes. “Not only is she getting the most coverage, she’s also getting by far the most positive press.”
The breakdown shows that since Biden exited the race on July 21, Harris received 66% more coverage than Trump, with a whopping 86% of that being deemed “positive.” In contrast, the tone of discussion regarding the former president “has been nearly entirely hostile (89% negative).”
With this skewed reportage in mind, why would VP Harris not want to participate?
Fourth Estate All-In for Kamala
It seems hardly debatable that the left-leaning media want Harris to win the November presidential election; indeed, the “Kamalamentum” movement is a narrative that can only exist in a heavily biased Fourth Estate environment. But even knowing that she will not face pushback or serious digging on her responses, the Democrat hopeful appears utterly unwilling to engage.
Her surrogates also have the advantage of not being under the same pressure that Republican counterparts have faced. CNN’s Jim Acosta attempted a mild sortie to discover why the VP was not engaging when he spoke with her campaign’s communication director, Michael Tyler, on August 14. “Would it kill you guys to have a press conference?” he asked. Tyler responded by saying that the contender would hold some kind of presser before the end of the month. Acosta did not dig deeper.
The Associated Press on August 10 made its case for why Harris shouldn’t bother with interviews or press conferences, citing a politician’s need to sculpt messaging and control the campaign narrative. The news gatherer noted:
"Interviews and news conferences take that control away… Candidates are at the mercy of questions that journalists raise — even if they try to change the subject. News outlets decide which answers are newsworthy and will be sliced and diced into soundbites that rocket around social networks, frequently devoid of the context in which they were uttered. In such an environment, the value and perception of the sit-down interview has changed — for journalists and candidates alike."
Apparently, no such sensitive message protection is required of Mr. Trump.
A Rose Basement Strategy
It is inevitable that, at some point, Ms. Harris will speak to the press. When she does, two things are all but certain. First, she will only be dealing directly with Kamala-friendly outlets. Even the proposed Fox News debate (one of three - and the only one on a network that has not been openly supportive of her candidacy) appears unlikely to go ahead. The other near certainty is that she will not face hardball questions.
The Fourth Estate is not an unbiased institution that seeks nothing but the unvarnished truth and to hold those at the levers of power accountable. Its denizens want Harris to triumph in November and, more so, want Donald Trump to lose. The journalists will not demand clear policy answers; they will not pick her up on contradictions nor push her on the vast number of 180-degree reversals that have become a hallmark of her campaign so far.
In fact, in terms of providing any answers of substance or dealing with the concerns of the American public, perhaps Kamala Harris is absolutely right: why bother when the media will carry water for her?
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