Do the names John Breckinridge, Levi Morton, Charles Fairbanks, and Thomas Marshall mean anything to you? Each is a member of an ignominious group of former vice presidents who ran for president and lost. Altogether, 29 of the 48 people who have served as VPs have tried to become president, but only ten have succeeded. The nomination of Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party standard bearer now raises the number of presidential aspirants within this unique cabal to 49. Oddly, Ms. Harris is in the peculiar position of being relatively unknown before she wins or loses.
Some might counter that we know all we need to know about Ms. Harris. But the reality is that she has been so mercurial about her policies and positions that the American electorate is left to speculate. Most thought this vital information regarding what she wants to do and why would be cleared up at the Democratic Convention – but that did not happen. How can she still be such an enigma despite serving as VP for almost four years and delivering an address at a party convention dedicated to her nomination?
Speakers at the Democratic National Convention told us about her background. She even spent a good deal of time talking about herself during her acceptance speech. However, many were left with the feeling that she was someone they encountered at a cocktail party who seemed pleasant enough, but little was learned about who she is and what makes her tick.
Moreover, the Democratic convention is over, and the concern is that Americans don’t know why she wants to be president of the United States. Resting one’s outlook on hope and joy doesn’t say a whole lot about that person. Who doesn’t want hope and joy? It’s meaningless claptrap that doesn’t inform us about her character, beliefs, morality, or spirituality.
There are at least three reasons why Harris is nebulous about what animates her: First, she doesn’t want the American people to know because she fears their rejection. Two, she doesn’t really know herself. And three, she is superficial at her core.
However, we do know a couple of things about her: She hates former President Donald Trump and is not interested in engaging with the media. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called her refusal to sit for interviews “profoundly undemocratic” in his campaign suspension announcement speech on Friday, August 23. “How are people to judge when they don’t know whom they are choosing,” he asked. “And how can this look to the rest of the world?” Beyond simply confusing to voters, this avoidance of the Fourth Estate is also a bit out of the ordinary for politicians – except for her predecessor, of course. Most people running for president seek media attention.
Kamala Harris: Tropes and Platitudes Tell Us Nothing
The politics of psychological projection were alive and well at the DNC this year. Television star Oprah Winfrey made a point of saying: “We know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually matters. But we are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery. These are complicated times, people, and they require adult conversation.” Winfrey appeared to be making this statement about the Republicans or Donald Trump, but many felt this is what the DNC served up to viewers. The Wall Street Journal picked up on this:
“Ms. Harris attempted to lay out a vision for her Presidency, but it was mostly empty platitudes. She will provide ‘opportunity,’ though she didn’t say how. She will solve the housing crisis without explaining how or why there is a crisis on her watch. And she will reduce prices, without a repeat of her recent proposal to impose price controls.
"The lack of specificity is part of a strategy to separate herself from the Biden-Harris years by calling for a vague ‘new way forward.’”
Much has been written about Harris and her public policy agenda – or rather, her lack thereof. She has gone on record for policies she now says she’s against. These include, but are not limited to, energy, defunding the police, decriminalizing illegal immigration, healthcare for illegals, and eliminating private health insurance. Harris has done a volte-face on so many issues that it’s impossible to know where she currently stands on any of them. This either makes her one of the least ideologically driven candidates ever to run for president or someone who does not want to tell the American people what she believes in. Perhaps she doesn’t even know.
Most presidential candidates come to the contest with an agenda. However, the Democratic Party appears to be satisfied with Kamala Harris' description of herself in emotional rather than practical terms. Using this broad brush of “good vibes” doesn’t inform an electorate but instead fosters conjecture and speculation. There are many positions one can hold in life that do not require extensive information about one’s beliefs, but the presidency does not fall into this category.
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