OPINION:
President George W. Bush’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez recently penned an op-ed in Politico in which he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the nation, despite admitting, “We do not yet know exactly how Harris will govern if she is elected.”
It is utterly nonsensical, if not idiotic, that a person of his stature would endorse someone for president while admitting he doesn’t understand her governing philosophy. Any suggestion that anyone doesn’t know how Ms. Harris will govern is simply being fundamentally dishonest with the American public.
Even though the Trump campaign has inexplicably been unable to articulate the breadth and depth of Ms. Harris’ radicalism, she has told the public exactly what she supports and how she will govern. Ms. Harris supports, in part:
- Eliminating private health insurance
- Carbon and Use Taxes
- Speech Codes and Censorship enforced by the Department of Justice
- Critical Race Theory
- The Green New Deal
- Killing Pipelines
- Open Borders and Fast-Track Citizenship for Illegals
- Taxpayer Funding for Trans Surgeries for Kids
- Destroying Women’s Privacy by Allowing Men into Bathrooms and Locker rooms
- Drag Queens in Schools
- Books with Sexual Content in Schools and Libraries
- Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Up to and Beyond Birth
- Reparations for Slavery
- $5 trillion in Tax Increases, Including on Unrealized Gains
- So-called “Free” College
- Massive Increases in Welfare, Including Benefits for Illegal Immigrants
- Soft on Crime District Attorneys
- Lawfare Against Political Opponents
- Trillions in More Spending
Ms. Harris’s few public appearances and interviews feature a carefully crafted message of either a whole lot of nothing or a deceitful attempt to look like a centrist. Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders said the quiet part out loud on Meet the Press a couple of weeks back. Mr. Sanders admitted she’s just trying to win an election, but her values and positions really haven’t changed.
As today’s Democrat Socialists do, she will lie to the American people in an attempt to look more moderate and then govern from the far left. It’s what the Left did to advance then-candidate Barack Obama, and later Joe Biden, and they are trying to do it again. You’d have to be blind not to see the pattern of behavior.
What does this all mean for Donald Trump? In another twist of the 2024 political soap opera, the former president now has every opportunity to present himself as the safe, moderate and pragmatic choice in the election.
Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan – who is no fan of Donald Trump – came to the correct realization in a recent column when she said that this is a “path election,” not a “person election.”
You don’t have to like Donald Trump to realize that the path Kamala Harris will set us on will damage human freedom and flourishing, perhaps unlike anything we’ve seen in this country before.
Moderates and independents, who will determine the outcome of this election, want some degree of pragmatism. They want a leader of conviction but also want to see real, definable progress on the issues they care about.
Mr. Trump’s freewheeling style can be hard to swallow beyond his base. But there’s a reason why the Harris campaign is talking about a “new way” forward. Independent, moderate swing voters want a change from the failures of Mr. Biden. That’s not the vice president.
Republicans have tried to convince people for years that Mr. Trump is a conservative, while Democrats have poured billions into painting him as a right-wing extremist. Mr. Trump is neither.
Following the debate, focus groups or voter analysis conducted by Reuters, Fox News, and the New York Times showed that Mr. Trump performed better than Ms. Harris among independents.
If Donald Trump can articulate to suburban voters outside of Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Detroit that he will keep their communities safe from the cartels, gang violence and crime from illegal immigrants, he wins. He wins if he frames himself as a commonsense problem solver and articulates a strong tax cut and affordability plan.
In any election, there is a temptation to talk only to your base, to address too many issues, and to overcomplicate your message. The former president is often guilty of this lack of discipline.
Democrats have proven it doesn’t take much to frame yourself as a safe, pragmatic and moderate voice while framing your opponent as an extremist using their own words. Hour-long speeches aren’t necessary. Long press conferences aren’t necessary. Shifting wildly between a dozen issues isn’t necessary, nor are silly nicknames and personal grievances.
And for God’s sake, stop talking about cats.
Simplify the message and target moderates and what Democrats want to make a “person election” —- all about Donald Trump — suddenly becomes a “path election.” A path to victory for Mr. Trump.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax Television and a Washington Times columnist.
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