The Foolish ‘Feelings’ Campaign

If one pays close attention to the Democratic National Convention (and yes, it’s torture), listening for which lines get the most applause, they’ll notice something profound.

It’s mostly bitterness and surrender. Basically, they hate Trump, and they have given up defending the Biden-Harris record. That’s it. How inspiring.

For years, the two parties have been going back and forth on whether Biden was a successful President. By humiliating Joe Biden by having him speak so late that few on the East Coast would see him, the Democrats effectively conceded that the voters don’t want to hear from Biden anymore. Going forward, it seems clear that they plan to ignore his record as much as possible. That’s a huge win for the GOP.

The voters have made clear repeatedly that they care about three issues: the economy, inflation, and immigration. On Friday, Harris tried to roll out an economic policy, and it went so badly that she will certainly try to forget she ever unveiled her plan in the first place. Therefore, this left Democrats at their own convention with basically nothing to say about the main issue worrying most Americans.

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Kamala Harris’s Phony Transformation Won’t Fool Voters

Instead of talking about the issues the voters want to hear about, the Democrats stayed focused on the issues that they and the press care about: diversity, abortion, January 6, and their efforts to put Trump behind bars. They are gambling that with their control over the media, they can convince people to be more concerned about these issues than those that affect their pocketbooks and safety.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania and Michigan, Trump gave substantive remarks talking about how his policies had been good for the people of both states. And rather than running from discussing policy, Vance wrote a detailed piece for the Wall Street Journal about how Harris’s Net Zero policies will devastate the U.S. economy.

It’s a strange bet—and a very risky one—that Democrats are making here. Basically, it requires voters to think about this election as if it were a campaign for high school student council. Just vote for the cool kids—forget the fact that the policies they have will either stay the same or get worse. On the other hand, the GOP is running on a message that we can actually have better policies and higher living standards – if the voters choose the right candidate. Advantage GOP.

Laura Blasts Kamala: All Razzle Dazzle, No Substance

Let’s be clear: the Democrats didn’t want to be here. Back in 2008, when Obama was running for President and the U.S. was dealing with the collapse of a housing bubble, the Democrats talked about policy all the time. Bill Clinton always preferred talking about policy. Even Biden had some policy issues that he mentioned back in 2020. But because the Biden Administration has failed so badly that they can’t defend it anymore, because Harris was a part of that Administration, and because Harris can’t really talk about policy anyway, the Democrats are stuck with a “vibes” strategy.

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With a huge war chest and a sycophantic press corps, Democrats will likely stick to vibes and attacks on Trump to get them across the finish line. This is unwise. If Trump and the GOP continue to hit the issues that matter while the Democrats try to float on feelings, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama will wish they had never set their coup in motion.