EMILY’s List, a powerful political PAC that supports pro-abortion women candidates, is coming to the rescue of Kamala Harris. The group said it will spend “tens of millions of dollars” to support her and help her as she goes into the 2024 election.
No matter how many times the Biden administration tries to give her a makeover or her inner circle of friends tries to bring out a new and improved Kamala Harris, nothing seems to work. Her poll numbers are even lower than Joe Biden’s. That is saying something. As a rule, big donors concentrate on the top of the ticket and the vice president is along for the ride. This time is different.
If you listen to the message coming from another woman candidate, pro-life Republican Nikki Haley, you will hear that a vote for Joe Biden in 2024 is a vote for President Kamala Harris. Her opinion is that Biden will likely not survive a full second term and Kamala will become president when he steps down or, in the most dire circumstances, dies. Haley also calls for cognitive testing on candidates over the age of 75. This is what happens when the two top leading candidates for president are 80 (Biden) and 76 years of age (Trump). Neither man is what he was just a few years ago. Trump isn’t as feeble as Biden and he isn’t frail as Biden is now, but it’s clear that they are both too old for the job.
Loyal Trump supporters may not agree with me but just watch Trump on the stump during this campaign. His crowds are smaller and he has, dare I say it?, lower energy than he used to have as he delivers his blistering speeches. His base supporters will probably stick with him but independent voters and disenchanted Republican voters are looking for a younger, fresh candidate to support this time around.
Kamala doesn’t have an age problem. She’s 58 years old. She does have a problem with the public taking her seriously. She is better known for her random, awkward cackle laugh than she is for serious policy initiatives. She does not have any successes to point to as accomplishments of her time as vice president. At least, not yet. EMILY’s List will be promoting any successes possible. The group will present Kamala as a solid replacement should the need arise and Biden is no longer president.
The message from Republicans is that a Kamala Harris presidency would be a disaster for the country. It may not seem so but she is actually smart, unlike Joe Biden.
“She is a boogeyman that Republicans can [and will] use when it comes to pushing their message,” a senior Republican strategist said, speaking anonymously to discuss election season strategy frankly. “A President Harris would be even worse than a President Biden because she campaigned as a progressive fighter and had to moderate herself when she became Biden’s running mate. And to be completely frank, she’s smart. She’s an accomplished prosecutor. She was a United States senator. And she does have the resume to match.”
Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY’s List, told POLITICO that the effort is not to redefine but to “remind” voters of the politician that electrified enough of the party as a freshman Senator to have the juice to run for president.
“We’re going to tell the story about who she is, what she’s done, support her at every turn and really push back against the massive misinformation and disinformation that’s been directed towards her since she’s been elected,” said Butler, a longtime Harris ally.
Her job performance contradicts her professional resume and her intelligence. We just haven’t seen it. She makes speeches without proper preparation and has a hard time articulating a message to an audience. She gets stuck on a phrase and repeats it, whether it makes sense to do so or not. EMILY’s List has its work cut out for them. Past efforts have gone nowhere.
The group will spend its millions of dollars by targeting voters on various platforms and are open to leaving everything on the table. They already have a Twitter account established for her to promote her accomplishments. It’s “Madam Vice President” and I would imagine it will be more active now. EMILY’s List spend $10M in 2020 after she was announced as Biden’s choice as his running mate.
Some critics point to sexism or racism when it comes to poor press coverage of Kamala or less-than-complimentary coverage. That’s a trope. If she was doing a good job and making progress in her role, there would be fawning pieces on her regularly. We’ve already seen her coverage in traditional women’s magazines and fashion magazines. They all have slobbered over the fact that she is the first bi-racial woman vice president. She is the one who makes issues into racial issues. Remember when she posted an appeal for people to contribute to a fund for bail money for BLM protesters who were arrested? That gesture was seen as an anti-law and order, anti-cop move, which was odd for a former prosecutor.
We’ll see if flooding millions into a good public relation effort for the vice president makes a difference. I think at this point, people have already established an opinion of her. Trying to promote her as something new and improved will likely ring hollow when we see her on-camera at events. That’s why past efforts have failed. No one believes it.
