Kamala Harris is often presented as a fresh new face, a young representative of a new generation in the Democratic Party. But the truth is disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy about the alternative, about the prospect of an erratic 78-year old child running the country.
But putting aside the abundant shenanigans of her opponent, Kamala Harris is the worst of both worlds. I’m here to make the case that she combines the worst of the populism in Trump, and the worst of Democratic Party policy.
Populism Done Differently
One of the most common talking points in anti-Trump circles is that he is overly populist. He convinces the downtrodden that he is their savior, and he implements policies not in the best interests of the people, but in what he’s convinced them are their interests. He crafts a narrative of “the people vs. the powerful”. Fair enough. He does a lot of that. But I can’t shake the feeling that someone else does that exact thing.
Enter Kamala Harris, Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election. Except her populism is a bit different. Instead of laid-off factory workers in Ohio, Harris relies on an appeal to minority communities that’ve also had a rough go of life. This is really more Obama’s strategy outliving his presidency, but regardless, it is still the game plan for the Harris Campaign.
This all means that, in my view, Kamala is just as populist as Trump. She and her boss implement policies that give minorities false hope, just like Trump’s steel tariffs did nothing to help Midwestern manufacturing. Trump and Harris both slam “the elite” while being “the elite”. They both lie to the downtrodden (even more than most politicians), but only one of them routinely gets called “populist”, even by neutral media or individuals.
Policy in Review
But I believe that rhetoric matters less then policy-making, and as such it’s only fair that we take a look at Harris’ governing prowess. The economy, while not terrible, isn’t doing particularly well: inflation is still 0.4% higher than the acceptable 2% mark. And on the world stage the Middle East burns, Ukraine fights on, and the Taliban are free to do as they please.
Yet, Kamala Harris insists that she was in the room and helped make every important decision. So, if she wants to take responsibility for this administration’s actions, I say we oblige her.
The Economy
For this next section, keep in mind that I’m not an economist. I don’t even have a high school diploma. But I do know history, and I do know that certain patterns emerge after 150 years of the current system. With that said, here’s 2 examples of the current administration not recognizing them:
1. As it turns out, a dollar bill might actually lose some of its value when the government starts spending almost 7 trillion of them. Who knew that wildly pumping money into the economy was a questionable idea? Biden and Harris can blame this on greedy companies and their price gouging all they want. But nobody really believes that’s the crux of the inflation issue (even if it’s present to a degree). Trump overspent, but Harris and Biden overspent. It’s the difference between $4.4 Trillion in 2019 vs. $6.75 Trillion in 2024. You can’t continue COVID levels of spending for 3 years and think it’ll all be fine. The solution to the inflation is pretty obviously to lower spending, but Harris plans on escalating the spending. The dollar won’t just stay the mediocre course, it will get worse.
2. But there are other issues. Specifically, deregulation. It’s a necessary factor for businesses to operate absent of (relatively) excessive red tape. I personally know people whose desires to be innovative and start businesses were squashed by the government telling them “no” to ideas that were perfectly reasonable. This same idea also applies to corporations. No, you can’t form the Trade Federation and take over the planet of Naboo. But there’s a middle ground between “Star Wars Prequels” and “the FTC ruining everything.” This administration is very much on the latter part of the spectrum, and that’s a problem. They’ve gunned down scores of mergers that even FTC supporters believed in. This is another aspect of the economy that Harris and Biden can’t seem to grasp. Most economists are in agreement on this, and those guys don’t agree on anything. Ever.
Foreign Policy
This Biden-Harris Administration talks a big game in terms of foreign policy. But I assert that “walking the walk” isn’t really their strong suit. Under these leaders, a trio of major blunders has been made, with conflict sparking in the Middle East and Europe as the Taliban busies itself banning women from talking to each other. Let’s cover each of those 3.
1. Let’s start off with Afghanistan. Now, a withdrawal of troops from a foreign country is never fun, and it’s not typically going to be a pristine process. But this was more embarrassing than any military withdrawal in American history. Biden and Harris insisted on leaving by September 11th, 2021 (not only was it an arbitrary date, it forever marks the 20th anniversary of that horrid attack as the date that we gave up). This caused a gigantic refugee crisis as Afghans rushed to get out, crowding around Kabul Airport. And as a result, their administration is responsible for the deaths of 162 Afghan civilians and 13 American servicemen in the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate. They are responsible for the stranding of tens of thousands of our allies, and they bear personal responsibility for each and every single Afghan that plunged to their deaths after clinging to the side of a USAF plane.
And all of this to be known as “the man who got us out of Afghanistan”…
2. Middle-East policy isn’t some game where diplomats talk for years straight, and then come out the other side having actively handed the enemy a win. Apparently, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris didn’t get that memo. Has the U.S. not learned by now that you can’t compromise with terrorists like those running Iran? Yet the administration continued on the course of “welcoming Iran into the family of nations”, freeing up finances for Iran to fund the very terrorist group whose attack on Israel started all this. But whenever Israel plans to do what is necessary, Harris says “no”. “No” to an occupation of Gaza. “No” to invading Rafah. “No” to victory. They want everything the same when the region must change.
The administration wants to maintain the status quo, even when that status quo is what landed us here, tens of thousands of dead later.
3. With regard to Ukraine, I’m genuinely confounded as to the goal here. They won’t allow Ukraine to use U.S. weaponry on Russian soil, yet they give them ballistic missiles physically capable of that. They throw Bradley IFVs and Abrams tanks into the meat grinder, yet they refuse to encourage a peace settlement. What’s there to be achieved? Ukraine cannot recover its lost territory anymore. It pains me deeply to say that, and I really do understand Zelensky’s hardliner position on “no ceasefire”. But now that the Ukrainian Army is running into manpower shortages, it’s become clear the stalwart underdogs have encountered a problem that nothing can fix. An off-ramp is needed, with supplies to Ukraine sufficient to reach that point.
In summary, this administration is remarkably good at getting America stuck in quagmires, and her allies into horrific situations. Kamala Harris is just more of that, packaged in a series of vague and meaningless word salads.
Conclusions for the Voters
To round this off, I’d like to leave you with a message, for whatever it’s worth. When you go to the polls, you are going to vote for the candidate you believe will be better for the country. I obviously swing one way, you may lean another. You may go out and vote for Jill Stein or Chase Oliver. Maybe this is the Socialist Party of America’s year to shine. But for the love of all that is holy, let us be civilized this year. We remember 2020 and the dumpster fire that turned into. So let us avoid that. Let us recognize the inherent American-ness in the fact that we can put these two people, of the 330 million to choose from, on a stage, and still be the top country on planet Earth. Let us recognize each other as Americans, and let us move on with our lives come Election Day.
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