Kamala Harris’ unforced primary campaign

Just 10 days ago, Vice President Kamala Harris was pulled out of the basementof the Naval Observatory, given a glow-up, and debuted like a fresh new candidate for a tired Democratic Party. A corporate media that had closed ranks to march the old man off the ticket was now lockstep in support ofthe “cool” new “pick." In tandem with TV hosts and pundits, the media launched a concerted campaign to label the other guys “weird.”

It was a bold tactic from the party of hair-sniffing, dress thieves, naked gender-benders on the South Lawn, and West Hollywood SoulCycle, but the internet activists loved it. Take a peek behind all that girlboss energy, however, and you’ll notice a general election campaign unlike any we’ve seen in 50 years.

It seems the Democrats have confused voter energy with Zoom activist energy. And that energy is real. It’s not normal people energy, though.

There’s the surface-level stuff, like launching the get-out-the-vote effort on “Ru Paul’s Drag Race.” There are more serious tells, like hosting a series of internet rallies segregated by race, gender, and sexuality. And then there’s Joe Biden’s plan to break and remake the one branch of government that sometimes resists Democrats’ every whim, which Harris quickly endorsed. From the glitter to the gears, the sum of the first week and a half of the campaign is a vision for a radical, norm-smashing, institution-breaking agenda.

And this is in July.

That’s not your usual presidential campaign. It's much more the sort of thing Democrats (and in the reverse, Republicans) do during the primaries, which these days generally wrap up in early spring. Harris didn’t get that chance because there was no actual primary. She didn’t have the opportunity to get the activists in line and excited to text all their friends to vote for the new girl. So now, fewer than 100 days from the general election, she’s going full weird.

“We’ve got to keep the energy going,” former Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak (Nev.) told the New York Times. “You got it started — now you’ve got to keep it going. It’s going to be a challenge for everybody.”

But is this the kind of energy Democrats really need right now? In 2020, when beating President Donald Trump was the be-all and end-all, the party pooh-bahs were desperate to shut down this kind of radical politicking, pressuring other candidates to step aside to clear the path for Biden and then desperately (and successfully) selling him as a soothing, healing moderate.

In their exuberance at having canceled Biden’s re-election, have those party pooh-bahs all forgotten what they had to do to win the last round? With virtually all of elite society arrayed against Trump, rampant news censorship, unpoliced absentee ballots, COVID-backed election control, and a big bag of other tricks, they managed a win in 2020 as soothing, healing moderates. They’d do well to stick to that playbook.

Instead, it seems they’ve confused voter energy with Zoom activist energy. And that energy is real. The “white dudes” and “white women” calls raised millions for the campaign. It’s not normal people energy, though, and running farther and farther left to generate more and more internet applause is the political equivalent of throwing a little fentanyl into the cocktail for a good high.

You won’t hear any calls for moderation on the “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom call, however. You’d have to log off and head to Pennsylvania or Arizona or Georgia for that.

New York Times: Harris looks to maintain momentum as ‘honeymoon phase’ winds down

Terry Schilling: Far from a reset, Harris is a leader in the war on families

Blaze News: Corporate media tries to spin Biden-Harris admin as tough on the border crisis — that Democrats created

Blaze News investigates:Biden-Harris closure of largest ICE detention center affirms admin’s commitment to open border chaos

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IN OTHER NEWS

Virginia AG launches Democrat donor fraud investigation

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Monday that his office is investigating seriously suspicious giving through ActBlue following a year of reports exposing seemingly laundered donations.

ActBlue, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit, sits at the center of Democrats’ and liberals’ massive fundraising apparatus. It saves and collates donors’ information, allowing people who have given to any one of ActBlue’s causes or politicians to give one-click donations to any other ActBlue cause or politician. The problem is how many people seem to be donating thousands more than they’ve actually given.

In March 2023, investigative journalist James O’Keefe reported on Maryland residents who had no idea how much money ActBlue was collecting in their names. One woman, a Biden donor and ActBlue user, was shocked to learn that $18,850 had been given across a thousand donations under her name.

A follow-up investigation in North Carolina discovered other Democrats who were similarly surprised to hear that tens of thousands of dollars had been given across thousands of donations made in their names.

Miyares’ commitment to investigating claims of fraud in Virginia came after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk highlighted allegations that the same thing is happening in the Old Dominion.

James O’Keefe confronts ActBlue on alleged fraud

Real Clear Politics: These high-volume Dem donors don't know their names were used for donations

Carolina Journal:Investigation indicates ActBlue potentially ‘laundered’ fraudulent political donations

Fox News 2023: Rubio demands probe into ActBlue after reports of ‘fraudulent’ fundraising off seniors

The fire rises: Compact: Will Kamala be Hillary 2.0?

Trump’s 2016 campaign message changed things. It was the first time a serious candidate for president had pushed an anti-globalist trade message since Ross Perot and the first time a free-trade skeptic had entered the White House in even longer. Biden’s administration largely continued these policies. Some of the biggest donors in both parties, however, want to turn back to a time before “America First” economics. Matt Stoller reports:

Last week, a little-noticed fight broke out among Democrats that could upend the 2024 election. Speaking on CNN, billionaire LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman said he supports Kamala Harris but wants major policy shifts if she becomes president: changes that would see the party ditch central elements of the Biden agenda on trade and corporate power. If Harris doesn’t resist such pressure forcefully, she could attract huge business support and bask in media favor — but also lose important battlegrounds and end up as Hillary Clinton 2.0 ...

... As one senior labor leader told me, how Harris responds will determine whether she leads a broad coalition for economic reform — or a Hillary rerun ...