Don’t think Kamala Harris’s handlers are shielding her from tough questions? Consider that in her first sit-down interview with the press this week, she’s bringing along a crutch: running mate Tim Walz.
The Vice President’s campaign has finally allowed her to take questions from Dana Bash of CNN. But instead of a one-on-one interview, Ms. Bash will have to deal with the Veep and Mr. Walz. This is a deliberate attempt to limit the potential exposure risks for the Vice President.
The one-on-two format will limit Ms. Harris’s time in answering questions. It will also make it harder for Ms. Bash to pose follow-up questions that bore in on the Vice President’s contradictions with previous positions or get beyond general blather and seek specifics on taxes or foreign policy. Mr. Walz will be there with a parachute to rescue the presidential candidate if she has a rough go or struggles to answer something.
This is one more Harris campaign insult to American voters. The Vice President was handed the nomination in an inside job a month ago. She is the least known presidential candidate in modern history and has had the least amount of media scrutiny. Her views on the crucial issues she’d confront as President aren’t clear, and what we do know has been dribbled out in campaign press statements that we are supposed to accept as her real views. Her campaign speeches amount to little more than gauzy rhetoric and “vibes.”
Her strategy is to float at 40,000 feet from here to November, when we will all learn what she really intends as President. Or, perhaps more accurately, what her advisers and the Barack Obama aides now running her campaign intend. How can we know what is true if Ms. Harris dodges serious questioning?
The Bash interview is an attempt to rebut the criticism that she hasn’t done any interviews as a candidate. But that isn’t nearly enough, especially with Mr. Walz along as chaperone.
Ms. Harris’s handlers should have enough respect for the voters, and for their candidate, to let her stand alone and answer questions by herself. Joe Biden was allowed to hide in his basement and avoid tough questioning during the Covid campaign of 2020. We all know how that turned out.
The Vice President’s campaign has finally allowed her to take questions from Dana Bash of CNN. But instead of a one-on-one interview, Ms. Bash will have to deal with the Veep and Mr. Walz. This is a deliberate attempt to limit the potential exposure risks for the Vice President.
The one-on-two format will limit Ms. Harris’s time in answering questions. It will also make it harder for Ms. Bash to pose follow-up questions that bore in on the Vice President’s contradictions with previous positions or get beyond general blather and seek specifics on taxes or foreign policy. Mr. Walz will be there with a parachute to rescue the presidential candidate if she has a rough go or struggles to answer something.
This is one more Harris campaign insult to American voters. The Vice President was handed the nomination in an inside job a month ago. She is the least known presidential candidate in modern history and has had the least amount of media scrutiny. Her views on the crucial issues she’d confront as President aren’t clear, and what we do know has been dribbled out in campaign press statements that we are supposed to accept as her real views. Her campaign speeches amount to little more than gauzy rhetoric and “vibes.”
Her strategy is to float at 40,000 feet from here to November, when we will all learn what she really intends as President. Or, perhaps more accurately, what her advisers and the Barack Obama aides now running her campaign intend. How can we know what is true if Ms. Harris dodges serious questioning?
The Bash interview is an attempt to rebut the criticism that she hasn’t done any interviews as a candidate. But that isn’t nearly enough, especially with Mr. Walz along as chaperone.
Ms. Harris’s handlers should have enough respect for the voters, and for their candidate, to let her stand alone and answer questions by herself. Joe Biden was allowed to hide in his basement and avoid tough questioning during the Covid campaign of 2020. We all know how that turned out.
