BARBER: Kamala Harris just as out of touch as Marie Antoinette

Probably no one reading this will ever learn the machinations and maneuvers that went on in some backroom that crowned Kamala Harris as the Democratic presumptive candidate. She is an unlikely candidate to say the least. Before Joe Biden “stepped down” for the good of the country, VP Harris was best known for doing nothing, public speaking that was word salad, and having the manner of a teacher talking down to second graders. When she ran to be the Democratic candidate for president in 2020, she was unable to gain much support from Democratic voters and lacked sufficient funds to continue her campaign. She did not hold a position in the first tier of a large pool of candidates and could not even find sufficient support in her home state of California.With her newly selected VP candidate Tim Walz however, the Democrats have come out swinging, pushing their “Joyful Campaign.” This is nothing more than a retread of Pres. Obama’s Hope and Change 2016 campaign. Pres. Obama had an advantage in his messaging, that the VP Kamala’s campaign does not. For more than twenty years in every American primary and secondary school, students sat in classrooms that had at least one and usually more, posters stating “Change”. Some of these posters were specific about what change was advocated but some were generic. Canadian schools often had the same posters. When candidate Obama declared “Hope and Change” the message was well received by those once students who were now voters. That campaign was rather short on any details of what either “Hope” meant, or “Change” — in terms of his political platform. VP Harris does not have two decades of classroom propaganda supporting her “Joyful Campaign”.Further, Pres. Joe Biden ran a very unusual campaign in 2020 where he mostly stayed home and only selectively appeared in public avoiding interviews. He was able to deal with the possible bad PR by claiming he was being careful because of Covid. While former Pres. Trump and hopeful VP Vance are out interviewing even in hostile settings, VP Harris has not had an interview in weeks. What we did see is a highly orchestrated show with the two candidates acting like cheerleaders bobbing and flapping their arms proclaiming how “joyful” they were. There is plenty of history for both candidates to garner a clear picture as to the leanings of any future policy if elected.Like Canadians, many Americans, middle class and lower, are having significant economic troubles. Further, the young seeking work cannot find openings, and the elderly on fixed incomes are watching their nest egg dwindle. Perhaps most people in this large group have seen their lifestyle decline as they try to stretch the dollar with shrinking value from inflation. Much of this suffering has been brought on by the Biden-Harris’s policies. VP Harris as Head of the Senate has cast the tie-breaking vote on multiple occasions, the most devastating so far, for the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” which we are alarmed to discover seems actually to increase inflation: Inflation is driven by the insane level of spending by the US government, the increase costs for fuel, the mountain of new regulations, all a product of a far-left ideology. Sounds familiar, eh?Polls have been consistent for months, showing that around 72% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. That is a vote of no-confidence in the policies of the Biden-Harris era. Given this, most Americans are not feeling “Joyful” and the Harris-Walz campaign message sounds like a bad takeoff on Marie Antoinette, she who famously said when informed that the people were pleading for bread, "Let them eat cake."It is too early to count the Harris-Walz ticket down and out. American elections are a soap opera with dirty tricks. The Democratic machine is powerful and clever. Be thankful you're Canadian, we simply have a piece of paper to mark.Dr. A.W. Barber is the former Director of Asian Studies at the University of Calgary. He is internationally active and has wide-ranging interests.

BARBER: Kamala Harris just as out of touch as Marie Antoinette

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