Alex Thompson informs me today that Kamala Harris no longer supports Medicare for All; says she won’t ban fracking; wants to increase funding for the border; and doesn’t want to require people to sell their assault weapons back to the government. Obviously this means that Harris has wisely decided to shift a bit toward the center now that she's in a general election contest for the presidency. That's pretty standard triangulating.
But it probably doesn't matter all that much. This is policy stuff, and most voters care about policy only in the broadest terms: for or against abortion, pro or anti gay marriage, and so forth. What they care about a lot more are social values, and even that's mostly on the level of vibes.
This is what J.D. Vance was getting at with his oddball comment about "childless cat ladies." He was using that as a metaphor for lefty women who like to spoil everyone's fun by harrumphing about racism and mass transit and single-use plastic bags. Obviously Vance chose his metaphor badly, but the point he was making is very, very common on the right. They believe that liberals aren't just wrong, but really annoying.
And often we are! This is where Harris would also be wise to shift slightly to the center. Not a lot. Lefty values are more popular than conservatives like to admit. But it wouldn't hurt to make some noises about the evidence on gender affirming care being unsettled. Or that, yes, DEI training can sometimes be a bit on the ridiculous side. Or that the Bible is the word of God (which she presumably believes, being a Baptist and all).
These are the kinds of things that can make centrist voters more comfortable without really ceding anything that's of concrete value to the liberal project. It's basically just a way of putting across the idea that she's a normie, not a nutball extremist. And it draws a contrast with Trump and Vance, who are nutball extremists.
Mock Bill Clinton's Sister Souljah moment all you want, but it worked—and since the liberal coalition isn't in favor of killing white people it didn't concede anything of value. A little bit of this goes a long way, especially if it comes as a bit of surprise and gets some press.
Harris is already right of center. A move to the center would mean she would shift to the left. I presume that's not what Kevin means.
Don't know anyone that shares your opinion of her being to the right of center.
A LOT of D's believe exactly that. She was a prosecutor for her entire career prior to entering politics, and she was not particularly progressive. Very much of a traditional lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key prosecutor, who went after ordinary people for simple marijuana possession on a regular basis. I remember the criticisms after Biden chose her four years ago, that she was too much of a cop. This was shortly after the Summer of George Floyd, after all, and I had to hold my nose when I voted for her.
None of those things make her "right of center" unless you think the center just magically happens to be exactly where you are.
Your statement is false, parrots. You're parroting Wall Street Journal's rather disingenuous claim.
She was not that sort of prosecutor. She started a diversion program to decriminalize pot, for instance. She campaigned for shorter terms for less violent offenders, compassionate release and probation as alternative terms.
Nope. I'm parroting Wikipedia:
"Harris's record on wrongful conviction cases as attorney general has engendered criticism from academics and activists. After the 2011 United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Plata declared California's prisons so overcrowded they inflicted cruel and unusual punishment, Harris fought federal supervision, explaining "I have a client, and I don't get to choose my client." In September 2014, Harris's office argued unsuccessfully in a court filing against the early release of prisoners, citing the need for inmate firefighting labor."
Where do you think Wikipedia got it?
You're lying about her position.
As the state attorney general, she had to implement state policy. You're lying that she had a choice in the matter - the state was trying to promote programs other than the calfire one for early release, ecause it was short changing them from completing their training.
Lying about it only shows you aren't actually paying attention. You're being manipulated.
So doing the job that you were elected to do makes you right of center? Her job is to prosecute people that break the laws.
Didn't somebody call her the most liberal senator ever?
Labels ! It's all very confusing.
Perhaps that's because you're sheltered in your hard-right bubble and don't interact with real people.
I am quite the opposite of that in every regard.
You apparently haven't noticed that American politics has essentially no left wing. Bernie Sanders is roughly in the political center, or slightly to the right of center. To his left is a gaping void with only a few communists and socialists, no significant political organizations, and nobody widely known or noticed.
That is obviously different definition of "center". Most of people think that (political) "center" means something like "in the middle of the spectrum of political opinions in the country".
"Center" is "the middle of the political spectrum", not "the middle of the Overton Window as presently positioned".
It's really not wise for you to remind us of the deplorable people you choose to associate with.
I think Kevin is wrong. Republicans don't think Liberals are wrong, they know they are right, and that is what is really annoying.
I'd say the 120+ comments on this would count as a "ratio" if it was a different form of social media than a blog and that Mr. Drum has slightly miscalculated.
Well now I get it,
https://i.redd.it/om2hxo78mofd1.jpeg
and you thought J.D. Vance was just nuts or something.
Megan Thee Stallion opened for Kamala Harris' campaign rally at a filled out arena in Atlanta. When she mentioned Stacy Abrams, the crowd roared. This is a state that knows its heroines well. I think she wins Georgia; she's got the state excited about 2024.