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A Calm GOP Should Pivot to the Facts

Posted on Sunday, July 28, 2024
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by David P. Deavel
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Give the Democrats credit for political cleverness. The momentum gained from Donald Trump’s crushing of Biden in debate, his seemingly miraculous survival of an assassin’s bullet, and the raucous and joyfully-ended Republican Convention was deemed “a threat to democracy” (aka “a threat to rule by Democrats”), so they managed to turn America’s attention away quite nicely from this sequence of events and on to their (presumable) candidate, Kamala Harris. They’ve been claiming she’s the normal one, and Trump and (especially) Vance are the “weird” ones.

Given the rapidity of all this, the Dems have managed to score a bump in some of the polling such that they are slightly closer. Predictably, some Republicans have panicked. They want to drop Vance or overhaul everything in the campaign. What a bunch of chickens. We still have three months till the election. The goal should be to keep calm and continue to hammer on the fundamental failures of Democratic policy in America, Kamala Harris’s feeble record, and what a second Trump Administration would accomplish.  

For those with political memories, it is simply a fact that the last month has been perhaps the craziest in decades. Yet the insanity, up until last weekend, benefited the GOP and the Trump campaign. That’s why the Democrats’ magic act was so impressive. Joe Biden disappeared for days, supposedly having suffered a bout of Covid. If it was Covid, that only shows that endless Covid shots are pointless. Whatever it was, keeping him incommunicado was brilliant. Nothing is more fascinating to Americans than a mystery. Was Joe Biden dead? Did he have a stroke? Would he ever appear?

Biden only made “contact” with the American people via his social media, where a pdf of a letter announcing he would give up the nomination was released last Sunday. A few hours later, he announced he was supporting Kamala. The disappearing act and the purported change in Democratic nominees thus became the topic of conversation for everyone, left, right, and center. When the Democrats finally pulled old Joe out of their hat to appear for some brief and banal televised remarks, the subject was fully changed—and they could complain about anyone wondering about Joe’s fate being “conspiracy theorists.” Pretty bold when a third of Democrats believe Donald Trump staged his own assassination attempt.

A full throttle media drive to make out Biden as a kind of George Washington without the wooden teeth ensued. No, it wasn’t that his polls were terrible and he didn’t make sense or know what to do on stage—requiring Obama and party bigs to pressure him out. It’s that Joseph Robinette Biden had sacrificed his own desire to use his accumulated wisdom in favor of handing over the reins to a new generation. One left-wing religious outlet even depicted him as a kind of John the Baptist. I suppose we are supposed to think of Kamala Harris as the Messiah.  

It’s a hard sell, but don’t underestimate the Democrats’ propensity to support anybody. After all, they managed to propel old Joe into office despite his own lackluster record of accomplishment, creepiness, and the fact that Obama himself famously observed that one should never underestimate Joe’s ability to (we’ll keep things clean) screw things up. And in Pennsylvania in 2022, they managed to elect a dead man.

Indeed, they’re giving it everything they can to turn one of the least likable and most left-wing Democrats a political make-over. She is supposed to be a relatable and fun person, but anybody paying attention will doubt this. A government watchdog report revealed that Harris has had a 90% turnover rate in vice presidential staff since taking office. Anybody who was paying attention might have seen the reports in 2021 of former employees who told of her “soul-destroying criticism.” Many reported her penchant for not reading briefing materials they assembled and then blaming them for her own poor performance. Anyone who has listened to her explanation of the Ukraine-Russia war finds that criticism plausible.

She is supposed to be a policy moderate and a hard worker, but the purported government transparency site GovTrack deleted their 2019 page indicating that her voting record in the Senate was to the left of Bernie Sanders. Not surprising given her advocacy of extreme measures such as banning fracking. In fact, she was the furthest left in that body when she bothered to vote. She missed 61.9% of the votes that year and had the fewest committee assignments. (Their current page for her whole career makes her only the fourth most left-wing Senator.) 

Perhaps her greatest “success” as a Senator was her fundraising for the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which posted bail for rioters in the 2020 protests—many of them violent criminals who either disappeared or were arrested again for yet more violent crimes. Minnesota’s CBS affiliate, WCCO, beclowned themselves by saying that Donald Trump was lying about her action even while her Tweets promoting the group are still active!

So, too, as Vice President. Just as the pitch for Joe Biden four years ago depended on associating him with Obama’s purported triumphs, Harris is supposed to have been a powerful actor in the Biden White House. Yet Americans were treated this week to the spectacle of major media companies denying that she had ever been the “Border Czar” despite their own use of the term for three years. It’s no wonder they’re in a panic about this. Everyone knows the border has been and continues to be a disaster.

It’s not likely to get better for her. On Friday, Harris tried to distance herself from what the left thinks of as Biden’s “pro-Israel” stance by calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East war. Yesterday, a Hezbollah rocket struck an Israeli playground, killing at least twelve—mostly children—in the bloodiest day since October 7 last year. Harris’s appeal to the Hamas wing of her party may garner her a few votes, but Americans are unlikely to see any evidence that she has persuasive power abroad.

This is perhaps why the Harris campaign and their media adjuncts have taken to targeting Trump’s vice-presidential candidate J. D. Vance, a figure who was not widely known to Americans. The campaign is working at calling him “weird” and a “creep,” mostly for comments at a conference in 2021 in which he criticized a number of Democrats who didn’t have children who were not only advocating against child-friendly policies like the Child Tax Credit, but even advocating against having children. He later sarcastically complained to Tucker Carlson about “childless cat ladies” wielding too much power in American society. Full points to the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein for tweeting out his full comments from the original conference, which show that he is not attacking individuals who don’t have children but “an entire political movement that is explicitly anti-child.”

To his credit, Vance has not backed down on this broader criticism of Democrats pushing policies that are not friendly to children and encouraging young people to not have children at all. To have backed down would win few votes from those who refused to listen in the first place.

But a number of Republicans have been panicking and demanding or suggesting that Vance be dumped after this week. I suppose that’s a possibility, but it seems to me that this kind of panic ought to be resisted. As political commentator Will Chamberlain rightly observed, the treatment Vance is getting could not be avoided: “They would have called Vivek weird. They would have called Burgum a software nerd. They would have called Rubio weird and labeled him Lil Marco. (Remember when they made fun of him for drinking water?)” He observes that the GOP people complaining about Vance were already opposed to him, so: “Ignore the noise.”

This seems the right approach. There is no need to panic. Kamala Harris is still a terrible candidate. She may well have gotten a small bounce from this week’s DNC-media attempt to whitewash Harris’s record and smear Vance’s. But it won’t last.

Vance might benefit by avoiding sarcasm on the old campaign trail, but he should continue to be the voice pushing for a family-centered GOP. He should not back down at all when he is attacked on these questions. And he should remember to quickly turn these conversations around—and pivot to the ways in which a Trump-Vance administration will benefit all Americans, with children or not.

In Megyn Kelly’s full interview with Vance, she brought up the fact that Democrats are pushing radical measures such as Title IX regulations that would put men in women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and showers. Vance immediately jumped in with other policy problems and eventually turned to the manifest failures of the Biden Administration and Harris’s own record as a radical that contrasts with what Donald Trump and he are doing. He will do well to turn more quickly on the stump and with reporters. If he can manage to pivot quickly each time, the attacks will be blunted.  

The Democrats did a bit of public relations magic this week, but there’s plenty of time to show that they are presenting illusions. And people may be seeing it anyway. Yesterday, Byron York linked to a new Wall Street Journal poll showing that Donald Trump’s job approval is the highest it has ever been, in or out of office. Republicans need to avoid panic, focus on making sure their friends and family are registered to vote, and keep getting out the word about the danger of a Harris Administration and the promise of a Trump Administration.

David P. Deavel teaches at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. A past Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute, he is a Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative. Follow him on X @davidpdeavel.

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Kim
Kim
3 months ago

We need not panic because common sense and conviction are on our side. I can’t image dumping Vance would do anything positive for our party. We’d just be doing those things the democrats do when the wind is not at their backs–change horses in mid-stream, gaslight everyone into a new narrative, create false accusations against their opponents. Put Vance in a debate with Harris and let the sparks fly.
While working at a community farmers’ market yesterday, I had a lively discussion with a fellow vendor. She complained about not making any money on the products she was selling, and that the whole season has been a flop. I said I could tell the state of the economy by the number of ornamental plants I sell as opposed to the number of vegetable plants sold. “If I sell fewer of these houseplants, the economy is not good.” And not many of those plants had been selling well this year. I was preparing to leave and said, “If you want more income, vote for Trump.” Oh, man, did that set her off! She went off on a spitting tirade about his being a rapist, a racist, and a misogynist.
“He lies all the time!” I put her on the spot–which we must do every time dems accuse Republicans of being the vile creeps they think we are–and asked, “What did he lie about? Name a specific instance.”
“Everything…he lies about everything!”
“That’s not good enough. Tell me any time he lied about something.” She couldn’t name anything specific, and I reminded her that the dems and the MSM lie about the GOP and Trump all the time. I mentioned a few instances where they lied (that biden inherited 9% inflation; that Trump bought cooperation from Korea’s Kim and Putin–although it was fear of his response if they had done anything naughty; that Trump caused a drop in income, but actually it was under biden that the average income went down 3% and it went up 8% under Trump). She was becoming frantic at that point, not being able to back up her claims. Pure emotion; no facts.
“Okay, tell me this. Do you support Israel or Hamas?” Sheepishly, she answered Israel, but didn’t exactly know why. (“Good!”) I told her that because biden had made it easier for Iran and for Russia to sell oil, they were able to raise hundreds of billions of dollars, which they used to finance their wars on Israel and Ukraine. I told her that Iran (Hamas) and Russia would never have dared start these wars if Trump were in office. She had no clue that oil and the wars were connected.
Then her buddy, another dem vendor (we tend to avoid politics at these markets, but it was closed and I couldn’t resist…) chimed in with how only rich people got tax breaks under Trump. And I replied, “Not true. Trump lowered taxes for most people and for businesses, which stimulated business expansion, new job openings, legitimate income increases, and more after-tax money in our pockets.”
She also claimed that Trump was a failed businessman, bankrupt. Me: “He started dozens of businesses, and only a few failed, Big deal. He’s still a billionaire.” This person, by the way, told me last year that she strongly advocated for counseling and hormone treatments for minors, and that she personally would escort the children to doctors without parental consent. (I told her at the time that was reprehensible, and that only the parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit.) I also learned yesterday from someone else that she had been FIRED from her teaching job due to extreme opinions on LGBT issues. Thank goodness!!
Every one of us must vote in November. Please don’t sit it out because you don’t like Trump 100% of the time. And have those discussions with friends, family, acquaintances, and people waiting in line at the grocery store. Until the media are held accountable for the lying narratives they want morons and the uncurious to believe, it’s up to us to tell the truth.

John
John
3 months ago

Both sides keep making personal attacks. I think the republicans need to use “are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?” Share those differences – gas price then and now – same with food – housing – border – real stats on crime – employment – cost of vehicles – cost of house & car insurance – cost of fast food – clothing etc. The fact that we were energy independent and aren’t now. Amount of oil produced in the United States now – how much oil in our national reserve. All this and more should be shared with the American public. Also the fact that since California raised the minimum wage not only have prices gone up but employees hours have been cut to save money. Not sure how but these facts need to reach those who rely on liberal news outlets and newspapers.

Richard
Richard
3 months ago

The only things this ‘border czar’ has done is travel the globe at tax payers expense; raise taxes on hard working Americans; cackle uncontrollably; and let the world invasion of America continue unabated.

anna hubert
anna hubert
3 months ago

Darwin was right there really is an evolution .Democrats evolved into a specie of their own, no spine, able to change the color and shape ,something like a jelly fish but better. adaptable to any weather, situation or condition. They can swim, crawl, lie and slither. Masters of all deceptions, there is only one thing they can’t handle. The truth.

Jim M.
Jim M.
3 months ago

The Socialist Democrat Party are using their standard Leftist Cheat

Robert Zuccaro
Robert Zuccaro
3 months ago

The media, just off being unapologetically caught lying about Biden, now unapologetically lie about Kammie as the internet is virtually bleach byte as well. Russiagate and Hunters computer all over again.

Janet
Janet
3 months ago

Excellent article!

Lisa
Lisa
3 months ago

It doesn’t matter that we all know the truth. The truth is not allowed to get out to the rest of the American people who only read and listen to mainstream media. AMAC has great informative articles, but why are only preaching to the choir. Truly the dems are way too close in the numbers. They are the very best cheaters and I for one do not believe we will have fair elections. How do you get this to the mainstream.

RJ
RJ
3 months ago

Oh my Harris, I mean really? Please check out her record before you vote for her. What did she do as a VP? She left our Border open and dangerous. She covered up for Bidens health. She doesn’t make any sense when she talks without a Teleprompter, she just goes round

RC E
RC E
3 months ago

Stay the course with the Republicans Presidential and VP Candidates. While you can attack Harris for her weakness to perform any VP job functions, her covering up for Bidens inadequacy to be President and his dangerous health issues, they should hammer her on her policy issues, which to 70% of the voter population are strikingly inadequate. NO we don’t want 4 more years of lies and policy failure.Stay focused folks and ignore the Democrat Media Propaganda. The truth America can’t survive 4 years of a Harris Administration.

Tim C.
Tim C.
3 months ago

Dems are not clever or admirable in any way. They have the refs in their pocket, so in that sense it is an unlevel playing field. It is cheating and raw power, nothing intelligent about it. We need to be the voices for truth, countering their obvious schemes.

Melinda
Melinda
3 months ago

They’d better not dump Vance. I think he’ll do a great job at whatever he does. Anyone new would still be attacked by the dems. It’s what they do. They don’t have anything positive to run on.

SCbubba
SCbubba
3 months ago

For over 50 years observing and participating in the political process, I’ve learned that it is best to ignore liberals in general and DemocRATS in particular. Vote for them at your peril!

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
3 months ago

Be More Proactive OK GOP
Fwd Looking
Aim Higher

Tidewater
Tidewater
3 months ago

ABSOLUTELY AND WITHOUT QUESTION! Enough of the lies, false impressions, and the minor insignificant dweebs appointed and spouting “Non-truths, selfish, and miles distant from American citizens many of them, who remain in denial for their own protection, while the earth trembles”,

Merry
Merry
2 months ago

The Demodevils kept propping Biden up, by any means. The Media and Soros were right there on the FRAUD. They had to think of a different strategy and somehow get the news of of Trump’s attempted assignation. More manipulation and lies to get Harris so she could get the money and votes. I really don’t know how anyone could actually vote for any of those immoral puppets!

Leesson1
Leesson1
3 months ago

The one worry I have is Trump going into his name-calling mode that turns off so many people resulting in them not only not voting for him but voting for Kameltoe.. Please, Mr. Trump, stick to the facts and win the!

Tupacs ghost
Tupacs ghost
3 months ago

This goes out to all the j6s rotting in jail for tourism. Rest in peace big ash. You didn’t see that door. Holla.

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