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A sign of desperation or a sign of confidence?

A sign of desperation or a sign of confidence?

While Trump won't venture outside his bubble, Kamala Harris looks for converts.

Damian Penny's avatar
Damian Penny
Oct 16, 2024
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Rigid Thinking
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A sign of desperation or a sign of confidence?
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There’s an old joke about a drunken man crawling across the ground, under the glow of a streetlamp, desperately looking for his lost keys. When someone asks why he’s only looking in the lit-up area the drunk replies, “well ish (hiccup) the only plashe where I can (burp) ackshully shee anyshing.”

The Simpsons Barney Gumble Life Size Cardboard Cutout
He didn’t find the keys but he did find the baby mouse Bob and Doug McKenzie planted in there.

I thought about that when browsing anti-anti-Trump Twitter and seeing the reaction to Kamala Harris agreeing to an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News and - get this - maybe even going on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Among those who insist they’re not pro-Trump, not at all, they criticize him all the time, but seriously shouldn’t someone ask if Kamala Harris will certify the election results should Trump win, this proves that Harris’ campaign is in freefall and she’s throwing a Hail Mary to desperately change Trump’s freight-train momentum:

That’s…not implausible, I guess. I have no idea what the Dems’ internal polls say.

It’s way too early to say either candidate has this inexplicably close election in the bag, and while some (but not all) recent polls suggest a slight momentum shift in Trump’s favor, 538 still has Harris as the most likely winner.

If Harris loses we’re siccing the Nintendo Duck Hunt dog on Fivey Fox.

That site’s founder says the election is pretty much a coin flip. Harris was the clear favorite in Nate Silver’s model not long ago. But Trump was the clear favorite before that, which #resistance Twitter submitted as evidence of Silver being guilty of literal treason. (Nate Silver Derangement Syndrome is highly contagious, so see your doctor and ask him to prescribe “Touching Grass.”)

I, too, think Harris should be running away with this thing.1 We can examine the reasons why so many Americans are prepared to give an increasingly unhinged Trump another four years - I expect we won’t like the answers - but we should also remember that not only is the election not over, Trump still isn’t actually favored to win.

In a coin-flip election like this, there are two possible strategies: play defense and concentrate on getting out your base, or go on offense and try to win some converts. Considering it may come down to a few hundred thousand (or even a few ten thousand) voters in six or seven swing states, winning over even a handful of undecided voters or making a few soft Trump supporters switch sides (or at least stay home) could make a massive difference.

Neither Fox News Channel nor The Joe Rogan Experience are friendly turf for Democrats. But that’s exactly why Harris should sit down for interviews with them, for several reasons:

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