DIGGING OWN GRAVE
We are nine days out from Election Day and the president the Democrats nominated, Kamala Harris, is proving to be a poor choice.
She has no charisma, zero core values to speak of and likely to lose on November 5. Harris has been referred to as the “A.I.-generated candidate” and its hard to argue against when observing her public appearances. Warning Americans about the dangers of a second Trump term is not a platform from which to win a campaign. It’s a desperate move by a desperate candidate and I think enough Americans see right through it.
It’s possible Harris could still win. If enough potential GOP voters sit out the election due to their distaste for Donald Trump, there is a path to victory. But the math correlated to that outcome is getting more challenging to compute.
The ever-looming reality of a second Trump term is not going over well with the D.C. press corps.
This week, we saw continued examples of the “Trump supports dictators” portrayal. A 30-year allegation of groping was conveniently made public. Harris herself is grasping at straws, giving a bizarre speech outside her residence where she called Trump a “fascist.” There are likely to be more attempts in the final days to discredit Trump, more bimbos or proclamations about doomsday if he regains the White House.
All of the poppycock will likely have no impact on Nov. 5, instead, further discrediting what little is left of corporate media credibility.
If Harris does lose, a mea culpa of sorts could begin to repair a reputation in tatters. An admission they were wrong and investment in resources towards understanding an electorate that again, voted Trump into office, would give an alienated audience some reason to tune in again.
But they won’t do it. Never in a million years.
If Trump wins, expect media voices to be leading the chorus of voices trying to explain how such an “American tragedy” could happen. Self-reflection, if any, will likely include whether our country really wants a tyrannous dictator in charge, lobbying for the Electoral College to be replaced, or if the tens of millions who voted for Trump are deplorable knuckle-dragging troglodytes not smart enough to vote for Harris.
That smug hubris, the complete disregard and disinterest in a thorough examination of their own failings, will further drive a stake into the shelf life of heritage media brands.
The coverage is unbearable now. Just wait.
THE SIX
*If the nation were voting on likability, Harris does maintain an advantage. But as Nate Silver writes in this piece from his Silver Bulletin newsletter, likability is not enough. People prefer competency and that’s where Trump has clear edge over his opponent.
*What is the ground zero moment of political scandal? This 10-year-old piece from Politico argues that moment occurred in 1987, when a Democratic presidential candidate from Colorado, Gary Hart, got caught by a reporter with a mistress named Donna Rice. The editor of the newspaper that broke the story almost four decades ago, the Miami Herald, takes us back to that significant moment in time when the bad behavior of politicians became fodder for tabloid-like coverage.
*An engaging profile from Garden & Gun on the practice of professional python hunting. The author tracks a woman named Donna Kalil, “the original python huntress,” the first woman to hold the job, taking on Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades and winning every time.
*One of our culture’s longest-running debates is that of evolution vs creationism. Did God invent the planet or did it occur via natural processes? If you fall in the belief without evidence camp, then creationism is your vibe. This piece from Scientific American as one would expect, makes an evolutionary argument, researching a gigantic space rock called S2 that hit the Earth 3.26 billion years ago and blew 10,000 cubic kilometers of rock vapor into the air, an event that supplied the oceans with necessary nutrients ahead of a massive explosion of life.
*Actor Danny DeVito said this about a package delivered to his house three decades ago: “And then, there was a doorbell ring, and there was a package, a manila envelope with 155 pages in it. I swear to God, I always like to think it was still warm. And the top page read, ‘Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino, final draft.’ I tucked myself into a sofa with a cup of tea and I laughed my ass off.” For “Pulp Fiction” fans, you’ll love this oral history and even if not a fan, there’s some juicy details on the making of the classic film, which turns 30 this year.
*Finally, the culture wars are not as prominent on voters minds this election season as the economy and immigration. But they are an underlying issue and leave it to the Babylon Bee to satire the absurdity of reality. Meet Paul Cornell, Jr., the 40-year-old man dominating a 6U t-ball league.
Have a suggestion for The Kerr Report? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.
I don’t watch the polls but rumor has it that Trump does indeed seem to lead in the polls. Is it possible to assume if Biden picked a reasonable VP, that candidate could have outperform Trump easily? All Harris had to do is become a conventional Democrat with common sense and a few well-articulated policies that speak to a broad range of voters. And she couldn’t even do that…