Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz sat down in the traditional first interview as a ticket (no matter how much Republicans and the media are pretending that it’s some sort of unprecedentedly cowardly thing).
It’s been a Beltway media obsession for weeks, pretending that they’re the only ones who can explain to voters what the ticket is all about (despite doing what they do so poorly).
When CNN interviewer Dana Bash began asking for Harris’ “day one” agenda, the vice president spat out a bunch of policy proposals, and the response? “You were vice president for three years already, why haven’t you done it already.” Well, for one, she was vice president. It was right there in her question. But the question also feigns ignorance about the political situation in D.C. Bash knows the Republicans have run the House the last year and a half. She knows the Supreme Court has thrown out various efforts as well, such as student debt relief.
An honest interviewer needs to contextualize the political situation, otherwise it rewards obstructionism. Republicans don’t pay a price for their obstructionism, and the Supreme Court doesn’t get the criticism it so plainly deserves.
So how to approach it?
“What would you do if your party had complete control of Congress?”
“If Republicans retain control of any part of Congress, what could you accomplish in a gridlocked government?”
“The Supreme Court has made it harder for administrative agencies to issue rules. How does that change your view of your potential role as president?”
Those questions would be honest, give viewers proper context, and educate them about the political reality. Instead, people walk around wondering why government doesn’t work, and the Beltway media has zero interest in educating them.
Bash spent a significant bit of time trying to “gotcha” Harris on an issue—fracking—which she has been consistent on since 2020. Republicans are trying to make “flip-flopping” a thing, despite Donald Trump suddenly being pro-choice. For the record, voters don’t generally care about such things. Politicians are all assumed to be flip-floppers, corrupt, self-interested, etc., etc. The attacks that land are the ones that run counter to expectations and assumptions. (Which is why Trump doesn’t seem to suffer in the press or the polls from his relentless insanity.)
Regardless, whatever the issue—immigration, climate change, the economy, Gaza—Harris showed she knows her material. She spoke in clear, concise, plain language. And both the questions and answers were far more substantive than anything Trump has ever done. Bash was quick with follow-up questions that Trump never faces (the media should try it sometime). Any hope by Republicans that they could paint her as a lightweight went up in smoke. Republican anxiety levels for the Sept. 10 debate have likely ramped up significantly, especially since Trump hopes to use the debate to reset the campaign and regain momentum.
Also, Bash did that thing where she was like, “this thing happened, what do you say to voters?” She did it to Walz on his military service and former drunken driving arrest. It’s that bullshit conceit that she speaks for the voters. The stark reality is that those (and other issues) have all been litigated already, and will continue to be litigated online as long as they have salience. For example, Republicans tried to attack Harris as a “DEI hire,” and it didn’t stick. That had nothing to do with the Beltway media and everything to do with a lack of traction in the places where people actually argue these things (social media).
This was made stark by Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin, who yesterday tweeted, “To use an example Dems will hate: [Sen. JD] Vance did a couple big interviews, got a lot of tough qs on the cat lady stuff, then was freed to do nonstop media promoting the campaign message with that out of the way.” Imagine thinking that because Vance did some interviews, that we still won’t keep talking about his weird obsession with “cat ladies” and the breeding habits of human females.
Harris’ discussion about President Joe Biden’s call was lovely, as was the discussion about national treasure Gus Walz, the governor’s son.
Ultimately, it was a good look for Harris, while Walz mostly lingered in the background (as was appropriate—this is her show). We don’t have to hold our breath with Harris and hope she doesn’t… pull a Biden. It’s a relief knowing that we’ve got an incredibly competent candidate.
However, this was a little… boring? There was nothing new here, no big revelations that we didn’t already know because Harris is already communicating all this to voters. It’s hard for the media to internalize this, but they don’t matter as much anymore.
In any case, she did her interview. Now let’s all get back to the business of saving our democracy.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: At her CNN interview, whatever the issue—immigration, climate change, the economy, Gaza—Harris showed she knows her material. She spoke in clear, concise, plain language. And both the questions and answers were far more substantive than anything Trump has ever done.
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