Alpha

In the closing days, Harris turns the tables on Trump

Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash

Last Thursday, hecklers interrupted Kamala Harris as she spoke at a rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Her poised reaction was worthy of a comedian seasoned by years of doing stand-up:

“Oh you guys are at the wrong rally,” she said with a joyous confidence. Then she paused for a long beat to savor the applause of her supporters before adding, “I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.”

This is a candidate in control of her campaign and sure of herself.

Harris is having fun. She is in command. You can see it in how she holds herself and how she speaks. She is the epitome of the happy warrior, simultaneously joyous and razor sharp.

Although the race is close, she is projecting a confident exuberance that says she expects to win.

Which is to say Harris has swiped from Donald Trump the central rationale of his candidacy. As the election enters the final weeks, Kamala Harris has established herself as the alpha candidate.

Last week, she went into enemy territory for a sit-down interview with Fox News and was prepared for the predictable ambush. When Brett Baier presented footage that purported to show how Trump—contrary to the claims Harris has been making—has not been advocating retribution against his political opponents, Harris forcefully called out the deception:

With all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within that he has repeated when he’s speaking about the American people. That’s not what you just showed. . . . You didn’t show that. And here’s the bottom line. He has repeated it many times. And you and I both know that. And you and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people.

Her performance was widely applauded—even Baier acknowledged she had done well—and Harris received plaudits for courage that the other side cannot match.

It’s not like Trump is offering to sit down for an interview on MSNBC. He can’t even answer friendly questions from his own supporters, needing instead to retreat to his happy place and listen to familiar music rather than conduct a campaign town hall.

Trump has been all about retreating in these final days. He refused a second debate with Harris. He backed out of a 60 Minutes interview. He canceled an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box. He reneged on an interview with the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia. He refused CNN’s offer to do a televised town hall to follow the one planned with Harris. He even withdrew from appearing at an NRA rally.

Then on Friday, word leaked that weeks of negotiation for an interview with The Shade Room broke down because Trump was exhausted—a claim the campaign officially rejected.

But he sure looks exhausted. And if it’s not exhaustion, then could it have something to do with the apparent acceleration of his cognitive decline?

Whatever the reason, the emergence of Harris as the campaign’s driving force is a blow to the basis for Trump’s candidacy. Trump’s campaign, like his persona, is built on winning. It is built on projecting dominance and strength.

We have long spoken about the three preconditions for Trump’s success. People must feel angry and aggrieved. Trump must be perceived as a tower of strength who singularly can address those grievances. And his victory has to look inevitable.

The emergence of Kamala Harris’ joy campaign, coinciding with an improvement in economic conditions, relegated expressions of anger to the Trump base. There is still a deep well of resentment and grievance for Trump to plumb, but the party atmosphere of Harris’ rallies would be unimaginable if the country at large was feeling sour or bitter.

Now Harris is revealing the hollowness of Trump’s claims to strength and supplanting him as the dominant figure in the race. And Trump is helping her do it by projecting weakness.

This is not what Trump wants the election to look like in its closing weeks.

Not surprisingly, Trump is pining for the days when he looked strong, when he held a polling lead, when he could project inevitability.

He wants Joe Biden back. Seriously.

He made this clear in a post on his social media site last Thursday.

Based on an unhinged pretext that CBS should lose its license for editing its 60 Minutes interview with Harris, Trump called for Harris to be investigated and somehow forced off the campaign to allow Biden to “take his rightful place” as Trump’s opponent.

This is Trump again retreating to his playlist, seeking comfort in the machinations of his ailing brain. If only he could recapture the triumphalism of July. If only he had stamina. If only he could stop his deterioration.

When Trump rants about Biden—when he still rants about Biden—he is giving us a glimpse into his inner self. He is not just weak but scared. He knows his election is not guaranteed. He is projecting fear.

This will be what people see as they go to the polls.

Things may be close, but the energy emanating from the two campaigns could not be more different as the election enters its final weeks.