August 16, 2024
On Kamala Harris' policy positions...
In L.A. Confidential, as the millions of knotty mysteries begin to unwind, a newly revealed bad guy tells Russell Crowe, “We must have a clarification session one of these days.” That’s what the past two days feel like here, but without the menace. Yesterday was a clarification session on the stolen valor accusations against Tim Walz, which I would say worked 60%-70% in his favor. Today is a clarification session on Kamala Harris’ changing political positions which… I’m not so sure.
Politicians change their minds all the time, but the trick is to do it without looking like a politician. Some succeed (Bill Clinton’s, “The era of big government is over,” comes to mind). Some don’t (John Kerry’s, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion [in Iraq War funding] before I voted against it,” also comes to mind). As for Harris, seeing her previous stances all laid out together — in an article, not an opinion piece — is a bit dizzying.
She has to know this is a real liability. Maybe it’s why she hasn’t given an interview or press conference yet. She needs to do something, though, because the questions are coming. (Conservative readers might disagree and for some understandable reasons, but the journalists I follow are getting antsy. And they’re talking about their antsy journalist friends. And this keeps coming up. And now it’s an AP story.) If Harris can’t address this matter convincingly, voters might hold their own clarification session in November.