Forget goblins, ghosts or ghouls: if you’re working for the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the most frightening sight in the lead-up to Halloween has been her highest profile surrogates taking the microphone. As precious seconds tick off the clock, the last week of campaigning has been marred by mistakes, missteps and meltdowns – all from people supposed to be helping the Democratic effort.
Here are three examples.
First, as Harris delivered her closing pitch focused on unity, President Biden was describing half the country as garbage. You can’t make it up. Holed up in the White House, just steps from Harris’ highly choreographed speech on the Ellipse, Biden was – inexplicably – on a public Zoom call when he uttered the remark that took over the political debate: ‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his [Trump] supporters.’
Why an 81-year-old man who had been removed from the race because of widespread concerns about his age and ability was speaking at the same time as the person vowing to replace him remains a mystery. By the end of the week, the White House had altered the official transcript to quell the firestorm, but the damage was done.
The incident occurred days after an Axios report headlined ‘Harris stiff-arms Biden’ detailing Biden’s unsuccessful attempts to campaign for his second-in-command. The response from the Harris campaign has been ‘we’ll get back to you,’ according to the reporting. Representing one half of an administration with its approval rating in the 30s, it’s not hard to see why.
Biden’s presence undermines Harris’ slogan of a ‘new way forward,’ a message that was further muddled later in the week by the second surrogate fail: former President Bill Clinton telling rallygoers in Michigan the economy was better under Trump.
It’s said that a ‘gaffe’ is when a politician tells the truth, and to be fair, Clinton’s argument is supported by polling data. Seven in ten voters view the economy negatively, according to a Fox News poll. It’s also far and away the most important issue, and one where Trump has a clear eight-point lead over Harris. Still, it’s not a helpful comment for a candidate trying to connect on core bread and butter issues.
It wasn’t the first slip-up from the 42nd president. Earlier this month, he appeared to criticize the lack of security at the southern border, causing another viral moment and political headache for the Harris campaign. A once-in-a-generation political talent in his prime, the 78-year-old Clinton is a shell of his former self. Eight years ago, while campaigning for his wife, it was clear he had lost a few MPH off his fastball. These days, he can hardly get the ball across the plate.
Finally, and not to be outdone, was Mark Cuban, the billionaire Harris backer who accused Trump of failing to surround himself with ‘strong, intelligent women.’ The backlash was swift and severe, and Cuban was forced to apologize in an early Friday morning social media post.
Like Clinton, it wasn’t the first time Cuban got crossways with the campaign messaging. He had (correctly) described a proposed Biden-Harris tax scheme on unrealized capital gains as ‘an economy killer,’ saying he went ‘ballistic’ when he learned of it.
Cuban’s presence on the trail is meant to reassure voters that Harris is not the wild-eyed California liberal her opponents are portraying her as. Why would one of America’s most recognizable and successful entrepreneurs sign up for a campaign pushing socialist-style redistribution policies demonizing success? Instead, Cuban became the story, burning precious time as the race entered its final weekend.
When she became her party’s nominee, Kamala Harris faced the unenviable task of introducing herself to voters, presenting herself as a change agent, separating from an unpopular incumbent and going toe-to-toe with one of the most dynamic political figures of modern times – and doing it all in a three-month time window. It was never going to be easy, even if everything went right.
If Harris comes up short next week, there will be no shortage of finger-pointing and blame to go around. The slip-ups from her ‘supporters’ will be high on that list.