Disclaimer: This piece was written before the Walz/Vance debate on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Though this article will be published the following day, due to the inexorable flow of time, I can’t take the performance of either party during the debate into account.
As demonstrated by the Presidential debate on September 10, the Harris-Walz campaign has one tactic for dealing with Trump – let him talk. Throughout the entirety of the debate, instead of championing specific policies or plans for her administration, Harris stepped back and let Trump embarrass himself on live television. This didn’t work – not completely.
During the debate, the former President made claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating the pets of other local residents. This depiction is as false as it is racist, with Springfield’s police force having long-since debunked such claims. Trump also made a claim that Harris plans to “do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison,” drawing on the imagery of some mad scientist forcing gender-affirming care upon dreaded “illegals.” As of this date, no prisoner has been forced to transition under the Biden-Harris administration against their will.
Both of these claims led to the creation of many memes on social media, Trump’s false remarks trended on X, and media outlets promptly debunked his false claims. It seemed Harris succeeded, Trump clearly demonstrated – through his own words – how unhinged his far-right politics were.
When NBC cut from the empty debate stage to undecided PA voters, they remained on the fence. All the memes and debunking and tweets in the world couldn’t change their minds.
Trump’s campaign even went on to double down on these claims, with Vance re-stating on air that Haitian immigrants were eating pets. He did this, even though this false claim has provided actual security threats for Springfield, Ohio, including bomb threats.
From a campaign that has proudly used the word “illegals” to dehumanize those who have immigrated to the U.S., this is not surprising. Similarly, a recent Trump campaign ad mocks transgender individuals, deriding previous Harris comments that she would support gender-affirming care for those who rely on the state for medical care. Calling this position “insane” the ad goes on to say “Kamala’s for they/them, President Trump’s for us.” Of course, this has less to do with concerns on government spending than it has to do with eradicating members of the LGBTQ+ from public discourse, with prisoners being the easiest to eradicate first.
With this doubling down, the Kamala-Walz campaign must make actual policy stances to win the support of voters. On the left, this is as simple as reaffirming Kamala’s previously stated convictions and policies. According to an ABC article, “the Harris-Walz campaign has not officially released any policy proposals or promises concerning gender-affirming care so far.” This is an attempt to appeal to centrist or even moderate right-wing voters in order to ensure a Democratic win. However, as NBC’s panel of undecided PA voters proved, these voters cannot be swayed by half-stepping progressive initiatives. Instead, it can only alienate left-wing voters.
Since the DNC, the Democratic party has stuck to one message: we must unify and celebrate America. This seems to forget that Biden ran on a similar message of unity. MAGA didn’t disappear after four years of Democrats remaining silent on progressive policies. To win the support of and mobilize her voter base, Kamala must state policies of her own. She can’t rely on Trump to embarrass himself.