Psaki Shills for Sorry VP
Things keep getting worse for Kamala Harris, even as professional flacks try to prop her up.
It was surely the weirdest tweet ever sent by a White House press secretary. “For anyone who needs to hear it,” said Jen Psaki, “VP is not only a vital partner to POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country — from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.”
Huh? Who, we wonder, would need to hear such an odd message? Who might need to know that the vice president of the United States is a “vital partner” to Joe Biden and a “bold leader” doing all manner of excellent things for the country?
Answer: Democrats. Why? Because it’s not true.
C'mon, Jen. We all saw the recently released USA Today/Suffolk poll that shows Vice President Kamala Harris at a laughably dismal 28% percent approval, a record low for a veep. We all know how mightily Joe struggled before putting her on the ticket. And now we know why. We’ve all seen her up close and in person, cackling at weirdly inopportune times, faking a French accent while on a diplomatic trip, and failing to accomplish anything of substance as The Heartbeat Away from our oldest president in history.
Psaki’s tweet is what we might call “damage control” in that it came after VP Harris’s office was forced to respond to a lengthy and fairly devastating CNN article on Sunday that suggested her team was in full meltdown mode. According to the article:
Defenders and people who care for Harris are getting frantic. When they’re annoyed, some pass around a recent Onion story mocking her lack of more substantive work, one with the headline, “White House Urges Kamala Harris To Sit At Computer All Day In Case Emails Come Through.” When they’re depressed, they bat down the Aaron Sorkin-style rumor that Biden might try to replace her by nominating her to a Supreme Court vacancy. That chatter has already reached top levels of the Biden orbit, according to one person who’s heard it.
Psaki wasn’t the first to attempt some damage control. Harris’s senior advisor and chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders, beat her to it. She, too, will be unsuccessful though. “Let me reiterate,” she tweeted: “It is unfortunate that after a productive trip to France in which we reaffirmed our relationship with America’s oldest ally and demonstrated U.S. leadership on the world stage, and following passage of a historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create jobs and strengthen our communities, some in the media are focused on gossip — not on the results that the President and Vice President have delivered.”
Ah, it’s the gossip that those unfriendly media types are focused on. It must be because of the “sexism and racism,” as late-night non-funny funnyman Jimmy Kimmel noted. That would be the same Jimmy Kimmel who did sketches in blackface and should have won an Oscar for serial misogyny.
In any case, when Democrats are complaining about unfriendly media coverage, you know they’re in trouble.
If only folks could instead focus on Harris’s many sterling leadership attributes and endearing interpersonal qualities. For example: .
By the way, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, the Republicans are leading the Democrats by a full 10 points on the generic ballot for 2022 midterm voting preference — which is the GOP’s best standing in the 40 years that issue has been polled. In addition, the poll also finds that just 41% of Americans approve of Joe Biden’s performance, which is down a whopping 11 points since spring. No wonder the Democrats are panicking.
As the folks at ABC News helpfully note, though: “While a year is a lifetime in politics, the Democratic Party’s difficulties are deep; they include soaring economic discontent, a president who’s fallen 12 percentage points underwater in job approval and a broad sense that the party is out of touch with the concerns of most Americans — 62% say so.”
Indeed, a year is a lifetime in politics. Twelve months from now, things could be even worse for the Democrats. For example, a full 70% of folks now believe the economy is in bad shape, which is up from 58% this spring. That means there’s 30% of folks out there who still need convincing; 30% who’ve yet to feel the full effects of Joe Biden’s supply chain disaster and his runaway inflation.
Just give ‘em time.
