Jason Chaffetz: Kamala Harris, Biden's VP pick – here's what she brings to the ticket
What is there to be excited about with the California senator joining the ticket?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Enthusiasm wins races. Bill Clinton had it. Barack Obama had it. Donald Trump has it in spades. Mitt Romney didn’t. Presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden doesn’t either. Unfortunately for Biden, neither does his vice presidential pick, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Have you ever bumped into someone who says, “Boy, if only Joe Biden were president we could solve this problem!” Neither have I. It is not something that happens.
How about Kamala Harris? Ever hear, “Kamala Harris’ California approach will put our country back on track.” Nope. Never. Given the wide range of positions Harris has taken, it's hard to know exactly what she stands for.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TOM DEL BECCARO: KAMALA HARRIS, BIDEN'S VP PICK, VIEWS POLITICS AS A GAME
With former Vice President Biden selecting Harris as his running mate, and only 84 days until election night, Harris does nothing to solve Biden's enthusiasm problem.
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Harris raised and spent millions of dollars trying to convince Democratic voters she should be the next president. Her efforts were met with a resounding thud of “no” and an early exit from the race.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If she couldn't even finish in the top eight in the race for the Democratic nomination, what makes people think she is going to be appealing to centrists and conservatives? There is nothing to generate enthusiasm.
Harris dropped out of the Democratic race for the nomination so early, she didn’t even make it to her home state Democratic presidential primary. But it wouldn’t have mattered.
If her home state Democratic voters weren’t enthusiastic about her, why would she play better in states where she is less well known?
Polling strongly suggested she was not going to fare well in California. A September 2019 poll from Emerson College Polling had Harris polling in fifth place in her home state, behind newcomer Andrew Yang and barely ahead of Beto O'Rourke. Probably best to drop out as Democrats in California evidently were not impressed by her.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If her home state Democratic voters weren’t enthusiastic, why would she play better in states where she is less well known?
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Harris ran as an unapologetic liberal, taking radical positions on climate change, health care and guns, and showing weakness on law enforcement. Her commitments to eliminate private health insurance, ban fossil fuels, support sanctuary cities, and allow government funding of abortions puts her outside the mainstream of American politics.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She brings nothing to the ticket for true centrists or disaffected Republicans. She is more liberal than Biden, and that's saying a lot as Biden has spent the past year lurching and contorting himself to the left.
Harris is from California. Most of the country does not want to be like California. There was no drama for political observers who know Biden was already going to win in California. What Harris brings to the ticket is a mystery to most.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}What is there to be excited about with Kamala Harris joining the ticket?
Much will be said and written about the color of her skin, but what should be truly concerning to Democrats is the lack of enthusiasm she brings to the ticket. Her fringe views, her dismal showing in the presidential race, and her lack of tangible accomplishments as a senator do not bode well for the Biden-Harris ticket in November.