By Steve Levy
So Kamala Harris’ favorable rating soared 16 points since being anointed as the Democratic Party nominee. It’s a remarkable short time, but no one should be surprised.
The media has a penchant for building up their favorite Democratic candidates while tearing down the Republican nominee. Remember how the legacy media loved “maverick” John McCain when he was a thorn in the side of President Bush? That changed suddenly and dramatically after McCain became the Republican nominee going against the media’s favorite son, Barack Obama. Instantly, he was portrayed as an out-of-touch, somewhat racist old fart, Republican establishment guy. When he was no longer going up against Obama and became a thorn in the side of Republican President Donald Trump, he became a media darling once more.
And then there was Mitt Romney, once admired as a moderate governor, who, after becoming the Republican nominee against Obama, was portrayed as a rich corporate elitist who hated women and dogs.
So why is it any surprise that the media has provided Kamala Harris with 100% positive coverage, according to the Media Research Center, since she received the nomination, as Trump garnered only 7% positive stories. The media also plays along with the typical bait-and-switch strategy employed by Democratic operatives. In other words, govern like a hard leftist, but campaign as a moderate to conservative Democrat.
Remember when Obama gave brilliant speeches in 2008 campaigning on unifying the country as a moderate? Upon entering office, he became one of the most divisive and left-leaning presidents in our history.
Then, of course, we had Joe Biden, who portrayed himself as a middle-of-the-road, middle-class moderate unifier who could reach across the aisle and end the division and the harsh rhetoric. But upon getting elected, all that went out the window as he implemented the agenda of socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocosio-Cortez. He vilified half of the country with harsh rhetoric, eviscerated our borders, ignited massive inflation and emboldened violent criminals and our international enemies.
And now we see Kamala Harris seek to disavow all the radical policies she espoused as a candidate in 2019 and as vice president for the last three-and-a-half years. By first promoting radical policies and then disavowing almost all of them, she can have it all ways to all people. By not answering questions as to where she currently stands, she seeks to not alienate anyone.
One would think that the American public and the media would come down hard on such pandering. But as Bernie Sanders conceded, he’s OK with her pretending she’s abandoning her Marxist ways, because he knows she’s lying just so she can get elected, and that she will revert to the Sanders agenda once elected. Remember that if you want to stem the millions of people flowing illegally over our border or want to get grocery bills down or want to restore American strength so that our enemies including Hamas, Russia and China do not continue on the warpath.
So it’s up to you, America. You can fall for this new sugarcoated package that Harris’ political operatives have put in place for this short-term election, or you could think long-term and realize that if she is elected, she would revert to her 2019 positions and the awful policies she stood behind in the Biden-Harris administration. Are we dumb enough to be fooled once again? Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party and their allies in the media, academia and Hollywood, are hoping so.
Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of “The Steve Levy Radio Show.” He is the author of “Solutions to America’s Problems” and “Bias in the Media.” www.SteveLevy.info, Twitter @SteveLevyNY, steve@commonsensestrategies.com