The short version
- Kamala Harris received unexpected support from quarters after shifting towards more conservative positions.
- In his attacks, Trump avoided Harris' political past and focused on conspiracy theories.
- Harris campaign was exposed using misleading video editing to discredit Trump.
Kamala Harris has been leading in the polls, but now Donald Trump is breathing down his neck.
The latest measurements point to a dead end.
Many election experts believe Harris's biggest obstacle to beating Trump in November is her past policy positions.
– Yes, that's why the Trump campaign is tearing its hair out. “Why can't he attack Harris with policy,” is the question his advisers face, says Eric Locke, a government adviser. Civita Research Center To VG.
For example:
In the televised debate that took place on September 10, Trump had a golden opportunity to confront Harris and attack her policy positions.
Instead, he indulged in wild conspiracy theories about immigrants eating people's cats and pets. He threatened World War III, and repeated his controversial statements about Harris' ethnicity. He spent some time defending his “beautiful” rallies after Harris called them boring.
– If Trump had kept calm and done so, there is a high probability that he would have been able to pin it on extreme leftist policies. More specifically, extremism in San Francisco, characterized by “soft on crime”, a culture war centered on gay rights, stricter gun laws, and anti-religion. Lokke says he is opposed to stricter border controls.
It is difficult to win the US presidential elections with an “extreme left” character.
It is seen as un-American. Experts say Trump and his campaign should have worked hard to hold Harris to those positions.
– I struggled
With his liberal background from California, Harris has earned a difficult — and in most cases correct — reputation for belonging to the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Locke explains that Harris became increasingly moderate after being elected to the Senate in 2016.
But in 2019-2020 after that Wake up wave When it was at its peak, with the culture wars, new identity politics, and the Black Lives Matter movement, many felt this reorientation had become intrusive.
Kamala Harris, along with her immigrant parents from India and Jamaica, also struggled to find a political platform.
– Around 2020, Kamala Harris was uncomfortable in this situation. I struggled to formulate moderate positions. It was then that I supported Bernie Sanders in his desire to ban private health care providers, which does not make sense in the United States. Then she also made statements that those who cross the border illegally should not be prosecuted, says Civita's advisor.
Since then, hundreds of thousands have crossed the border illegally. Immigration is considered the most important issue in these elections.
Locke believes that Trump could take the field with Harris on the immigration issue, but he has failed – so far – to raise this issue in the election campaign.
Flags and patriotism
It is believed that Kamala Harris used the opportunity to reorient herself in this “attack vacuum”.
– It now shows a lot of patriotism and is filled with American flags. She praises the US Armed Forces, which she wants to ensure will be the strongest and most powerful The most deadly military force in the world » (The deadliest military force in the world, editor's note.) She has also distinguished herself by championing stricter border controls.
During the television debate, she also denied wanting to do so Confiscate everyone's weapons If elected, saying she and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz own guns
These are classic conservative core issues. Now she no longer talks about anti-racism and gender rights.
Locke believes there is a specific group of voters that Kamala Harris wants to reach.
– She speaks very clearly to those who voted for Nikki Haley in the Republican primaries. These are conservative voters, but they don't want Trump at all. Kamala Harris' goal is to capture those voters who might be tempted by her right turn.
He believes Harris has a higher “ceiling” than Trump.
– He may not get more than 46 percent of the votes.
Fraud via social media
Kamala Harris' campaign also adopted dirty methods to win voters.
News channel CNN It published a fact check earlier this month that revealed that Harris' campaign repeatedly engaged in deceptive video editing.
Here the campaign published a video clip showing that Trump does not know the state he is in.
But a longer version of the video shows Trump isn't buzzing:
@KamalaHQ According to CNN, she used to publish misleading videos attacking Trump.
They cite eight examples of fake or misleading video posts from the account since mid-August, including three from the latter part of this week.
– I took off the gloves
– Oh, the Democrats caught the cheating. Now is it no longer “when they go low, we go high,” as Michelle Obama said at the Democratic National Convention in 2016?
– No, these videos are classic American political propaganda. This is not nice, but in the “good” American tradition. “This is something we have been aware of for many years,” says Lucke.
He continues:
– Kamala Harris took off her gloves. But it's crucial that you do it in a smart way: strategically and very calculated. If not, it may backfire on her.
However, he believes there is every reason to criticize Harris for this hoax.
– Because people expect her to tell the truth, while no one has expectations from Trump and what he says and does, he says.
In any case, Harris' deception is a far cry from Trump's conspiracy theories and his constant lies and smear of opponents, the American expert believes.
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