CV NEWS FEED // Republicans need to change their strategy if they’re going to convince Americans to vote for Trump over Harris, according to a column from the Free Press.
American author and former opinion columnist for the Wall Street Journal Abigail Shrier wrote that the current strategy has been to continually remind the public that Harris was a DEI hire, or endlessly “slut shame” her on social media for her affair earlier in her career.
The first attack only targets one person, not the system responsible for creating DEI, while the second looks ridiculous given Harris’ “Momala” persona she tries to present, Shrier argued. Both attacks only mobilize voters to defend and support Harris.
The question Republicans ought to confront before leveling any attack is: ‘Will this energize my supporters more or hers?’” Shrier wrote. “For nearly every ad hominem salvo currently flung at Harris, the answer is: hers.”
Instead, Shrier recommended putting Harris “through the equivalent of a primary,” something that the vice president was able to avoid thanks to Biden’s late decision to withdraw from the race. The primaries serve as a “vetting process” that reveal how right or left leaning a candidate is, a missed opportunity to see Harris’ true colors.
“There is every reason to believe Vice President Harris is actually quite radical and would govern that way,” Shrier wrote, pointing out Harris’ tendencies to embrace gender ideology and “equity,” support defunding the police, and welcome BLM activists and illegal immigrants to society.
Shrier suggested reminding voters that Harris is a California politician who failed as “border czar” and supported values that the majority of American families do not favor.
“Republicans should remind the public of that [Harris’ San Francisco political record] and ask Wisconsin residents: Are you ready to become California?” Shrier asked. “Liberals and conservatives are fleeing Harris’s home state, where she was U.S. senator and attorney general. Would Pennsylvanians like to know why?”
“Ten million migrants have entered our country since Harris was put in charge of the border. Are they ready for millions more?” Shrier added.
Shrier also pointed out that though most American families do prefer Republican policies, those same policies might look less favorable this election thanks to the “messengers.”
“Trump and Vance both often seem like pit bulls straining at the leash,” Shrier wrote. “If the Mitt Romney–Paul Ryan ticket had too little fight, this one currently suffers from too much: too aggressive, too man-cave, too full of resentment to please the American heart, which still has a fondness for things like joy and hope.”
Shrier concluded:
If Republicans want to win, they must put Harris through the 2024 primary she never had. Inform voters of the record Harris is now scrambling to disavow, and the media is working desperately to erase. And most trying of all for Trump-Vance, they must hold two ideas in their heads: Yes, you got played. And also, bitterness will sink you.
