Senator Kamala Harris's convictions aren't about the issues,
they're about power and the limelight
Presumptive Democratic presidential
nominee Joe Biden, after many delays, has finally announced his
choice for vice president. He's chosen former presidential candidate Sen.
Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as his running mate.
Time will tell the real story behind
why Biden chose Harris. Meanwhile, what is blatantly
apparent is that Harris is not ready to be president. That is no small
consideration given what critics have referred to as potential cognitive issues
for the 77-year-old former vice president. These potential cognitive issues
could make Harris president of the United States -- and in short order.
Indeed, for the first time in American
history, voters are presented with the real possibility they are selecting
someone with the knowledge that the vice-presidential candidate could be president within
four years – or less.
I have my own experience with then-Senate
candidate Kamala Harris.
In 2016, I ran for the United States Senate
against Kamala Harris. We debated twice. In the post-debate KCRA poll
after the first debate, I beat Harris 38% to 33% with 3 other candidates
dividing the remainder. There was no post-debate poll for the second
debate.
The reason I beat Harris in that first debate
is telling in my view.
First, Harris responded to the debate
questions in a cagey manner so as not to jeopardize her lead in the polls –
even when the moderator told her she hadn’t answered the question.
Second, and this partly explains the reason
for her cagey answers, is that her understanding of and dedication to policy
was superficial at best. As such, it was easy to draw a contrast to her
in this information age, i.e. answer the question and stand for something and
you will get noticed.
Harris’ performance in that first debate was
a microcosm of who she is.
In truth, Harris has led a gilded political
life. She became the girlfriend of the legendary California political
kingmaker, Willie Brown, although he was married.
Brown then “appointed
Harris to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and then to the
Medical Assistance Commission – positions that paid her more than $400,000 over
five years.” Given how rarely those commissions met (once or twice a
month), it’s great “work” (sarcasm) if you can get it.
Once Brown retired from politics, Harris
ungraciously decided that “His
career is over; I will be alive and kicking for the next 40 years. I do not owe
him a thing. If there is corruption [related to Brown], it will be prosecuted.”
So, Harris moved on. She became District
Attorney in San Francisco with the help of Brown (well before her harsh
comments above) and other Democratic Party mainstays like Senator Dianne
Feinstein.
From there, Harris ran for California State
Attorney General all but unopposed as the California Democratic Party
Establishment cleared the way for her.
She then worked out a deal with former San
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom that cleared the way for her to be the Democratic
Party favorite for the open Senate seat in 2016 while Newsom would become
governor.
So, what did she do when she got to the
Senate? Did she dig into issues and attempt to make a name for herself by
championing some important issue? Or, dare I say, did decide to bide her time
and learn?
No, she immediately ran for president.
That of course, ruffled some feathers in
Congress including those of long-time Sen. Dianne Feinstein who endorsed Joe
Biden. Of Harris, Feinstein noted that “She’s brand-new here [in the Senate] …
It takes a little time to get to know somebody.”
Returning to Brown, when asked about his
efforts to help Harris and then her ugly rebuke of him, he replied, “That’s
politics for ya.”
Ironically, that’s almost exactly what Harris
said to Biden’s V.P. search mentor former Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd
when he asked her about her ambush attack on Biden in an early Democrat debate.
According to Dodd, “She
laughed and said, ‘that’s politics.’”
As for the rest of her presidential debating
skills, Harris showed no depth.
She threw one punch and then was otherwise
disposed of by Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard who does care about issues.
Harris then understandably and quickly faded
in the polls. She didn’t last long enough to make it to Iowa – something I
predicted months ahead of the caucuses.
And that’s the heart of the matter. For
Harris, politics is a game of ambition not something of substance.
She is not a policy person. Her
convictions aren’t with respect to the issues; they are with respect to power
and the limelight.
How else do you explain her savage attacks on
Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and then her statement months later
that she “believes” Joe Biden’s accusers yet is still willing to work for
him? It’s just politics.
The problem for America is that this
campaign, on the Democrat side, is about (1) a presidential candidate
hiding his Senate records because, according to him, he doesn’t want them taken
out of context while he campaigns from a basement for president, and (2) a
vice-presidential candidate brimming with ambition but who has little
substance.
In an age of tweets, maybe that’s just
politics for ya.
The problem for the country, however, is that
Harris could be president based on Biden’s choice decision to choose her as his
running mate.
While I
previously wrote in another Fox News Opinion column that, given how divided we
are, this election will be close, (and that President Trump will be
reelected) “just politics” shouldn’t ever be the standard for choosing our
leaders, especially in these difficult times.
Tom Del Beccaro is an acclaimed author,
speaker and the former Chairman of the California Republican Party. His latest
book is "The Divided Era: How We Got Here and the Keys to America's
Reconciliation."
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FLASHBACK:
Kamala Harris: Profile of A Fake African-American
