They Got Nothing

Republicans on Monday distributed a set of talking points with pointers on how to attack newly minted Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. There are no two ways about it: It's a devastating document.

Harris, per the memo, wants to expand Medicare access to all Americans; she wants to address the nation's gun crisis with a buy-back program; she wants to limit the use of plastic straws; she's a big fan of electric school busses; and she laughs. And please don't forget she rode a bus to school as a child.

The short of it: The right has no viable way to attack Harris. Everyone from far-right influencers on Elon's fascist wonderland website (where Elon is throttling Harris' campaign account) to congressional Republicans to Trump campaign officials have spent the past 24 hours trying to find a way – any way – to go after Harris without becoming extremely sexist and racist (some went with that approach anyway).

Become a Bad Faith Times supporter and gain access to the BFT discord, where we talk politics, sports, movies, music, and all sorts of millennial stuff

Right wingers hav naturally resorted to calling Harris a "DEI" candidate. In case you somehow forgot what that's supposed to mean, recall my Bad Faith Times piece from March about conservatives' unhinged reaction to the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore – a tragedy they say would not have happened if white folks were in charge of the city.

I watched on Sunday Night as Stephen Miller lose his mind on live cable TV, shortly after Joe Biden finally withdrew from the race and endorsed his vice president – a shrewd move that all but blocked any donor-led attempts to stage a coup at the party's convention in August. Miller kicked and screamed and made no valid points about the new landscape of the presidential race. His temper tantrum concluded with him saying the Democrats couldn't do this.

Miller's talking point was picked up by many on the right. That included Dave Portnoy, the head of the Far Right Sports Industrial Complex. His brow furrowed, Portnoy was suddenly concerned about the state of democracy in the US. He said the Democrats had subverted the will of the people by tabbing Harris instead of Biden. Portnoy, like many on the far right, clutched his pearls in bad faith and said oh no, we cannot have this violation of the people's will. We must make this right and re-install Biden as the nominee. The same bros who cheered on the throngs trying to overthrow the United States government on January 6, 2021, are now pro-democracy activists, gravely concerned with the democratic process. Portnoy and his stunningly bad-faith ilk did not, for some reason, acknowledge that Joe Biden was in fact not the Democratic nominee when he withdrew from the race, just as Trump was not the Republican nominee until he accepted the honor at the party's dystopian convention last week.

None of this criticism of the Democrats' transition is in good faith, of course. You know that and I know it. The right is incapable of operating in good faith, for it would reveal their true selves and their vile intentions. These folks hate democracy because it serves as an impediment to their domination of society, and because democracy is difficult and messy and these people are lazy and weak and they know the public rejects their hideous vision of America and humanity at large (The right hates America, lest you forget). When they whine about Harris taking over for Biden, what they're saying is this: I know the libs care about democratic norms and procedures, so I'm going to appeal to their sense of fairness and justice to keep Biden on the ticket because I believe the Big Boy will defeat Biden, but not Harris. They can't come out and say this for fear of admitting that Trump is an historically weak and vulnerable candidate who is reviled by most of the voting public and would lose to almost any Democrat.

They will not beat Harris. They can't. I'm certain the polls will soon reflect a new reality in which a young, upstart, vivacious Democratic candidate is staring down a huge bag of curdled milk wearing a red hat. It's Trump who is now the oldest presidential candidate in American history. It's Trump and his ravaged brain that cannot possibly keep up with Harris' sharpness an intelligence. In fact, there's no way Trump will agree to debate Harris because he knows he would have his ass handed to him. And visually, the contrast would be as stark – maybe starker – than when a young Barack Obama debated a geriatric John McCain in 2008. Images matter, and a Kamala-Trump split screen would matter a lot.

Harris is talking about Trump like the criminal he is. She's talking effectively about abortion rights – the single best driver of voter turnout in our post-Roe country. Young people are energized. "Kamala is brat" – which seems to mean something to zoomers – is trending on social media sites the world over. Beyonce is allowing Harris to use her music at campaign rallies (this might actually determine the election and I'm not kidding at all). The Democratic Party raised an incredible $82 million in 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris for the presidency. Nearly 60,000 people have signed up to volunteer for the Harris campaign over the past two days.

The coalition that defeated the fascist threat in 2020 is reassembling, and doing so in a hurry. It's a full-on nightmare scenario for the right. Republican attacks against Harris are going to get really weird and really gross in the coming weeks.

Because, you see, they got nothing.

Follow Denny Carter on BlueSky at @cdcarter13.bsky.social and on Threads and X at @CDCarter13.