Our fixation on what Kamala Harris knows and believes is rather quaint. It reflects a traditional view of leadership that Democrats have largely rejected. Instead of decisive figures who guide the nation, the party is driven by untold numbers of elected officials and unelected bureaucrats, academics, and media voices who share a leftwing ideology. Harking back to its earlier history, the party is once again a machine. Its candidates are not visionaries but apparatchiks committed to the program.

The name on the ballot is largely irrelevant. No one is really voting for Harris, but for the party she represents. Still, politics needs a face, so when President Biden’s turned too craggy, she was tapped as a more youthful, attractive spokesmodel. Like Biden, her vacuity is her appeal; she is another empty vessel that Democrat marketing whizzes can fill with blithe slogans – Joy! Freedom!! Goldilocks!!!

Also, like Biden, her lack of insight and conviction is a plus as she is unlikely to offer any pushback to the plan. I’ll stand where you want, say what you want, just please compare me to Lincoln. If that sounds unfair, note that it is precisely what we have lived through during the stage-managed Biden presidency. As if to underscore the point, the president has been largely MIA since he was selflessly forced, kicking and screaming, to withdraw from the race. Who’s running the government? The machine.

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