Andy Bloom: Kamala can’t close
Gage Skidmore
Previously, I wrote about both presidential candidates talking almost exclusively to their bases and neither trying to appeal to undecided or crossover voters.
That’s become less true in the past couple of weeks.
Trump did an interview with Bloomberg editor and chief John Micklethwait. He spoke at the Economic Club of Chicago, the annual Al Smith dinner, and a three-hour Joe Rogan podcast – none of which Harris would do. Imagine Harris in a three-hour interview. He’s done his share of friendly “bro” podcasts and Fox appearances, but not on its news shows. Trump declined 60 Minutes, CNN’s town hall invitation. While he offered Harris a second debate before their first encounter, he rejected overtures afterward.
Less than a month before election day, the summer of joy and coconut memes ended, as her polling advantage faded into a tie or a slight Trump advantage, so Harris changed strategy more dramatically. She went from ignoring the media to appearing only on friendly venues, then 60 Minutes, town halls, and even a high-stakes interview on Fox News.
Harris did several friendly-fire podcasts and other interviews where she knew she wouldn’t be challenged. She sat down for a taped interview with 60 Minutes and Brett Baier on Fox News, NBC News, and town halls, including one on CNN.
Both Harris and the obedient media have done pratfalls.
The Harris 60 Minutes interview exposed the venerable news magazine’s partisan hackery. A promo for 60 Minutes showed Bill Whitaker asking Harris whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens to the Biden-Harris administration. In the promo, Harris answers with one of her word salad answers. The program aired with an edited and more concise reply — a practice that violates CBS News standards.
Bari Weiss’s Free Press called on CBS News to release a full transcript of Harris’ 60 Minutes interview. The Free Press adds that CBS released the full transcript of Catherine Herridge’s interview with Trump in 2020. CBS has not released the transcript.
During a Harris town hall meeting in Michigan, an audience member asked host Maria Shriver, “Are we going to be able to ask a question?” Shriver let the cat out of the bag. “You’re not; unfortunately, we have some pre-determined questions,” she replied. Kamala can’t even answer questions that her campaign has written.
She’s been asked the same questions over and over, and she gives the same pre-determined canned non-responses.
The View threw her a softball: What would you have done differently than Joe Biden? She said nothing came to mind. She repeated the answer that night on Steven Colbert.
Weeks later, asked the same question, she can only muster that she’s not Joe Biden and will bring different life experiences to the presidency. As the “last person in the room,” those experiences haven’t helped during the past (nearly) four years.
Illegal immigration? Forget everything she said about the wall being Trump’s “stupid medieval vanity project.” During CNN’s town hall, after blinking incredulously, Anderson Cooper pointed out that her plan, the one she blames Trump for Congress not passing, contains $650 million for the wall. Cooper tried to pin down whether she was for or against it. Somebody, please translate her Harris-ism Salad because she didn’t answer.
Inflation? It’s the corporations, price gouging. Inflation was around two percent annually for 40 years under Democrat and Republican presidents and Congresses. Evil corporations started gouging only when Biden-Harris came to the White House.
Biden-Harris asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate price gouging by oil companies in 2021 and this year into the practice by grocery stores. If FTC Chair Lina Kahn can’t prosecute a single case, it doesn’t exist. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve found price gouging did not cause inflation in 2021-22.
Pay for her plans? “Make the rich pay their fair share,” Harris repeats Biden’s fact-checked false claim that billionaires pay lower tax rates than teachers and firefighters.
According to Microsoft co-founder Steve Balmer’s non-partisan USA Facts, the top one percent of earners pay 45.8 percent of all income taxes. The bottom 50 percent pay 3.3 percent. It’s a specious argument.
Harris continues to run commercials claiming Project 2025 is Trump’s plan. Even fact-checkers have had to concede this is false.
During her Fox News interview, Harris used a new non-answer when asked about her support for taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgery for illegal immigrants and federal prison inmates. She told Baier that she has and will continue to “follow the law.”
Unsaid was, “Wait until I’m president, have the bully pulpit, and can change laws I don’t like.” When Harris ran for president in 2020, she was honest about laws she did and didn’t like. That was before being anointed the nominee. She was taught the Obama-Biden playbook to run as a moderate and keep her mouth shut until after the election.
As Baier prepared to move to the next topic, Harris muttered: “You gotta take responsibility for what happened in your administration.”
It should be Trump’s closing message. An ad showing the immigration numbers over footage of the border being overrun, followed by Kamala’s, “You gotta take responsibility for what happened in your administration.” Show the increase in the price of essential goods followed by, “You gotta take responsibility for what happened in your administration.” Show scenes of Iran’s rockets or the Afghan withdrawal followed by, “You gotta take responsibility for what happened in your administration.” End it with Trump saying, “Let’s not just turn the page, let’s close the book on the Biden-Harris nightmare. I’m Donald Trump. I approved this message.”
With Harris’s polling numbers sagging and falling short of where Hillary and Biden were two weeks before election day, joy and coconut memes are out. Harris has resorted to Biden’s original premise. To close, Kamala is pulling out all the stops. Trump is dangerous. He’s unstable. He’s a fascist. He’s Hitler.
The Hitler, unstable, fascist, end-of-democracy claims don’t pass the smell test. Voters in Pennsylvania and other battleground states know because Democratic Senator Bob Casey, running for re-election, is now running commercials stating: “Casey bucked Biden to protect fracking, and he sided with Trump to end NAFTA and put tariffs on China to stop them from cheating.”
Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is running for re-election in Wisconsin, and Rep. Ellissa Slotkin (D-MI), who is trying to get elected to the Senate, also have ads boasting their connections with Trump.
Why would Democrat senate candidates in close battles promote working with Trump if they thought he was a fascist threat to democracy – or Hitler – unless they didn’t believe the claims? Senators working with Hitler? Really?
It’s unclear if comparing Trump to Hitler will work any better for Harris than it did for Biden. He’s already been called a fascist and compared to Hitler. Is there any evilness to which he hasn’t been compared? Nothing is out of bounds, except for what Trump calls Harris.
Do the polls, which have been trending in Trump’s favor, suggest not enough people know who or what he is – or are the polls saying that Harris hasn’t closed the deal?
The same polls show that between 60 and 70 percent say the country is moving in the wrong direction, while Harris continues to refuse to acknowledge any mistakes while she’s been in the White House.
Doing more interviews, repeating that she never noticed Biden’s cognitive decline or wouldn’t do anything different than him, and reciting the other evasive non-answers will not produce a better result.
Trying to appease Jews who stand with Israel and Palestinian Gaza protesters placated neither and likely pissed off both.
It’s not only Trump supporters who are noticing Harris’s struggles. David Axelrod commented that some of her CNN town hall answers were “word salad city.” Van Jones added, “The word salad stuff gets on my nerves. The evasions are not necessary.”
The most concrete evidence that more interviews with the same evasive, inauthentic responses came from a USA Today/Suffolk University poll of people who had heard Harris or Trump interviewed by a podcaster.
While podcasting is gaining popularity, it still doesn’t reach the masses like the legacy or traditional media.
The poll found, “Nearly 72 percent of respondents said that they had not seen Harris on a podcast and 77.5 percent said that they had not seen a Trump podcast appearance.”
USA Today reported:
Of the respondents that said they had seen a Harris podcast appearance:
- 51 percent said that what they saw made them less likely to vote for the vice president.
- 34 percent said that what they saw made them more likely to vote for the vice president.
- 13 percent said that what they saw made no difference to their vote.
Among the 12.5 percent that said that they had seen a Trump podcast appearance:
- 49.5 percent said that what they saw made them more likely to vote for the former president.
- 28 percent said that what they saw made them less likely to vote for the former president.
- 21.5 percent said that what they saw made no difference to their vote.
Harris is better off skipping interviews if this is the best she can or will do.
I’ve said to many that there is no chance Harris would have survived a primary with these answers. She’s a weak candidate.
Don’t mistake my criticism of Harris as applause for Trump. He continues to say every random thought that comes to his mind. It is unwise and undisciplined. It fuels Harris and the media’s arguments and could cost him the election. His antics are surely causing some to rethink their vote.
However, the New York Times reports that nearly 35 million votes have already been cast as of October 27, including over two million in the critical swing states of Georgia and North Carolina and over one million in Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
This has been the fastest moving and craziest election in most voters’ lifetimes. Who knows what will happen in the remaining few days, but there are no do-overs once an early ballot is submitted.
Harris hurts herself by making media appearances where she repeats the same non-responsive, evasive, inauthentic word salad answers. Likewise, Trump may hurt himself by speaking every undisciplined, crude, and insulting thought that pops into his mind.
Kamala can’t seem to close. Trump is rising but keeps saying things that could backfire.
With days to go, this election is a coin flip. There are a dozen reasons why either could win or lose.
Andy Bloom is President of Andy Bloom Communications. He specializes in media training and political communications. He has programmed legendary stations including WIP, WPHT, WYSP/Philadelphia, KLSX, Los Angeles, and WCCO Minneapolis. He was Vice President of Programming for Emmis International, Greater Media Inc., and Coleman Research. Andy also served as communications director for Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio). He can be reached by email at andy@andybloom.com or you can follow him on Twitter at@AndyBloomCom.
Mr. Bloom, what would need to occur for you to reasonably conclude that results were rigged? If your answer is nothing, does that not show cognitive bias? There has to be an answer (no matter how far-fetched) a reasonable person can provide. One of the variables that would need to occur is expressed (in words, gestures, or conduct) confidence that the actual candidate does not matter, and could be replaced without any vote, mere months, before the general election.
QUESTION: Why do we allow an unsecured system to tabulate our votes? I’m not saying the vote is rigged. I’m asking why we tolerate an unsecured system to tabulate our votes. This article from NBC was written 10 months before the 2020 election – and these machines supposedly still have the same systems: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/online-vulnerable-experts-find-nearly-three-dozen-u-s-voting-n1112436
Mr. Sweeney,
Off the top of my head, Trump brought 61 cases claiming election fraud in 2020. He lost 60 of those cases, and the one case he won in Pennsylvania did not involve allegations of voter fraud; it instead led to a minor procedural change regarding the deadline for voters to “cure” errors on mail-in ballots. This result did not affect the election’s outcome, as it involved a small number of ballots and was unrelated to any broader fraud claims. Many of the judges who ruled in these cases were appointed by Trump. The Supreme Court also refused to take up any of Trump’s cases. Fox News settled a $787 million case with Dominion Voting Systems rather than let it proceed any further in the legal system.
I’m not a fan of mail voting or ballot harvesting. It’s beyond me why we need weeks and weeks of early voting. A week or 10 days seems more than reasonable enough to me. But that doesn’t mean there was wholesale fraud that impacted the outcome of the 2020 election.
You’ve got to get over the idea that the 2020 election was stolen. If you want to know what it would take to convince me that election fraud occurred, it would take evidence that a court found beyond a reasonable doubt impacted the outcome of an election.
I’m listening to you and agree about the court findings. Election law is held to an even higher standard than reasonable doubt – that is my understanding. There is literally almost no way to prove (or detect unless you are looking for it) mass election fraud. And I don’t care about 2020. Time magazine ran their story. The election was not “stolen” – I agree. My main point is the voting process is broken and extremely corrupt. Ukraine from a moral perspective is a tragedy. From an amoral perspective, it is a perfect scenario for the US military: they get to practice war and develop new tech and strategies with almost zero cost. Iran just got hammered, and China has no other path to expand other than to try and persuade our leaders. You have corrected me in the past – and you were right to do so. I’m not disciplined and I’m not very bright. The rich get richer. And the poor will always be with us.
You know that the mass mail-in ballots are not a very good way to run a free and fair election. I’m just yelling into the wind to blow off steam. I’m under zero belief it can be changed.
Mr. Sweeney:
I’m not a lawyer, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no standard in U.S. law higher than “beyond a reasonable doubt.” This includes election law cases.
There are certainly ways to prove election fraud, and people are routinely convicted of it in most elections. The Heritage Foundation, among others, maintains a database of election fraud cases. However, they are almost exclusively one-offs.
A group of prominent conservative and Republican legal and political figures provided the best explanation of the 2020 election. In 2022, they released a report called “Lost Not Stolen.” If you haven’t read it, you should. I know it’s not going to change the minds of many convinced that the election was stolen, but I keep waiting for any evidence that has not been debunked. Here’s the link:
https://lostnotstolen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Lost-Not-Stolen-The-Conservative-Case-that-Trump-Lost-and-Biden-Won-the-2020-Presidential-Election-July-2022.pdf?fs=e&s=cl
And change does happen within the system. In 1980, voters stopped the New Deal and Great Society by electing Reagan, who also rebuilt our military and won the Cold War. Obama promised change, and we got it. I’ll leave it to history to decide if the two Obama terms and his third term with Biden have made the U.S. better or weaker. There is no question in my mind that if Harris wins, we will get more of Obama’s change – only more radical. Change happens, but the founders’ genius was that under any circumstances, it happens slower than those who push for it want.
I don’t understand your point about Ukraine. My view is Chamberlin had the opportunity to stop Hitler in 1938 but didn’t. If Putin is allowed to take Ukraine, he will swallow up the Balkin states and eventually Poland. We can support Ukraine now or fight Putin later. Sorry for the Hitler reference, but fighting a war in Eastern Europe is where it does apply – not because of rallies in Madison Square Garden or a few bitter former Trump employees calling him Hitler.
I was wrong. I was incorrect.
I’m not a lawyer (and I did not sleep at Holiday Inn Express.)
Preponderance of the evidence apparently is the default standard for most civil lawsuits.
Clear and convincing evidence seems to be the higher standard used for elections.
The beyond a reasonable doubt standard is the highest burden of proof… used in criminal cases. That is what the internet says.
My understanding is the “preponderance” standard is why almost all of Trump’s claims were not considered.
“Trump declined 60 Minutes, CNN’s town hall invitation” – In other words Trump only appeared at media friendly events, including ones where the media could not ask questions.
“Inflation? It’s the corporations, price gouging.” – Corporations are the ones who set the prices for goods and services, not the President.
” To close, Kamala is pulling out all the stops. Trump is dangerous. He’s unstable. He’s a fascist. He’s Hitler.” – Based on statements made by Trump and his surrogates he is well in line with Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, and yes, Hitler.
“Trying to appease Jews who stand with Israel and Palestinian Gaza protesters placated neither and likely pissed off both.” Do you think Trump won the support of American Jews when he stated that American Jews who vote Democrat are disloyal or that if he loses the election it will be the fault of American Jews?
“Trump may hurt himself by speaking every undisciplined, crude, and insulting thought that pops into his mind.” – Out of an entire article on Harris, this is the only thing you have to say about Trump.
Mr. Bloom is a carpetbagger who lives in Minnesota and should stop trying and failing to influence a city that he knows little about.
Judah:
I’ve avoided responding to you for months now because you are an unhinged liberal nut suffering from TDS.
Let’s start with economics. Companies set prices based on supply and demand. If a company over-charged for its goods or services, a competitor would offer the same product for a better price. Whenever the government tries to interfere with price controls bad things happen. Shortages are the first result. Kamala’s plan is price controls. Many economists have stated what a bad idea it would be. Further, there is no evidence of price gouging. The FTC hasn’t found any and the Federal Reserve stated such in its report this spring. You’re lack of basic economic understanding is demonstrated in every comment you ever make.
Most of the things you and liberals attribute to Trump are unproven and said by people with personal grudges against him or his political enemies. Every four years, voters are told the Republican is a fascist, racist, misogynist, will start WWIII, is dumb, etc. Reagan was, Bush was, McCain was, Romney was, Trump is. Finally, enough people are on to this nonsense, and it looks like it no longer works. You’re going to need to come up with something new, and obviously, what you can’t do is come up with any reasons why Kamala is different or better than Joe Biden.
There have been many political rallies at Madison Square Garden over the years, starting with Theodore Roosevelt’s in 1912, Franklin Roosevelt’s in 1936, JFK’s birthday party in 1962, and Bill Clinton’s acceptance speech in 1992. Were those Nazi rallies too? You have no idea how many different ethnic and religious groups were represented at Trump’s MSG rally – needless to say, most of which would not have been welcome at Nazi rallies. That’s more than your narrow mind can comprehend.
You conveniently ignore how Democrats trashed the First Amendment to get the Biden-Harris administration elected and used its DoJ to go after not only the head of the opposition political Party but also to go after parents who opposed local school officials in meetings as domestic terrorists. This is the first administration since Andrew Jackson to openly thumb its nose at the Supreme Court. And the first Party to anoint its nominee rather than let voters choose it for at least 40 years.
If you want to read how awful Trump is, pick up the Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and dozens of other liberal papers, watch CNN or MSNBC, or read the hundreds of hate-Trump websites. There’s no shortage of places where you can find people who will confirm your beliefs, but stop coming to Broad + Liberty, where writers are intelligent and not sheep.
Finally, yes, I currently live in Minnesota. I’ve never hidden that – because I’m honest (and I also write under my real name – I’m not a keyboard troll). It doesn’t really matter where people live anymore. I’ve lived in Philly for significant periods of my life since 1985. I still call it my hometown. I watched or attended over 140 Phillies games this season and listen to Merrill and Mike every Sunday during football season. As much as it disgusts me, I subscribe and read the Inky most days.
So, thanks for always reading my columns. Maybe it would be a more productive use of your time to read one of the many sheep who see the world through your distorted googles.
Mr. Bloom:
Whatever happened to the philosophy, traditions and principles of the Jesuit / Ignatian education that you received as a graduate of Marquette University?
“Men (and women) for others”………is that understanding integrated in your professional and personal life?
The phrase challenges Jesuit education to promote justice and solidarity. It’s based on the idea that love should be expressed through actions, and that the goal is to become a companion and neighbor to those in need.
I have young grandsons and you have young sons…….does Donald Trump portray the values, morals, ethics and integrity that you feel are part of your life, tradition and family? The laundry list of insults and degrading comments re citizens with mental illness, physical disabilities, women, immigrants, politicians and professionals (both Democrats and Republicans) that have challenged them, and the factual details of his sexual assaults of women, and his promise to pardon those criminals who attacked and assaulted numerous law enforcement personnel on January 6th with serious injuries and deadly results.
Graduated from St. Joseph College, Mathematics in 1974 and I have tried desperately to follow what I learned and valued of the Jesuit tradition.
Feel free to correspond with me, if you wish, via the email address enclosed with this comment.
Michael Skiendzielewski Captain (retired) Philadephia Police Department
Dear Michael:
Thank you for taking the time to read my column and for writing comments.
If you’re under the impression that I went to Marquette University to learn Jesuit “philosophy, traditions and principles,” you are mistaken. My decision to attend there had more to do with the timing of visiting the campus (in the immediate aftermath of winning the NCAA tournament) and other factors that had nothing to do with its Catholic foundations.
It wouldn’t be hard to make the opposite case – let’s not go there.
I also don’t believe many or most of the charges against Trump. Some of the charges were made 20-25 years later, and others are being pursued with the help of the DoJ of the Party in power against the leader of the opposition Party. We don’t, or at least haven’t, done that in the United States, but Democrats have opened that door. When it happens to Democrat leaders, don’t act surprised. Don’t claim it’s revenge. Remember who opened the door for this behavior and made it normal.
To answer your question directly, Trump isn’t my ideal role model. I disapprove of him personally but approve of the results he achieved as president. We’ve had many presidents who were cads and some who are highly thought of because they had successful presidencies.
Nobody mentions Bill Clinton as a role model. Yet nobody cared about his abhorrent personal behavior. When Republicans tried to impeach him, his approval ratings went up because, in the end, voters cared about the economy, not his bankrupt moral character. How about JFK? There is strong evidence that the election was stolen in Texas and Illinois. JFK had a parade of women run through the White House. Still, JFK is idolized today.
And what of Kamala Harris? She lied to Americans for three and a half years about Joe Biden’s cognitive condition. Even now, she won’t admit to seeing anything during their weekly lunches. Is she blind, stupid, or lying?
Everything she was for, she’s now against. Everything she was against, she’s now for. Do you believe this, or is it okay with you to elect someone who you have no idea what they will do once in office?
The whole time, she tells us how divisive Trump is, how nasty and dark he is, etc. And what is her closing argument? He’s a Nazi, a fascist. Oh please!
He was president for four years, and we had no inflation, closed borders, he started no wars – and the U.S. wasn’t paying for two wars. Putin stayed within his own borders – something he didn’t do when Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden were president.
So, I can vote for Trump based on his policies during four years in office. My Marquette education isn’t necessary to understand how much better things were under Trump than Biden-Harris. If you graduated from St. Joe’s in mathematics, I’m guessing you are familiar with Game Theory. Use game theory based on actual things that have happened, not on names called. You might come up with a different logical conclusion.
Respectfully,
Mr. Michael Skiendzielewski Captain (retired) Philadelphia Police Department,
As a Bonner and Villanova graduate, I appreciate the Augustinians (Truth, Unity, Love), yet we probably agree about many things because I sincerely defer to the intellectual prowess of the Jesuits.
(At the risk of being a jerk I’m going to point out you misspelled Philadelphia BECAUSE I know you are sincere, and I want you to recognize that I scrutinized and agree with your main points, and the “gotcha” stuff is dumb. So, we should be able to disagree and find faults with each other’s thinking and seek reason. It makes us better men, and our egos should not be attached to our ideas.)
While the quote “it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled” is often attributed to Mark Twain, there’s no evidence that the author actually wrote this phrase. But that sentiment seems rooted in truth all the same. I think you have been fooled into believing a lot of lies about Trump. You remind me of my uncles. Great men. They did a lot for their communities. They all despise Trump. It is sincerely remarkable. They all were okay with being told to wear a cloth mask to enter a restaurant, walk 5 feet, sit down and take the mask off. Literally insane policy. I do not understand it at all. Great men, who served their community, and just went along with complete crazy ideas for almost two years. And they all really dislike Trump. It is very, very odd.
If you’re under the impression that I went to Marquette University to learn Jesuit “philosophy, traditions and principles,” you are mistaken. My decision to attend there had more to do with the timing of visiting the campus (in the immediate aftermath of winning the NCAA tournament) and other factors that had nothing to do with its Catholic foundations.
Ends justify the means? I did not say that you went to Marquette specifically to learn the Ignatian principles. Has any of the Marquette Jesuit education impacted your life, principles and raising of your sons?
NCAA vs St. Ignatius…….I guess it is no contest.
I will defer to you since your professional expertise is “communications.”
But what the hell do the Clinton and JFK dalliances have to do with the matter at hand?
First consideration I would review is the message to your children based on your Trump choice and the effects of his conduct and statements on their growth and development.
If you cannot see or understand the principle of “Family First”, there is nothing more to say.
Andy, getting back to your original story regarding Kommi-la not closing:
Yesterday her closing ‘vote for me’ speech was dark, divisive and sounded like TDS Judah may have wrote it.
Nothing about her; everything about Trump. ‘Don’t vote for me, vote against Trump’.
And the final nail: BIDEN CALLING TRUMP SUPPORTERS “GARBAGE”. There’s no putting the genie back in that bottle no matter how hard the spinsters try. The democrats have shown their true colors. They are the party of HATE. It’s in their history and their DNA. None of the word salad themes of aspiration and unburdening will change that. Not even the enabling MSM, or even the WaPo can clean up this mess for them.
Are you, and the world, better off today than you were 4 years ago? Answer that question honestly, and if the answer is NO, do NOT vote for the people who are responsible for that.
I urge everyone on this forum, red or blue, regardless of your vote choice for next week to read, study and comment on the article today from retired Army Colonel, Jeff McCausland, on MSNBC (regardless of the news source, read the facts, details and concerns)
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-military-us-armed-forces-commander-in-chief-election-rcna177717
I suspect that the possible use of the US Military WITHIN our nation’s borders is probably one of the most critical concerns facing all Americans and the future of our country.
Ansy,
I left two genuine and serious responses re to your article and you have not followed up with any commentary.
The last one particularly, the use of the US military within our borders, except for the most critical and exceptional of matters, is one that will have devastating and long-term consequences for ALL of the citizens in this nation approaching its 250th anniversary. It is overwhelming to think of all the complications, impact, community reaction, fear, danger, etc. regardless of political party, that such an effort will result from the use of the US military for such an effort as Trump has proposed.