Intersectionality Bingo Folds Her Tent [Updated]
[guest post by JVW]
As Dana posted on this blog earlier today, California Senator Kamala Harris has announced her exit from the 2020 Democrat Presidential Primary. Dana characterized the announcement as “expected, rather than surprising,” but I have to slightly disagree. My feeling is that the senator’s announcement is unexpected, but not exactly shocking. I had assumed that despite the layoff of campaign staff that she would tough it out until the California primary, but perhaps she had not allocated her money wisely and saw her campaign donations drying up as her numbers continued to drop in the polls. I suppose a fourth or fifth-place finish in the California Primary would have been extraordinarily embarrassing for a home state candidate who still harbors future political ambitions, so rather than subject herself to the indignity she has wisely chosen to call it a day.
I admit upfront and without evasion that I do not care for Kamala Harris as a politician. I find her to be a deeply unprincipled careerist and I think the way she got her start in San Francisco politics was sleazy and unethical. Depending upon which way the winds blow, she is a tough-as-nails prosecutor who prioritizes making the streets of San Francisco safe for the city’s residents and visitors, or else she’s the progressive advocate for rehabilitative justice and an implacable opponent of harsh punishments rendered to minorities and the poor who run afoul of the law. When socialism seems ascendant in her party she wants a single-payer health care plan that would eliminate private coverage, but when she’s surrounded by union members or wealthy progressives she suddenly decides that there is a place for private health care after all. And she has absolutely zero compunction about changing her mind on this issue from hour to hour.
That said, up until this fall I really did think she was a shoo-in for the nomination. She seemed to me to be everything that progressives desired. She had Barack Obama’s biracial background, but with an even more glamorous pedigree, being half-Asian rather than half-white. She had Hillary Clinton’s gender, but was a generation younger and had nowhere near her political baggage. She came from the wealthiest state in the nation and already had a rolodex full of progressive donors who, I assumed, would keep her rolling in dough. I figured that a candidate with all that going for her would easily sweep aside the various white men and the fake Indian on the way to the nomination.
So I suppose I owe Democrats an apology of sorts. Rather than just fall for the superficial benefits of intersectionality, voters appear to be rather discerning at this point in the game, and that’s probably best reflected by the continuous rise and fall of the top candidates. Kudos to the members of the donkey party for seeing through the disingenuousness of Kamala Harris and finding another candidate to support. This is also proof-positive that, just like in 2016, I am destined to be wrong with respect to just about everything in the coming election.
And yes, I am going to mention My Little Aloha Sweetie’s epic takedown of Senator Harris in the second debate:
In just forty-eight seconds, Tulsi Gabbard’s perfectly-aimed torpedo breached Kamala Harris’s hull and though it took a few months, the ship sank at long last today.
Interesting coda: I would have preferred that she remained silent savoring her victory, but I guess My Little Aloha Sweetie is ready to mend fences:
Sending my best wishes to @KamalaHarris, her family & supporters who have campaigned so hard. While we disagree on some issues, we agree on others & I respect her sincere desire to serve the American people. I look forward to working together on the challenges we face as a nation
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) December 3, 2019
UPDATE: Are you ready for an insipid take from the Dog Trainer? Here is what Carla Hall, one of their editorial writers (but of course), had to say:
I’m not surprised that Kamala Harris has dropped out of the presidential race. Sinking poll numbers, dwindling finances. That can only mean a death spiral for a campaign. But I’m deeply disappointed. Other people have left the race and I’ve thought, “Wait — they were still in?” But poll numbers aside, Harris was a candidate with a unique presence. And how exhilarating to see a smart, accomplished, powerful senator who is also a black woman running for president. Why has it even taken this long?
And for a minute there, she was on fire. There she was, onstage for the second debate, amid a bickering, cross-talking crowd of candidates, when she shushed the stage with the line, “Hey, guys, you know what? America does not want to witness a food fight. They want to know how we’re going to put food on their table.” The audience erupted in applause, and the next night her crack earned an admiring “Damn….” from late-night talk show host Seth Meyers, one of the most clever and insightful political commentators on television. It was exciting to see her rise above the crowd. And I loved that she flustered the avuncular, overly confident Joe Biden by reminding him of his opposition to court-ordered busing and that she made the whole country take a week to revisit segregation in schools then — and, unfortunately, now.
Political pundits I know who grade the performances of presidential candidates on whether they laid out their cases like rigid geometry proofs scoffed that she did a bad job that night, yet her poll numbers skyrocketed. I loved that, too. She quickly nailed the ultimate honor: She became a character in a “Saturday Night Live” skit, portrayed by Maya Rudolph.
And there you have the mindlessness of the modern young progressive (from her profile picture accompanying the piece, I am guessing Ms. Hall is roughly 30): She was adored by Seth Meyers (yeah, I’m having trouble remember who that is too) and by the cast of Saturday Night Live, so verily she was an outstanding candidate. Ms. Hall also lauds Intersectionality Bingo for being great on abortion rights, as if that was some existential threat front-and-center on the minds of a majority of voters and not the speciality hobby horse of high-strung young feminists. You can go on and read the rest, but I’ll save you the time and tell you it is absolute dreck. It is only axiomatic to be sure, but rest assured that a crappy candidate is likely to turn out and be a crappy leader.
– JVW
I can’t help but feel like Christmas has come early this year.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:18 pmJVW, there HAS to be a way to get you an autographed photo of Tulsi Gabbard.
Simon Jester (d7c864) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:27 pmThe Honolulu honey dried up Kamala’s money or twas beauty killed the b!tch?
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:30 pmJVW, there HAS to be a way to get you an autographed photo of Tulsi Gabbard.
Love it. She passed through Los Angeles a few weeks ago, but honestly, despite my infatuation I am way too lazy to venture out and see her. Plus, I think you needed to donate at least $100 to get in. I love freely, emphasis on the “free” part.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:38 pmI’ll bet I can swing it. No money changing hands. Does Patterico have your address? I’ll put it through him. You NEED such a photo.
Simon Jester (d7c864) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:47 pmBloomberg’s comments on her departure had all the warmth and sincerity of Hanukkah services at Nordhausen circa 1943.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:47 pmAnother of my family’s mottoes is “The worst woman in the world for everybody else could be the best woman in the world for you.” Be bold, JVW! Sweep her off her feet! Faint heart never won fair maiden. (That last is somebody else’s motto, no relation.) Autographed picture to pine over? Meh!
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:51 pmMy family looks down on making hey-hey with a married woman, so until My Little Aloha Sweetie goes all Katie Hill on us I think I need to stand down.
Simon Jester, it’s an awesome offer but seriously, I don’t want anybody to go to any trouble on this adventure.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:59 pmSo the only women of color left in the Dem 2020 race are Gabbard and Warren?
harkin (337580) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:05 pmSimon Jester (d7c864) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:47 pm
That would be a fine thing to do, Simon!
felipe (023cc9) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:07 pmUPDATE: Are you ready for an insipid take from the Dog Trainer? Here is what Carla Hall, one of their editorial writers (but of course), had to say:
And there you have the mindlessness of the modern young progressive (from her profile picture accompanying the piece, I am guessing Ms. Hall is roughly 30): She was adored by Seth Meyers (yeah, I’m having trouble remember who that is too) and by the cast of Saturday Night Live, so verily she was an outstanding candidate. Ms. Hall also lauds Intersectionality Bingo for being great on abortion rights, as if that was some existential threat front-and-center on the minds of a majority of voters and not the speciality hobby horse of high-strung young feminists. You can go on and read the rest, but I’ll save you the time and tell you it is absolute dreck. It is only axiomatic, but rest assured that a crappy candidate is likely to turn out and be a crappy leader.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:16 pmShe didn’t know who she was as a presidential candidate. You can’t show up and go “look at me, I’m like Barack” and have his people just show up. She was all over the place and didn’t have a consistent message so of course she couldn’t gain long term traction even when she got everyone’s attention for a hot minute.
Nic (896fdf) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:59 pmThere were two main problems with Harris attacking Biden on the issue of court-ordered busing, both of which she would have had to overcome for this issue to have helped her:
(a) court-ordered busing is very unpopular, and
Joshua K. (647811) — 12/3/2019 @ 8:12 pm(b) she abandoned her own support for court-ordered busing a few days later.
Exactly right, Joshua K. It was the perfect Kamala Harris moment: make a grand and showy pronouncement, and then one day later have your minions tell reporters that it didn’t really mean what it appeared to mean. “No, the Senator wasn’t accusing Vice-President Biden of being a racist, and no, the Senator does not wish for a return of forced busing laws in the United States.”
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 8:17 pm”And there you have the mindlessness of the modern young progressive (from her profile picture accompanying the piece, I am guessing Ms. Hall is roughly 30)“
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:16 pm
OK. Boomer.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 12/3/2019 @ 8:29 pmGood riddance. Leftists can only destroy.
NJRob (4d595c) — 12/3/2019 @ 10:42 pmDavid Brooks made an equally strong case for Obama – his immaculately creased pants.
From Dog Trainer article:
“ But poll numbers aside, Harris was a candidate with a unique presence.”
‘The better they got to know her the less they liked her” is not unique for a failed candidate.
harkin (337580) — 12/4/2019 @ 12:08 am_
Kamela harris quits race for lack of interest. ALOHA! Cnn debate will now have six whites. No dehonkification of democrat party yet!
asset (79c3db) — 12/4/2019 @ 1:03 am11. JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:16 pm
Or at least a candidate who stood out.
That’s one of the campaign strategies of the Democrats to pretend that is always in danger, whether or not it is, and they even can go so far as to hint that maybe legal birth control could be in danger from the Republcans, and it isn’t. Except possibly from stringent drug regulation or price controls maybe.
Sammy Finkelman (ce04e1) — 12/4/2019 @ 8:56 amRather than just fall for the superficial benefits of intersectionality, voters appear to be rather discerning at this point in the game
When I first started practicing, there was another associate in the firm who always used to say “You know what the best thing about winning is? It beats losing.”
Democrats want to win. They know that someone like Harris will be trounced by the Orange Man. It’s that simple.
Bored Lawyer (998177) — 12/4/2019 @ 10:02 am