Harris Supporters Seek To Insulate Her From the Criticism That’s Part of the Job

Vice President Harris’s supporters are landing a flurry of blows on Republicans while trying to forbid counterpunches. The strategy to impose the use of kid gloves has no precedent in America and — due to the candidate’s race and gender — just might succeed.Combined with being a last-minute swap for President Biden, Ms. Harris’s superficial qualities have put Republicans on the back foot. Social media, which incentivizes engagements, has further complicated the challenge President Trump and Senator Vance face as they seek to defeat her.Reasoned criticisms of Ms. Harris’s policies are met with yawns while posting salacious accounts of her life harvests clicks, leaving Trump as collateral damage. “Someone trying to help you,” as a congressional candidate once told me, “can hurt you more than the other campaign.”President Arthur, as in Chester Alan, said, “I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody’s damned business.” It’s a sentiment that resonates, because voters have dirty laundry, too. Expect Democrats to hold Trump responsible for personal attacks they deem fouls.Trump, who never throws supporters under the bus, would be wise to condemn those who hit him while swinging at Ms. Harris. Sympathy for victims is too powerful. It’s why indictments and convictions increased Trump’s support.Democrats know this; so, they’re trying to put topics out of bounds fast, hoping Republicans won’t risk mentioning Ms. Harris at all. For example, the PBS White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, said last week that Trump and his “surrogates repeatedly mispronounced” the name “Kamala.”Ms. Barron-Lopez reported that “a lot of Democrats have said that it’s just another dog whistle.” The phrase empowers the person slinging it to instill sinister meaning to political speech, turning mundane remarks into slurs.Even the correct pronunciation, “comma-la,” can be objectionable. “Vice President Harris,” Fast Company reported yesterday, “is frequently called ‘Kamala’ when her male opponents are addressed by their last names.”This is not accurate. As I wrote in the Sun last week, after Trump’s assassination attempt, Mr. Biden referred to him only as “Donald,” as does Ms. Harris. The New York Times reported in 2016 that foes tagged Trump as “Drumpf,” the family name generations back. Both Presidents Bush were called “George.”President Theodore Roosevelt detested “Teddy.” Democrats, enraged by the disputed 1876 election, called President Hayes “Rutherfraud” rather than “Rutherford.” President Tyler, the first to accede upon the death of a president, was “His Accidency,” and President Nixon “Tricky Dick.”Compared to these monikers, “Kamala” is a gift. It’s better, even, than “Harris,” close to “harass” as it is. The name pops as memorable because, as a character in “The Sunshine Boys” observes, “words with K in them are funny.”Even laughter can be problematic to partisans. “Donald Trump,” the left-wing New Republic wrote on Friday, “and MAGA media figures have ramped up the attacks on Kamala Harris’s laugh, her personality, and her temperament.”The New Republic called it a “repulsive new … smear.” Forgotten is that the younger Mr. Bush’s laugh was mocked, that leaders have been judged on “temperament” since democracy began, and that “personality” is behind a poll question familiar since 2000: “With which candidate would you rather have a beer?”President Benjamin Harrison was dubbed “the Human Iceberg” because he was as colder than a Coors. President John Adams was so insufferable under President Washington that the Senate imposed Rule XIX which, to this day, bans vice presidents from speaking during debates.Freedom to take our leaders down a peg is a pillar of democracy. As Mr. Biden said last week, America has presidents, “not kings and dictators.” Criticism, insults, and pronunciations cannot be banned by royal decree — and what’s sauce for a Roosevelt or Bush is sauce for a Harrison and Harris alike.

Harris Supporters Seek To Insulate Her From the Criticism That’s Part of the Job

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