Democrats have taken to calling Trump "Hitler" in the closing days of the campaign. According to the New York Times (see below), some Kamala Harris aides believe it is working, while other believe it could push voters further away.
It is, first of all, a tactic of desperation. Despite the Times' effort to paint the Harris campaign as cautiously optimistic, you don't break out the "Hitler" claim unless you really think you are losing, because it hurts your ability to govern.
How will Harris bring Americans back together after calling her opponent a Nazi, and implying that his supporters are Nazis, too? She can't -- not without significant outreach and compromise, which have never been her strong suits.
It's also such a vile and offensive claim that it will, in fact, alienate some voters. Gone is the "joy" of the early days of the Kamala Harris effort; this is mean, scorched-earth stuff. Trump can be divisive, but "Hitler" goes far, far lower.
But it works for Democrats in one way: it signals to the base that the campaign is still willing to fight -- and not just to win, but to resist a Trump victory. Already, Democrats have hinted they will not let a "dictator" take office.
Accordingly, calling Trump "Hitler" suggests that Democrats will go right back to where they were, 2016-2020: namely, making the country ungovernable if Trump wins. (How can you work with Hitler?) It is a threat, and a credible one.
There is another advantage -- one that would have been impossible without the collusion of the media: namely, that Trump and his allies have to push back against the charge of "Hitler" or "Nazi," thereby keeping it in the news.
The media not only promoted the Democrats' bizarre conspiracy theory linking Madison Square Garden to Nazis, but also took one bad ethnic joke by a comedian there and turned it into "evidence" that Hitler was in the building.
So, in sum, calling Trump "Hitler" is not persuasive, but gives a boost of motivation to the base; gives fearful voters a reason to choose Harris out of simple and understandable fear; and takes back control of the media debate.
If the Harris campaign hopes to repeat Obama's 2012 playbook, and win based on a a sheer "base turnout" strategy, then calling Trump "Hitler" makes sense. But Harris is not Obama, and turning out the party base may not be enough.
Harris has struggled all campaign long to reach out to moderate, independent, and undecided voters. Calling Trump "Hitler" is not exactly the right way to reach them; they have heard everything about Trump. They need to hear more.
They aren't going to hear it from her. But they will hear it from Trump, who has -- rather surprisingly -- built a broad coalition in his closing days. He has also been positive, and disciplined: for once, the big campaign gaffe wasn't his own.
I've often said in this campaign that we now live in a country with two separate media. Each campaign has to talk to its own audience. The "Hitler" debate is largely just Democrats talking to each other, through the Democrat media.
Trump is talking to his own audience -- and a wider audience, through podcasts, conservative news platforms, and rallies in places like Madison Square Garden. They have already tuned out the mainstream media and the "Hitler" absurdity.
Maybe the "Hitler" ploy will pull the polls a little closer. Maybe bad jokes will push a few people toward Harris. But Trump's strategy still feels like the winning one -- at least for this country, at this moment, looking for strong leadership.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/28/us/politics/kamala-harris-donald-trump-2024-election.html
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
