TO SERVE MAN: The Kamala Cookbook.
Some of this incuriosity is no doubt the result of careful cultivation of the media by Harris in the last two years. As Semafor’s Max Tani reported in late July, Harris has “invited a parade of prominent television anchors and media executives to dine with her at the Naval Observatory, given personal tours of her garden to journalists from diverse backgrounds, and shaped trips to do media appearances with the outlets serving Democratic-leaning groups the White House refers to as ‘coalition media.’” Harris has fêted the hosts of Morning Joe over dinner, as well as Meet the Press’s Kristen Welker, and doesn’t discriminate between prestige and nontraditional media. As Semafor notes, “Staff from gossip site The Shade Room snagged an invite to her holiday party,” and off-the-record meetings included visits by the authors of “fairly niche abortion Substacks.”
Instead of running down the story themselves, media outlets have scolded Republicans who posited their own theories about Biden’s departure and its resemblance to a bloodless coup. In a piece that included charts and an extended note on its “methodology,” the New York Times decried the use of words such as “coup” and “cover-up” and claimed, “A vast majority of prominent Republicans have treated the development [Biden’s exit] with suspicion or scorn.” New York magazine declared such speculation “lurid,” stating, “This line of argument is as feeble as it is loud and insistent. If Biden could be brushed aside against his will, why did it take so long, and why did the alleged orchestrators of the ‘coup’ insist that Biden himself make the decision?”
A willing media have continued to serve as the Harris campaign’s boosters by avoiding asking difficult questions about her policy positions. As New York’s Gabriel Debenedetti wrote recently, a “popular media narrative” suggests that Harris should take clear policy positions on important issues, but “people close to Harris” say “her primary job now is to win an election and that most voters need to understand her values and priorities, not her white papers.”
In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris said, “My entire career, I’ve only had once client: the people.” Is it a good idea to keep your client in the dark about not only how you got your job but also what your plans are for leading them, given that they ultimately decide whether you get that job and pay your salary? Harris is betting that it is. And given the media’s incuriosity about her résumé and rise to power, it’s a clever gamble. For the ever-more distrusted and increasingly unpopular and unprofitable mainstream press, however, it’s just another path of indignity leading to the industry’s grave.
Running out the clock with a subservient media in tow could very well work for Kamala, but there is certainly precedence for failure, and not just in 2016: Is Kamala setting herself up for a Dewey-versus-Truman defeat?