When the enemy speaks, it’s smart to pay close attention.
During last week’s Democratic National Convention, Republican strategist Greg Strimple opined at a program hosted by the Cook Political Report and the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. Strimple was asked what strategy Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, should deploy to drive her momentum forward, post-convention.
“Well, I was really hoping that she would do an event on the South Side of Chicago where she goes and says, ‘We’re going to take back this community from criminals, and return the streets to the people.’ I think she needs to do some of that stuff.”
Well, Harris was a tad busy last week, but the point is taken.
The smartest thing Harris can do, he argued, is something unexpected, out of character and “counterintuitive.” In her war with the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, Harris needs to appeal to those swing and independent voters who are not yet ready to buy what she is selling.
Strimple’s polling firm, GS Strategy Group, is partnering with the Cook Political Report and the Democratic firm BSG on examining trends in the swing states in the 2024 campaigns.
Democrats might retort: Where does this middle-age white guy get off commenting on Black Chicago? Listen, folks, to the gist of it. It’s a compelling strategy, deployed in the winning campaigns of two former Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
In 2008, Obama said, “’Tell the brothers to pull their pants up,’ right?” Strimple recalled. “We’re not expecting to hear that from Donald Trump. I mean, Obama? That’s interesting.”
Remember Clinton’s “Sister Souljah” moment?
Harris needs the positioning to drive her to the political middle and mine the centrist, independent and undecided voters she needs so desperately.
Democrats, while you are listening to the other side, it’s wise to recall that crime and violence are one of many issues in which the would-be Emperor Trump has no clothes. He harps on America’s so-called “crime wave.” The Democrats are soft on crime, he claims, and Harris is the chief criminal cuddler.
U.S. Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, attacked Chicago as he tried to counterprogram the DNC during a news conference in Kenosha, Politico reported.
“It’s almost a joke to me that they held it in Chicago, which has become the murder capital of the United States of America thanks to very failed Democrat leadership,” Vance said. He took a page from the Trumpian playbook and compared the city to “a third-world country.”
It’s all lies, but Harris needs to engage on this issue. The challenge of gun violence in Chicago is real and begging for new ideas and solutions.
Harris has more bona fides as a crime fighter than Trump and Vance can dream of. The Harris campaign touts her record as a prosecutor in California, from taking on offenders who committed sexual abuse and assault to forcing big banks to provide massive mortgage relief to families victimized in the national foreclosure crisis.
The campaign’s favorite exhortation last week was: “When we fight, we win!” If you really want a fight, take it to the enemy’s territory.
Look at what Ukrainians have managed to pull off by invading Russia. The conflict has been turned topsy-turvy. Ukraine has put real pressure on its mortal enemy.
Harris can do the same by doing battle with Trump on his own shaky ground. Trump has put security at the nation’s southern border at the center of his presidential campaign. Trump is no more anxious to address the border crisis than balance the national budget. He is avidly stoking fears by claiming criminals are pouring over our border to savage our women and steal our benefits, especially those “Black jobs.”
The Democrats have the perfect response: Trump doesn’t want to fix the thorny problem of illegal immigration. Harris drove that argument home Thursday night in her acceptance speech. She referred to the bipartisan legislation President Joe Biden’s administration crafted to attack the massive problem of illegal immigration as “the strongest border bill in decades.”
Yet, she added, “Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign. So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well, I refuse to play politics with our security,” she said. And she pledged, “As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed. And I will sign it into law.”
That message speaks volumes about Trump’s hypocrisy and desperation, and it’s one more potent salvo to launch on the presidential campaign trail.
Democrats, let the enemy be your guide.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.
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