Carrie Sheffield: Bad policies, not gender, will cost Harris the presidency

We’ve seen this in many other races, including with former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Anytime a female candidate on the left is criticized, progressives complain of a “war on women” and “sexism.” This form of deflection is sexist in its own way — coddling a candidate by claiming she’s not strong enough for democratic scrutiny.

To be sure, we have too many personal attacks generally in our feverish, hyperpolarized political climate. But the truth is: Americans don’t care that Harris is a woman, nor should they. If she loses, it will be based on the substance of her terrible policies, her inarticulate communication and her unimpressive record.

It’s also impossible to claim that Harris is a victim of more venomous personal attacks than her opponent, former President Donald Trump, who literally took a sniper’s bullet during a political rally.

Christian F. Nunes: Kamala Harris can overcome sexism's last stand

President Joe Biden dropped out, but his dismal policy record with Harris remains. A RealClearPolitics poll suggests 68% of Americans think the United States is on the wrong track. Harris now owns that, especially since she helped orchestrate the effort to deceive the American public into believing that Biden’s cognitive abilities were fine.

Harris will lose because typical Americans have effectively lost thousands of dollars in wages due to the ravages of inflation wrought in part by massive government stimulus spending — leading to a staggering $35 trillion in national debt — championed by this administration.

Harris also owns the terrible results along our southern border — her most visible portfolio assignment from Biden. What’s shocking is that Harris has not spoken with Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens since he was appointed in July 2023, according to Fox News. Harris also snubbed Owens’ predecessor, never speaking with retired Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz during his service from August 2021 through June 2023, according to "60 Minutes."

Harris utterly failed on immigration, and now the highest number of people since 2001 told Gallup that illegal immigration is “a critical threat to the U.S.,” and we need stronger immigration controls. Harris will lose because she’s proven her incompetence on immigration, one of the top issues voters say they care about.

In a Daily Beast column titled “America is ready for a Black female president — but not Kamala Harris,” Keli Goff rightly cites “data showing she underperforms compared to Biden among women and non-Black minorities,” and “a recent poll of Black voters in swing states found that Harris polls a couple of points better than Biden — both landing in the 70s, behind former President Barack Obama, whose favorables stand at 90% and whose unfavorables are at 10%. The vice president’s unfavorables among Black voters stand at 22%.”

Goff also cites Harris’ abysmal record of staff turnover, with Harris’ office blistering through a turnover rate of 92% during the past 3½ years, according to a watchdog report by Open the Books. Goff also notes Harris struggled with high staff turnover during her previous offices and contrasts this with former President Barack Obama, whose disciplined campaign earned him the nickname “no drama Obama.”

Harris will lose in November because she couldn’t persuade her party to back her during her bid for the White House in 2020. Harris struggled to gain traction during the primary and dropped out of the race before a single ballot was cast, contrasting with another female candidate of color, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who lasted longer and actually garnered delegates.

Gabbard excoriated Harris during a presidential debate about Harris’ record as a prosecutor, saying Harris “put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.”

Harris will also lose because she favors a panoply of terrible policies, including job-killing business tax hikes, destroying private health insurance, banning fracking and slapping a carbon tax on the backs of American families.

It won’t be Harris’ sex that voters reject in November. It will be her destructive ideology and policies.