Polls showed Harris had problems but media and Dems didnt want to face them

We went through dozens of swing-state polls over the last few months, and there was something for everyone in the stories, as readership metrics and fierce debate around the surveys showed.There were plenty of polls reflecting the mainstream media consensus and bias, suggesting Kamala Harris had the secret sauce and would be powered into the White House by women, by young voters and by a diverse coalition that represented a generational choice.The high point of Harris hysteria was obviously that career-ending Selzer poll that showed her flipping GOP stronghold Iowa, with the women who elected conservative Kim Reynolds governor apparently ready to turn on a dime and vote for a candidate whose policies and presentation were diametrically opposed to the values of the Hawkeye State. Why were Dems and their media adjuncts so willing to buy in? Because they had a blind spot their policy positions were so “correct” that they never had to be explained, much less challenged, and bet on vacuous narratives rather than clear exposition of the way forward. Harris and the soon-to-be-repudiated Tim Walz painted themselves as the avatars of Generation X, setting a direct contrast to Donald Trump and the boomer mentality.And in that context, they didn’t need to talk much to political media, avoiding adversarial gaggles and press conferences with people from across the political spectrum in favor of scripted interviews with friendly podcasters.Months ago, I wrote about Harris’ effort as a “vibes” campaign.

But the trouble was it stayed there, with much of her support not predicated on what the Biden-Harris administration has done in the last four years but rooted in the hypothetical call for “what can be, unburdened by what has been,” as vapid as a “Live, Laugh, Love” sign in an Airbnb.That aspirational vision required voters to memory hole the reality.That for four years, the Biden-Harris administration owned “what has been.” Everything from currency deva...