of course the Washington Post Editorial Board rushed to condemn Harris's proposals, and others are demanding more detail, which is ridiculous given the timeline on which she had to produce anything at all.
but. more galling is, the GOP and its leader barely have a platform—after not having one at all in 2020—and Trump's idea of policy has never gone beyond Muslim bans and "we'll fix all of that very quickly," and nobody demands details from them. maybe it's an extension of the political press's pathetic "but everyone knows that's just Trump, and they'll never change, so why bother?"
iow, by behaving aberrantly (is that a word?) as a matter of course, GOPs have eliminated demands that they behave like an actual functional political party that cares about governance. they are empowered to pretend to be such but under no expectations that they will, while Democrats are held to standards that simply don't exist for Republicans.
I do think Dems' newfound snark could indicate we are FINALLY ready to stop being polite little fools as we and our country are attacked by these folks, and hope that's the case. some of the energy we're now riding on is from the enormous release of pent-up energy and frustration over exactly this: we need to see some fight, and we're finally getting it. and yes, it is glorious.
Yes, avoiding detail is important. Stick to simple headlines. “We’re not going back.” And, “It’s about you, not him.” “Help is on the way.” And, my personal favorite—“Would you buy a used car from this weird, funny-looking, strange-talking old man?”
Here is the link to the details of Vice President Harris’ plan for the economy: https://mailchi.mp/press.kamalaharris.com/vice-president-harris-lays-out-agenda-to-lower-costs-for-american-families I’m hoping she will elaborate at her rally with Tim Walz in Milwaukee on Tuesday. It’s only been 27 days since Biden withdrew from the race. I think Kamala Harris is doing an amazing job. She’s juggling two full time jobs: Being Vice President and running for President. And, Tim Walz has only been on the ticket 11 days!
Great to see the details so far. However, I hope that the impact on federal deficits/tax increases will be evaluated and the potential for replicating the current student debt situation for similar ideas. For example, the $25,000 down payment assistance on top of all the other measures to stimulate development of affordable housing needs a careful fiscal analysis. I remember the warnings by economists about the cheap federal student college loans when that program was initiated, and those warnings came true with students spending their adult lives burdened with debt, resulting in recent debt forgiveness strategies. Good ideas are being implemented at the local level, so lets capitalize on those.
I love how quickly she’s established the “I’m fighting for you” message. That seems like a winner.
In these new days, each of us has our own network of 10, 20, or perhaps 500 people we can easily reach, even if we’re not political volunteers in the traditional sense (and I really hope we are).
Dan gives us the succinct message we should share and relies on us to share it the best way we can for our own audience—literally share The Message Box or weave the important points into a more personalized message.
As an example, my wife is a member of a facebook group of several thousand men and women who welcome well-crafted political messaging and I know many of them further share it, as one of their goals is evangelizing (you know, in a good way) undecided and first-time voters to the polls.
That is communication leverage no private person has ever had before. We take it as seriously as any GOTV activity.
Tom, please tell your wife about Democracy Labs…they specialize in creating political messaging that Democrats can cut and paste into their social media posts:
And tell her about the group of suburban women organizers at Red Wine and Blue who have prepared a page of items about Project 2025 that can be posted on social media … short interviews with Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson and with Elizabeth Warren about the dangers of Project 2025. When people learn about it, they are horrified and vote blue!
It's maddening that Trump's entire lead on the economy is primarily based on lies and fraud. Many believe he's great on the economy because he SAYS he is.
He throws a bone to his masses but throws the entire skeleton to the already wealthy. I wish the public were more informed as to which candidate can make good on her promises.
What I’ve seen is people who credit Trump for economic growth between 2017 and 2019 and have no memory at all of 2020 (except for the riots and crime, which are somehow blamed on Democrats). They think bringing back Trump will reset prices back to 2019 levels by some sort of magic apparently.
But even that growth in 2017-2019 had nothing to do with Trump beyond the sugar high of his corprate tax cut. Meanwhile--things got wrose across the board--especially in the area of envrinmental regulation.
Re price gouging, thank you for saying "many of these folks are very credulous when it comes to corporate power" – damned straight!
Especially if any of them pull out the tired trope of "price controls" just ignore the hell out of them. That's a lazy straw man point, and that's not what Kamala would do.
The simple fact is that, if the market were working properly then price gouging wouldn't be possible because demand would shift away from those goods and firms would be forced to adjust prices down in order to stay profitable. It's only possible with *necessary* goods (like food – economists call these "inelastic"), and then only temporarily if there are sudden shifts in supply and demand (the way there were during the pandemic, with supply-chain brittleness and shift in demand from services like restaurants to hard goods like groceries).
If it persists, that means there is excess market power (monopoly or oligopoly) that does not respond to market forces, and that is a Market Failure. Government in a hybrid economy (markets with regulatory guardrails) has good regulatory tools to address that, like anti-trust law.
That's not "price controls". It identifies when prices go up without productivity going up, and just boosts profits for shareholders (which doesn't trickle down to workers ... classic wealth-extraction from both workers and consumers that contributes to us being in the Second Gilded Age at this moment in time), and applies remedies for the excess profit as well as addressing the causes of the excess market power itself.
The financial squeeze more than half the nation is under (no savings, living paycheck to paycheck) is a structural thing that built up over decades of conservative/neoliberal policy, and it will take time to unwind. Kamala's policy proposals suggest she wants to start on that long road as soon as Ds get a trifecta again.
As Dan says, the VP and her campaign continue to impress with their messaging and shrewd timing. Nevertheless, Harris will need to supplement the attack on price gouging with more details sooner rather than later. Trump and others (e.g. Catherine Rampel) have labelled her approach as 'price controls' where supply and demand doesn't matter giving rise to comparisons to Communist governments. Her team has been masterful thus far, so I'm confident they will handle this expeditiously. It would not hurt to turn the tables on Trump by emphasizing how the economy is addressed in Project 2025. This week's convention will continue the campaign's momentum. Surrogates can begin to provide details on the price gouging issue to hopefully muffle those critics who have touted Biden/Harris economic policy but who reacted with alarm in NC.
Time is short and Kamala and Trump will no doubt be breathing down each other's necks in the polls. What really looms large - in just 24 days!- is the September 10 ABC debate. No one has a crystal ball, but the VP has all the tools to come out a winner against an older, slower and often incoherent Trump. Without question, she has the smarts and savvy to make that a reality.
The New Way Forward is very good. I think The American Way Forward would be better. It feels bigger and somewhat more specific as well as representing the opposite of MAGA as a slogan.
Absolutely, Dan! The Harris campaign’s Messaging and Policy shops are in near-perfect synchronization.
I’m still shocked at the high ratings voters give Trump on a range of issues (above 50% favorable on the economy, immigration, even as a competent manager! (See: NYT/Siena) - as if an incompetent, corrupt and convicted felon should receive majority favorables on anything!
These underlying numbers at this point in history make me very nervous about Harris’ ability to be seen as the stronger candidate on the economy - but I agree with you that they are positioning her perfectly as a fighter for the Middle-Class to try to get there.
I’m still waiting for some stumbles, but fingers crossed, the compressed schedule may help her to minimize or avoid a major hiccup! But no doubt she has assembled a fabulous team to prosecute this race!
I wish she had said (and perhaps she did?) that she would fight for the creation and/or enforcement of anti-trust laws and regulations that are at the root of the price gouging. If she doesn’t, Republicans will not only increase their “socialist” rhetoric but also cite past failures of price controls.
Also, it’s crucial that she identify which first time home buyers will get $25,000 towards their down payment. On top of that, she needs to talk about the lack of affordable housing stock and what can be done about it.
Consider: I live in a town where the median house price exceeds $700,000. My house is valued at less than that. It could be a starter home for a young family at some point, but would $25,000 be sufficient for a down payment? How much more would a young family have to fork out? What would be their monthly payment? Why is nothing being built in their price range (my house is 70 years old, and that means increasing maintenance costs)?
I hope Harris and Walz are talking directly with people facing these challenges and not just spokespeople for them.
Completely agree. Just her voicing the price-gouging issue gives power to the people. It’s about damned time! She’s also not an idiot—unlike the pundits who seemed so confused by this fighting concept previously taken on by other greats like Teddy Roosevelt. Also, if there are monopolies causing the food prices, she doesn’t have to pass any legislation to enforce this. The anti-trust laws are right there and she very well knows it. I do wish there were some incentives proposed for sustainability in the housing crises. Unlimited resources/materials and climate change are partly to blame for the lack of housing and must be addressed.
While her proposals may not be perfect...how about a comparison to the alternative. I saw a post on FB where someone was sharing a negative (Fox news) article on Kamala's plan and her "friend" asked if she had watched Trump's economic speech (i.e. goobledygook). Great side by side comparison.
I've always wanted to see the Democrats use Trump's numerous bankruptcies to frame the economic message in a campaign. For example, the bankruptcies benefitted Trump and his companies, but how many small businesses, individual proprietors, and working/middle class employees did they leave destitute or destroy?
Forget the mega-financial institutions injured by his chicanery. They employ legions of financial and risk analysts, plus attorneys to assess their business transactions. The risk of loss is baked into their deals, although one can argue that the risk factor does raise the costs of doing business for everyone with the insurance industry being the best example.
I thought Kamala's economic platform was solid, progressive and carefully presented to do good-- and garner electoral support. I had to laugh watching the press falling all over themselves trying to find ways to poke holes in what are little more than platforms--proposals of what you might do if it were possible. And by the way---what is the alternative to usiing the CPB and government to stop price gouging? The press seemed to get stuck on the Trumpian crack that this was like the "Soviet Union telling stores what they can charge???" Nope. This is about major corporate price gouging--amd everytime there is an effort ot crack down on monopolies or consumer exploitation--we are told the market can't afford it. Look at the profits. OH, yes we can--and if you are not engaged in ripping folks off--then you are OK. But we all know the devils in the details, and voters right now aren't worried about the tiny details. The path forward is what they want to know--and that was loud, clear and positive. I was unhappy to see that some version of fairness prescribes that the press try to make credible the spitty utterances of Trump and Vance. There is no level comparison. Go Kamala. Let's have a beautiful Convention. Good days are great.
I have to say, the change in tone, focus, and energy between Biden and Harris is breathtaking. I am actually looking forward to the convention!
Yes.
thanks Dan, very helpful...
of course the Washington Post Editorial Board rushed to condemn Harris's proposals, and others are demanding more detail, which is ridiculous given the timeline on which she had to produce anything at all.
but. more galling is, the GOP and its leader barely have a platform—after not having one at all in 2020—and Trump's idea of policy has never gone beyond Muslim bans and "we'll fix all of that very quickly," and nobody demands details from them. maybe it's an extension of the political press's pathetic "but everyone knows that's just Trump, and they'll never change, so why bother?"
iow, by behaving aberrantly (is that a word?) as a matter of course, GOPs have eliminated demands that they behave like an actual functional political party that cares about governance. they are empowered to pretend to be such but under no expectations that they will, while Democrats are held to standards that simply don't exist for Republicans.
I do think Dems' newfound snark could indicate we are FINALLY ready to stop being polite little fools as we and our country are attacked by these folks, and hope that's the case. some of the energy we're now riding on is from the enormous release of pent-up energy and frustration over exactly this: we need to see some fight, and we're finally getting it. and yes, it is glorious.
The GOP platform is Project 2025.
You mean the WaPo who’s owner owns Whole Foods and Amazon grocery etc etc etc
Don't forget the Murdochian publisher.
Yes, avoiding detail is important. Stick to simple headlines. “We’re not going back.” And, “It’s about you, not him.” “Help is on the way.” And, my personal favorite—“Would you buy a used car from this weird, funny-looking, strange-talking old man?”
Here is the link to the details of Vice President Harris’ plan for the economy: https://mailchi.mp/press.kamalaharris.com/vice-president-harris-lays-out-agenda-to-lower-costs-for-american-families I’m hoping she will elaborate at her rally with Tim Walz in Milwaukee on Tuesday. It’s only been 27 days since Biden withdrew from the race. I think Kamala Harris is doing an amazing job. She’s juggling two full time jobs: Being Vice President and running for President. And, Tim Walz has only been on the ticket 11 days!
Great to see the details so far. However, I hope that the impact on federal deficits/tax increases will be evaluated and the potential for replicating the current student debt situation for similar ideas. For example, the $25,000 down payment assistance on top of all the other measures to stimulate development of affordable housing needs a careful fiscal analysis. I remember the warnings by economists about the cheap federal student college loans when that program was initiated, and those warnings came true with students spending their adult lives burdened with debt, resulting in recent debt forgiveness strategies. Good ideas are being implemented at the local level, so lets capitalize on those.
I love how quickly she’s established the “I’m fighting for you” message. That seems like a winner.
In these new days, each of us has our own network of 10, 20, or perhaps 500 people we can easily reach, even if we’re not political volunteers in the traditional sense (and I really hope we are).
Dan gives us the succinct message we should share and relies on us to share it the best way we can for our own audience—literally share The Message Box or weave the important points into a more personalized message.
As an example, my wife is a member of a facebook group of several thousand men and women who welcome well-crafted political messaging and I know many of them further share it, as one of their goals is evangelizing (you know, in a good way) undecided and first-time voters to the polls.
That is communication leverage no private person has ever had before. We take it as seriously as any GOTV activity.
Owning the future and the fight--excellent tactics at this point.
Tom, please tell your wife about Democracy Labs…they specialize in creating political messaging that Democrats can cut and paste into their social media posts:
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/08/17/inside-kamala-harris-plan-to-lower-costs-visual-guide-bilingual-audio-summaries/
And tell her about the group of suburban women organizers at Red Wine and Blue who have prepared a page of items about Project 2025 that can be posted on social media … short interviews with Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson and with Elizabeth Warren about the dangers of Project 2025. When people learn about it, they are horrified and vote blue!
https://social.redwine.blue/toolkit/bbb2cadf-0d16-4fef-a4b6-037facbba64c
It's maddening that Trump's entire lead on the economy is primarily based on lies and fraud. Many believe he's great on the economy because he SAYS he is.
He throws a bone to his masses but throws the entire skeleton to the already wealthy. I wish the public were more informed as to which candidate can make good on her promises.
What I’ve seen is people who credit Trump for economic growth between 2017 and 2019 and have no memory at all of 2020 (except for the riots and crime, which are somehow blamed on Democrats). They think bringing back Trump will reset prices back to 2019 levels by some sort of magic apparently.
But even that growth in 2017-2019 had nothing to do with Trump beyond the sugar high of his corprate tax cut. Meanwhile--things got wrose across the board--especially in the area of envrinmental regulation.
Re price gouging, thank you for saying "many of these folks are very credulous when it comes to corporate power" – damned straight!
Especially if any of them pull out the tired trope of "price controls" just ignore the hell out of them. That's a lazy straw man point, and that's not what Kamala would do.
The simple fact is that, if the market were working properly then price gouging wouldn't be possible because demand would shift away from those goods and firms would be forced to adjust prices down in order to stay profitable. It's only possible with *necessary* goods (like food – economists call these "inelastic"), and then only temporarily if there are sudden shifts in supply and demand (the way there were during the pandemic, with supply-chain brittleness and shift in demand from services like restaurants to hard goods like groceries).
If it persists, that means there is excess market power (monopoly or oligopoly) that does not respond to market forces, and that is a Market Failure. Government in a hybrid economy (markets with regulatory guardrails) has good regulatory tools to address that, like anti-trust law.
That's not "price controls". It identifies when prices go up without productivity going up, and just boosts profits for shareholders (which doesn't trickle down to workers ... classic wealth-extraction from both workers and consumers that contributes to us being in the Second Gilded Age at this moment in time), and applies remedies for the excess profit as well as addressing the causes of the excess market power itself.
The financial squeeze more than half the nation is under (no savings, living paycheck to paycheck) is a structural thing that built up over decades of conservative/neoliberal policy, and it will take time to unwind. Kamala's policy proposals suggest she wants to start on that long road as soon as Ds get a trifecta again.
As Dan says, the VP and her campaign continue to impress with their messaging and shrewd timing. Nevertheless, Harris will need to supplement the attack on price gouging with more details sooner rather than later. Trump and others (e.g. Catherine Rampel) have labelled her approach as 'price controls' where supply and demand doesn't matter giving rise to comparisons to Communist governments. Her team has been masterful thus far, so I'm confident they will handle this expeditiously. It would not hurt to turn the tables on Trump by emphasizing how the economy is addressed in Project 2025. This week's convention will continue the campaign's momentum. Surrogates can begin to provide details on the price gouging issue to hopefully muffle those critics who have touted Biden/Harris economic policy but who reacted with alarm in NC.
Time is short and Kamala and Trump will no doubt be breathing down each other's necks in the polls. What really looms large - in just 24 days!- is the September 10 ABC debate. No one has a crystal ball, but the VP has all the tools to come out a winner against an older, slower and often incoherent Trump. Without question, she has the smarts and savvy to make that a reality.
The New Way Forward is very good. I think The American Way Forward would be better. It feels bigger and somewhat more specific as well as representing the opposite of MAGA as a slogan.
Absolutely, Dan! The Harris campaign’s Messaging and Policy shops are in near-perfect synchronization.
I’m still shocked at the high ratings voters give Trump on a range of issues (above 50% favorable on the economy, immigration, even as a competent manager! (See: NYT/Siena) - as if an incompetent, corrupt and convicted felon should receive majority favorables on anything!
These underlying numbers at this point in history make me very nervous about Harris’ ability to be seen as the stronger candidate on the economy - but I agree with you that they are positioning her perfectly as a fighter for the Middle-Class to try to get there.
I’m still waiting for some stumbles, but fingers crossed, the compressed schedule may help her to minimize or avoid a major hiccup! But no doubt she has assembled a fabulous team to prosecute this race!
I wish she had said (and perhaps she did?) that she would fight for the creation and/or enforcement of anti-trust laws and regulations that are at the root of the price gouging. If she doesn’t, Republicans will not only increase their “socialist” rhetoric but also cite past failures of price controls.
Also, it’s crucial that she identify which first time home buyers will get $25,000 towards their down payment. On top of that, she needs to talk about the lack of affordable housing stock and what can be done about it.
Consider: I live in a town where the median house price exceeds $700,000. My house is valued at less than that. It could be a starter home for a young family at some point, but would $25,000 be sufficient for a down payment? How much more would a young family have to fork out? What would be their monthly payment? Why is nothing being built in their price range (my house is 70 years old, and that means increasing maintenance costs)?
I hope Harris and Walz are talking directly with people facing these challenges and not just spokespeople for them.
Completely agree. Just her voicing the price-gouging issue gives power to the people. It’s about damned time! She’s also not an idiot—unlike the pundits who seemed so confused by this fighting concept previously taken on by other greats like Teddy Roosevelt. Also, if there are monopolies causing the food prices, she doesn’t have to pass any legislation to enforce this. The anti-trust laws are right there and she very well knows it. I do wish there were some incentives proposed for sustainability in the housing crises. Unlimited resources/materials and climate change are partly to blame for the lack of housing and must be addressed.
While her proposals may not be perfect...how about a comparison to the alternative. I saw a post on FB where someone was sharing a negative (Fox news) article on Kamala's plan and her "friend" asked if she had watched Trump's economic speech (i.e. goobledygook). Great side by side comparison.
And of course the intention here is not perfection---it is direction and command. That was establsihed I think.
I've always wanted to see the Democrats use Trump's numerous bankruptcies to frame the economic message in a campaign. For example, the bankruptcies benefitted Trump and his companies, but how many small businesses, individual proprietors, and working/middle class employees did they leave destitute or destroy?
Forget the mega-financial institutions injured by his chicanery. They employ legions of financial and risk analysts, plus attorneys to assess their business transactions. The risk of loss is baked into their deals, although one can argue that the risk factor does raise the costs of doing business for everyone with the insurance industry being the best example.
Nice recap, Dan! Thank you!
I thought Kamala's economic platform was solid, progressive and carefully presented to do good-- and garner electoral support. I had to laugh watching the press falling all over themselves trying to find ways to poke holes in what are little more than platforms--proposals of what you might do if it were possible. And by the way---what is the alternative to usiing the CPB and government to stop price gouging? The press seemed to get stuck on the Trumpian crack that this was like the "Soviet Union telling stores what they can charge???" Nope. This is about major corporate price gouging--amd everytime there is an effort ot crack down on monopolies or consumer exploitation--we are told the market can't afford it. Look at the profits. OH, yes we can--and if you are not engaged in ripping folks off--then you are OK. But we all know the devils in the details, and voters right now aren't worried about the tiny details. The path forward is what they want to know--and that was loud, clear and positive. I was unhappy to see that some version of fairness prescribes that the press try to make credible the spitty utterances of Trump and Vance. There is no level comparison. Go Kamala. Let's have a beautiful Convention. Good days are great.