What comes of desperation?

Rewriting this because somehow, most of my post was somehow deleted while I posting it. This is a much shorter version as I am not inclined to rewrite as much as I wrote previously, and to be honest, did not have any notes to work from. Below is my attempt to game theory out why Kamala Harris is going to be interviewed on Fox News.

Tomorrow on Fox News (Fox News!) Kamala Harris is going to sit down for an interview. This is very likely going to be her first, and only, real interview this election cycle. Why is this happening now? I have a few thoughts.

Wednesday— I’ll have an exclusive interview with Vice President Harris on #SpecialReport. pic.twitter.com/Ry63iNH4fW

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) October 14, 2024

Kamala Harris would not be sitting for an interview with a 'hostile' Fox News unless her campaign knew the truth; she's losing. But what will come from this interview?  I see two ways the interview can go, and possible outcomes that result from that.  The first factor is whether or not Fox News asks her tough questions.

There's no guarantee that Fox News actually does ask Kamala Harris tough questions.  It's one thing to have journalistic standards and wanting to get answers to tough questions. But that's not all that motivates newsrooms. There's money, there's viewership, there's acceptance among peers and/or interviewees. None of these things should play into investigative reporting or interviews - but they do. Worse still; there's politics. Any of these could lead to Fox giving a softball interview to Harris. 

Money in the form of powerful advertisers with a lot of financial pull who might be pro-DEI, would not take kindly to Fox hammering Harris. Money drives business and alienating current and/or potential advertisers is not something Fox would want to do.  There are a lot of woke companies out there with a lot of money.

From a viewership perspective, while Fox will get eyeballs for the interview, an unduly hard interview might scare off potential disaffected centrist viewers who tuned in specifically for this and got hit with a meme; Fox is unfair and biased against Democrats. No viewership growth would come of it.  Conversely an even handed interview might grow viewership and be a better long run strategy. 

Fox has drifted towards the center since Rupert Murdoch handed off control to his children. They are far less conservative than their father. But there's also the idea of media acceptance.  Fox News, and Fox television in general has always been an outsider in the industry.  Playing along with CBS, NBC et. al. would go a long way to garnering not necessarily clout, but perhaps acceptance, within the industry.  We cannot pretend that such things do not matter to if not Fox, at least those who work there.

If Fox does take it easy on Harris, they will definitely lose viewers from those who currently watch it expecting fair and balanced at a minimum.  Remember, Kamala Harris has not faced anything other than controlled softball interviews so far. People want to see her face tough questions.  If she doesn't get them on Fox News, she will never get them. 

But this is not about Fox, it's about Harris. Another softball interview could easily work in Harris' favor; making her look tough for willing to go toe-to-toe with the 'enemy' and come out shining on the other end, having handled the questions with ease.  I know, I know, I laughed re-reading that myself.

Getting obviously softball questions on Fox could easily backfire too; it would show that she is only going places she knows are safe, and clearly had something lined up with Fox.  It would amplify the elites-agenda-versus-the-common-man notion that is clearly driving the election cycle.  That's not a good outcome for Harris or for Fox News.

All that said, Fox still could go tough on her, and they probably will to at least some extent. If they go too hard, it's a nasty look (but honestly, who cares? Look at what Trump has had to endure since 2015!). But if Fox goes tough but fair Harris could still do well (haha, okay not bloody likely) or get ruined.  If she gets ruined though, don't think the Democratic brain trust hasn't pre-planned for that outcome.

How hard would it be to paint Harris as a victim? "They went after her unfairly because she's a woman." "They went after her unfairly because she's black." "They weren't fact checked as they interviewed her, let us do that for you now." The list goes on. While Harris-as-victim is a really bad look for her if you are say named Putin, there are key voting blocks (women for example) who may feel sympathy as a result. A president should be tough enough to handle a rough ride.  If not, why are they president? Voters shouldn't matter as much as a leader who can take the tough shots and fight back for America and its people, but in an election year, voters matter a lot. 

There's one further possibility here; the back room Democrat elite know Harris has lost and they see no way out, so they are hanging her out to dry, now, while they can make a difference elsewhere. The cabal that runs the left, clearly knew Let's Go Brandon was many, many egg noodles short of a meal. They hid it for years.  When they knew they could no longer hide it, they concocted a plan to deal with him.  The Democrat elite are schemers; they put him out there to debate Trump so far ahead of the nomination, they knew they would have time to replace him with someone nobody voted for in the Democrat primaries. 

Protecting Democracy has always been the last thing on their minds, except maybe as a slogan. They want puppets. When their main puppet was full of holes, they discarded him and grabbed onto the next available option; Kamala Harris.  They are not protecting democracy in doing this; in fact it is the exact opposite.  It's Covid lockdowns all over again.  They're thinking we can get away with this because we own the news. 

What they actually are protecting is their club. Not democracy, not the American people, they are protecting their own grip on power. They want to ensure that the down-ballot impact of a feckless Kamala Harris doesn't affect the senate or congress, and leaves them open to a midterm rebound in 2026.  They have given their puppet one chance to do well, far enough out, so they can react.  A weak performance and you'll see every Democrat in a swing district or state, run from her so far and so fast it will make your head spin. 

After failing to fake a euphoria of joy for Harris, this is Democrat insiders' last best shot at changing the trajectory of the election, whether Harris does well or not. I strongly doubt it will make a positive difference for Harris, but I think the Democrats already know that themselves and no longer care.

Trump gaining or no?

Let's not pretend Donald Trump has been making up ground on Kamala Harris; he was always doing better than her, but the push polls are being forced to stop playing games and start reporting reality.  They have to report the truth or their integrity and validity will be challenged post-election. They are moving their polling towards the truth because they must.

20 days until the most important election of our lifetime

There are 20 days until the 2024 election. I try to avoid hyperbole as much as possible. I've heard people say this is the most important election of our lifetime ever since 2008.  I've tended to avoid that and regarded it as hyperbole.  I can think of times that I thought an election was the most important of our lifetime. Ronald Reagan in 1980 halting the real and imminent decline of America under Jimmy Carter was one such time. Another example was the dire need to stop Obama in 2012.  Stopping the election of Hillary Clinton in 2016 was critical, and as it turned out, so was the election of Donald Trump. Then 2020 re-electing Donald Trump was an imperative.  Twice, the most important elections of my lifetime ended with success and twice it ended in failure.  America is still here. So were they really the most important elections of our lifetime?

Yes, they were. But times change, and as they have changed, elections have become more important. Technology is on another level. Illegal immigration is out of control. There are high stakes wars in progress. The deep state is extending its tendrils into more and more of American life. Morality has decayed to an abysmal level. I now believe that this is indeed, the most important election of our lifetime. 

In 2020 America decided to roll the dice with Trump. Despite all of the bulwark of the deep state and Democrats and even many establishment Republicans lined up against him and his America first agenda, the roll of the dice paid off.  This election Trump is no longer a roll of the dice.  You know what you'll get; a better economy, America first, normalized immigration, a restored military, a  leaner and more efficient government and plenty more. Democrats want to define Trump by a phony January 6th narrative, but Americans should see through that.

Conversely if there is a roll of the dice candidate in this election it's Kamala Harris.  She's changed her opinions and policy positions more often than they change Let's Go Brandon's diapers.  You can't tell what she really believes, it's all lies designed to appeal to the voters in the room with her at that moment. There's no substance, no real conviction there.  Of course there is an inkling of what her real positions actually are. For example, it's almost certain she doesn't really own a Glock. Tim Walz; that dog don't hunt either.  Her policy positions will be similar to Let's Go Brandon's; her positions will be what she's told they will be.

In reality a Kamala Harris presidency is far worse than a roll of the dice. A Kamala Harris presidency is an outright bad bet. Americans may be willing to roll the dice but I cannot fathom Americans are willing to make a bad bet. That's especially true when there is a really good bet available to make.  You only make a bad bet out of sheer desperation. Americans are struggling in numbers too great, but Americans are not desperate.  The only people who are desperate, seem to be the Democrats and the Kamala Harris campaign.

As a non-American, but one cheering for American success, I urge you in the most strenuous possible way, go make a good bet.  I would also add that it extends beyond the presidency.  If you want Trump to make a difference, you need to vote for congressional representatives and senators who will support his agenda. If you don't he won't be able to do for America what needs to be done.

Did Bill Clinton get injected with a truth serum?

Bill Clinton admits the truth about illegal immigration, at least part of truth:

State of the race: October 14th

 

Click to enlarge.

Taken from the RCP polls, and including only polls that are likely voters, with a sample size greater than 500 or more, and a margin of error less than or equal to 3.5% and polls taken on September 30th or later.

This map would lead to a Trump win with 306 electoral college votes, the same as in 2016.  I think this time around he may do better than this shows at the moment.

NOTE:  Applying the same logic to national polls, Kamala Harris appears to still be leading in the popular vote, but not by a great margin.

Stone Cold Steve Austin discusses Donald Trump

This explains Donald Trump pretty well.