Kamala: Just Ignore the Insults and Keep Smiling
by John Lawrence
Trump's MO is to say outrageous things, and then get pundits to mull them over and candidates to defend themselves. Instead, just ignore them, and they will fall with a thud. Don't get involved with Trump's lies and insults. Just don't respond. Same thing for Tim Walz. Ignore anything that's said about his teaching, coaching, military service etc. The comments by JD Vance and Trump aren't worth responding to. Just ignore them and power on. Put forth your hopes, your vision and your agenda. Better not to get down in the mud and wrestle. Just keep on keeping on. It's not worth engaging with the likes of Trump. You don't really have to.
All Kamala needs to do is what she thinks is most propitious to getting more people to vote for her. She doesn't have to do what the pundits want her to do. She doesn't have to do what Trump wants her to do. She just needs to do whatever she thinks will get her elected. Obviously, Kamala's constituency is different from Trump's constituency. She appeals to women more so than men. Men, especially white men, are Trump's constituency. This election is about a gender divide as well as a black white divide. So probably it is about whose constituency is more excited and more committed to actually voting. Will voters study the issues and then make an intelligent, informed decision? I doubt it for the most part. This election is about how many people on Kamala's share of the divide will actually get out and vote for her as compared with how many on Trump's share of the divide will get out and vote for him.
I have a feeling that Kamala's committed voters outnumber Trump's committed voters because women outnumber men, and women are more likely to actually vote than men. Also Kamala has a huge war chest - hundreds of millions of dollars. If she uses it wisely, she will have an advantage from that perspective. Trump is grasping at straws by bringing RFK Jr on board. That could actually dilute Trump's support.Trump is seemingly doubling down on the crazy. Kamala just needs to hold steady and affirm that she is the adult in the room. Her policy agenda so far is excellent. It's simple: a middle class tax break and affordable housing. Tax breaks are the only thing Trump has going for him but his are mainly for the rich. Kamala has successfully co-opted Trump's "no taxes on tips' pledge. She's out foxed him on taxes. What's left? Oh, the border. She has a good point about how Trump nixed a bipartisan border deal. However, she needs to be more forceful. Resources have to be spent on the border both in human and financial terms so that the border is impregnable and so that the only possible crossings are legal crossings. How about this as a slogan: reduce illegal crossings to zero while enhancing legal crossings so that the US gets the immigrant workers it needs. Those entering legally should be those that enhance the US' position in the world in terms of the economy and in terms of sheer humanity. Amnesty should be requested from the home country or a third country. Even if granted, it does not mean that they will wind up in the US. International law does not guarantee exactly which country a person granted amnesty will end up in. The important thing is that Kamala should co-opt Trump's position on the border while doing it in a humane way.
