It’s Thursday, August 22, and this is The Front Page from The Free Press. Coming up: Peter Savodnik asks, What is the DNC for, exactly? River Page deconstructs the Harris-Walz camo hat. Suzy Weiss on the progressive Jewish author shut out from a Brooklyn bookstore. And more.
Tonight, Kamala Harris will take the stage at the DNC to deliver the most important speech of her life. It’s the biggest moment for her presidential campaign since she became the presumptive nominee last month, and it’s a chance to finally add some meat to her platform—which right now mostly consists of memes and not being (a) senile or (b) Donald Trump.
Another way Harris could communicate what she believes is by talking to the press—something she hasn’t done beyond the occasional remark on the tarmac since she moved to the top of the ticket. (Watch Julia the Intern speak to members of the fourth estate about Kamala dodging them.) Whether or not staying silent is a smart campaign tactic, it’s bad news for American democracy. In our lead story today, The Free Press editors say: Kamala, stop avoiding the press!
Here’s a taste of our take:
It has been a month since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. And a glorious month it’s been for Democrats, with an energized party, large, enthusiastic crowds, and adoring press coverage. “Our next president brings the joy,” said Tim Walz, her vice-presidential choice, at a rally in Detroit.
But with all the kumbaya—despite fears of a 1968 reprise, the Dems have put on a mostly drama-free show in Chicago—Harris has avoided saying a single substantive thing, either about her record as vice president or the kind of policies she hopes to enact if she is elected. Her speeches have been heavy on the rhetoric and light on the substance. Most notable of all is that she has yet to give either a press conference or an interview—not even for a hagiographic profile in Time magazine.
What is Kamala Harris afraid of?
Click to read our full editorial, “How Long Can Kamala Harris Avoid the Press?”
And Kamala, if you’re reading this and have realized it’s time for an interview, we’d love to have you on Honestly. Have your people talk to our people! tips@thefp.com
Meanwhile, there’s one senior Democrat who does appear to read The Free Press. . . Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. At the DNC Wednesday, he was asked about his apparent beef with Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman. Shapiro shot back: “I have no idea. You’ve got to ask Fetterman. Or I would say you should ask his spokesperson, but I think they’re not on the same page either.” That last quip was a reference to Peter Savodnik’s profile of Fetterman in The Free Press, in which the senator’s communications director Carrie Adams took the extraordinary step of calling Peter to explain her views on Israel—and how they diverged from her boss. (Read Peter’s full story.)
Peter, meanwhile, is still at the DNC—a.k.a. Kamala’s big kumbaya. And so far, amid all the “spectacular vibes,” he’s not seeing much in the way of substance. Here is his report:
The Democratic convention in Chicago has been a huge success, I suppose. The party has rallied around Kamala Harris and “Coach Walz,” rebranded her as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, and connected the campaign with Barack Obama’s inspiring 2008 race for the White House.
On top of that, the anti-American, antisemitic flag-burners who promised to turn this city upside down haven’t materialized en masse. The hoped-for 1968 redux is more like a sad, echoing whimper.
In other words: The vibes have been spectacular!
And yet.
It’s unclear what these people are peddling.
Certainly not Harris’s proposal to cap the cost of groceries. The only speaker at the convention who has bothered to talk that up has been Bernie Sanders. Everyone else drones on about Harris being a dog lover and a fighter and, most importantly, Momala.
While (rightly) pummeling the GOP–Donald Trump cult of personality, Democrats have mythologized Harris and turned her into an alternate-Harris who would have been unrecognizable to Harris herself just a few weeks ago: tough, caring, super-smart, results-oriented. Hillary Clinton 2.0.
But no one has ventured to say what this alternate-Harris would do in office. Or, more broadly, what her party wants to accomplish over the next four years. There is no program.
To be fair, the Republican agenda is a mosh pit of confusions—a free-market, tariff-laden, stick-it-to-the-establishment, fuck-China, go-America mélange of half-baked, sort-of proposals.
But the idea behind that confusion is straightforward. It is America first. Americans first. And every bill, initiative, executive decision can be, should be, viewed through that lens. Whether that amounts to a coherent theory of government remains to be seen. (The Republicans seem to be trying to figure out in real time the how behind the what.) But there is a focal point.
No one says what the Democrats’ North Star is. They have wielded enormous power for most of the past two decades, and they insist they won’t “turn back,” but no one says where we’re going. Or what they want beyond the blandest of platitudes about “freedom” and “choice” and “identity.”
These people know how to throw a fantastic party, and it’s full of flashing lights and smiling delegates and Stevie Wonder and dancers and tears streaming down faces and wild roars of hope and love and drama. But for now, after three days of this four-day convention that is really just a supremely entertaining infomercial, no one can say whether the drama is a three-act play that takes us somewhere uncharted, or whether this is a gilded sitcom.
And here is one more thought on the DNC from our man in the convention hall—we promise Peter will be allowed to rest soon—on the most moving moment of the week so far.
On Wednesday evening, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin came to the Democratic convention, and for eight minutes and forty-four seconds, the politics stopped.
“This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue,” Jon Polin, Hersh’s father, declared, eliciting sustained applause.
Both Polin and his wife, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, had attached a strip of masking tape to their shirts with the number 320 on it—indicating that the hostages have been in captivity for 320 days.
“We’re heartened that both Democratic and Republican leaders demonstrate their bipartisan support for our hostages being released,” Jon Polin said.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin talked about the “109 treasured human beings” being held hostage, adding, “They are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. They are from twenty-three different countries.”
Delegates wept and nodded along and murmured, “Oh, my God,” and “That poor, poor boy,” as images of Hersh, 23, appeared on the jumbo screen behind his parents—smiling and suntanned. In between bursts of applause, they chanted, “Bring them home! Bring them home!” Almost all of the tens of thousands of people crammed into the United Center stood silent.
There were no boos, no one waving any Palestinian flags. No one talked about “cease-fires.” If the left has been consumed by a mystifying moral relativism over the past few decades, there was none of that on Wednesday. There was just a tearful couple onstage doing what parents everywhere, anywhere, would do.
It was the most powerful moment, so far, of the week—and it echoed similar speeches given at last month’s Republican convention, in Milwaukee. It was also a reminder that the great bulk of Democrats are sympathetic to the plight of the Jews murdered and raped and taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023—the antisemitism that seems to have engulfed much of the left notwithstanding.
As they were about to exit the stage, Rachel Goldberg-Polin leaned into the microphone and said: “Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive.”
For a rundown of all of last night’s action at the DNC, including Tim Walz and Bill Clinton’s prime time speeches, catch up on The Free Press’s live show below. Hosts Michael Moynihan and Batya Ungar-Sargon welcomed progressive Democrat Nina Turner, former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, and other guests to talk about the party’s messaging on abortion, anti-Israel protests, Pelosi’s war with Biden world, and more.
→ Suzy Weiss: But he’s the good kind of Jew. Joshua Leifer—a leader of the anti-Zionist organization IfNotNow and author of the new book Tablets Shattered, about how American Jewish life has gone down the tubes—was denied entry to his own book launch at an indie bookstore in Brooklyn. Why? Because the rabbi who was supposed to interview him is a Zionist, and, according to Leifer, “they would not permit a Zionist on the premises.”
I don’t think a more perfect metaphor exists for woke Jews in the year 2024.
“My biggest worry was about synagogues not wanting to host me,” Leifer posted on X about the ordeal. “I didn’t think it would be bookstores in Brooklyn that would be closing their doors.”
He didn’t?
I guess life comes at you fast when you spend your career making dizzying academic arguments against the existence of a Jewish state, only to be told, “Nice words, Jewboy, leave the store immediately.” (The bookstore owner came out and blamed a lower level staffer.)
Leifer’s real-time mugging by reality must sting. Antisemites, to Leifer and his ilk, carry tiki torches and have shaved heads. They don’t live in Brooklyn and have pronoun pins and tiny tattoos.
His relationship to Judaism, which has nothing—Hear that, Dad? NOTHING!—to do with the Jewish state or the Jews who live there is echoed among similarly overthinking Jews. A Jewish Voice for Peace zine (s/o Blake Flayton for combing through it so I wouldn’t have to) offered the sage advice that “Hearing Hebrew language can be deeply traumatizing for Palestinians. Therefore, prayers are best said in English or Arabic, rather than Hebrew.” Sababa! Naomi Klein has advocated in The Guardian for a Judaism that prays at the “altar of solidarity and mutual aid.” And I thought she was supposed to be the sane Naomi? This type of Jewish leftist is Talmudic about everything except, you know, the actual Talmud.
Shut out of the bookstore in Brooklyn, Leifer might find refuge for his talk at the JCC, or one of those synagogues or another institution he claims has collapsed. But hey, at least they’ll let him in the room.
→ Is RFK about to drop out? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to “address the nation” Friday about his presidential bid’s “path forward.” ABC reports that RFK is expected to drop out and plans to endorse Donald Trump. Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate (who has also donated $15 million to his election effort), hinted that the end may be coming in a podcast interview Tuesday. She explained that the campaign had two options: Keep going and “run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency,” or drop out and “join forces” with Trump. For some time it’s seemed that RFK could be a major factor in this election. He was at 13 percent in the RealClearPolitics polling averages back in the spring. But his position in the polls—which had already started falling before Biden dropped out—has tumbled precipitously over the last month. Today he’s down to 4.5 percent in the RCP average. That might still be enough to cause trouble in a close race—but the idea of RFK as a serious third-party challenger is now a thing of the past.
→ River Page deconstructs the Kamala-Walz camo hat. The vice president’s stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, has been seen at the DNC wearing a camouflage baseball cap with “HARRIS WALZ” emblazoned in orange on the front. Rolling Stone tweeted a picture of the 25-year-old model, commenting that her stepmother’s merch was “genius”—and linking to a piece that opined: “The camouflage hat reclaims the rural and Southern identity that mainstream Democrats have long ignored.”
For the record, Ella Emhoff is neither rural nor Southern—she grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Los Angeles, and is now a “multidisciplinary artist” in Brooklyn. But more importantly, the camo hats—which sold out earlier this month, netting nearly $1 million for the Harris campaign—were made for girls and gays, not deer-hunting rednecks in Alabama. They are actually a nod to pop singer Chappell Roan, a lesbian and self-proclaimed “drag queen” who sells a nearly identical hat on her own website, except the slogan is “Midwest Princess,” in reference to her hit album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Kamala’s camo hat is meant to appeal to people who know what Chappell Roan merch looks like—almost definitionally people who would have voted for Kamala Harris anyway. It follows the Harris campaign’s embrace of the “Brat” aesthetic, inspired by British musician Charli XCX’s album of the same name. As a member of the target audience for this sort of thing, I must ask: How many gay guys do Democrats think there are in this country?!
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says it overestimated the increase in U.S. jobs from March 2023 to March 2024 by 818,000, which is 0.5 percent below its initial estimate, and the largest annual revision since 2009. It’s a sign the U.S. economy isn’t in quite the shape we thought—and it will increase the pressure on the Fed to cut rates more aggressively. (The Hill)
The U.S., backed by Qatar and Egypt, secured Israel’s support for a potential hostages-for-cease-fire deal with Hamas. But the latter is “showing every sign of rejecting it.” I’m sure the pro-peace, “cease-fire now” crowd is protesting against Hamas as we speak. (Times of Israel)
Chicago police braced themselves for tens of thousands of protesters planning to “crash the party” at the DNC. But it seems only a few thousand actually showed up. So far, the protests have been far from a repeat of the 1968 convention riots, though elements are “impressively daft.” (The Atlantic)
MIT released demographic data on its incoming Class of 2028, the first students to be admitted after the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling last year. Compared to the Class of 2027, the number of Asian American students increased from 40 percent to 47 percent, while the share of Black/African American students decreased from 15 percent to 5 percent. The number of white students stayed roughly the same (from 38 percent to 37 percent). (NBC)
Welcome to “Ozempictown,” USA, also known as Bowling Green, Kentucky. The state, which has one of the highest obesity rates in the country, also boasts the highest concentration of people on weight-loss drugs. (Bloomberg)
When it comes to falling crime rates, D.C. is not “enjoying the gains that other cities are reaping.” Why? “Across every measure, the District’s systems for controlling crime are doing less than they used to,” writes Charles Fain Lehman. (Slow Boring)
Neither “Jacksonian national populism” nor “Jeffersonian isolationism” are up to the task of solving today’s foreign policy quagmires, argues Walter Russell Mead. Instead, we should rediscover the wisdom of “Hamiltonian pragmatism”—“a commonsense mixture of balance-of-power politics, commercial interests, and American values.” (Foreign Affairs)
Is technological progress harming human flourishing? Ted Gioia thinks so. Tech CEOs are less keen on understanding reality, and more willing to create online alternatives to it. In their virtual universes, fakery abounds, people are products, power usurps truth, and technocracy trumps democracy. (Honest Broker)
The Biden administration appointed Sneha Nair to be a special assistant at the National Nuclear Security Administration. Nair is committed to ending “white supremacy” in the nuclear field, “queering nuclear weapons,” and using the “queer lens” to prioritize “the rights and well-being of people over the abstract idea of national security.” I sleep soundly at night, knowing we’re in safe hands. (Fox News)
Roughly 10 percent of the athletes who swam in the Seine at the Olympic Games in Paris have developed gastroenteritis. That’s compared with 1 to 3 percent at the same events in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Past games featured salt water, “which is very different than fresh water in a river in a city,” explained a doctor for the U.S. Olympics. But Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo assured us the water was clean—and even took a dip herself to prove it. (MedPage Today)
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