Noah writes:
Gone are the days when Kamala Harris and Tim Walz could claim a monopoly on bonhomie. They were joyous. Donald Trump and J. D. Vance were weird. The contrast between the campaigns was no longer as existential and dreary as the one Joe Biden sought to establish with his Republican opponents. Rather, the choice before Americans was between incompatible affectations — irascibility versus rapturous idealism.
But as “brat summer” gave way to apprehension autumn, the Democratic ticket is retreating back into a familiar comfort zone. The light cultural disparities the Harris campaign once cultivated have fallen by the wayside. The vice president and her allies are again warning that the very survival of the democratic experiment is at stake in this election.
I agree with this. I just want to emphasize, in agreement, that the notion that Kamala Harris is “joyful” has been a sick joke since it was first proposed. Harris is, as she has always been, a nasty, vacuous cipher. This is the woman who read the disgraceful gang-rape allegations against Kavanaugh into the Senate record. This is the woman who, per Lara Bazelon in the New York Times, fought “tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.” This is the woman who laughed in the face of Joe Biden — no stickler he! — when he mentioned that, if she were president, she’d be bound by the Constitution. She’s never been “joyful” — or anything close to it. The only “joy” that has been felt in this whole sordid affair was felt by the Democratic Party and the media over the summer, when, having worried that an obviously senile Joe Biden would lead them to certain defeat, Kamala Harris took over the nominee’s duties and gave them a fighting chance.