The DNC is rolling out the red carpet and spending cash to make Harris look like the ultimate counter to Donald Trump, but the more glitz and praise they heap on her, the less I think the DNC actually has any faith in her.
We can see the evidence in this in various ways.
As Ward Clark reported on Wednesday, Harris seems to be dodging press conferences, and any speech she gives is pre-written and displayed on a teleprompter. No interviews since Biden stepped down and announced her candidacy, either. Why? Clark puts it well:
What is she trying to hide? What is the DNC trying to hide? What is the Harris campaign trying to hide? That's easy to answer: Kamala Harris isn't all that bright, she's hideously ill-informed, she can't speak coherently for more than a sentence or two without collapsing into an unintelligible word salad, and everyone knows it.
Then, of course, we have it from the horse's mouth.
As James O'Keefe's undercover sting found, Joyce DeCerce, a compliance manager at the DNC and member of the Harris campaign, says that no one actually thinks Harris can win and that they're leading rich donors along.
Then there's the awkward pro-Harris rollout, including the New York Magazine's "Kamalot" angle. Jennifer O'Connell notes quite a few of the things that were shared around, including some weird AI-generated images of Harris as Captain America and bearing the Statue of Liberty's torch. When you step back, it all looks rather rushed.
Even the Atlanta rally the Democrats and their media are harping on about, featured an appearance by Meghan Thee Stallion, with lyrics that I'm not sure were gone over before they were performed.
Moreover, when she was done and Harris took the stage, people began leaving.
The machine is over-performing and performing too quickly.
Why do all this if they think Harris can't win? I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons, but the two big ones are money and Trump.
The DNC needs money flowing into it and in order for that to happen, they need to make it look like they're making big moves with a shiny new candidate. The media makes a big deal out of said candidate, people tune in and click, hype is generated, and money is handed over. Donations had stopped big time after the Trump/Biden debate, so they needed something to invigorate their wealthier donors. Thus, the Kamala Parade. The DNC is spending money to make money.
And then there's the Trump problem. The goal, at this point, is to make him less of a problem and in order to do that, they need all the focus to be on Trump vs. Kamala. As I wrote on Tuesday, it's highly unlikely Harris will beat Trump as Harris is going to experience the "Disney dip," a surge of excitement and interest followed by a steep drop in support once they remember who Harris is.
Meanwhile, as you're focused on the presidential race, down-ballot races that Democrats are putting a lot of time and effort into winning go relatively ignored by Republicans. If the Democrats can gain more control of the House and Senate chambers, Trump's presidency is handicapped. He'll be playing defense quite a bit, at least until the midterms, making half his presidency a wash.
Harris is a threat, to be sure, but she's more of a distraction than anything. The DNC is holding a stick and Harris is the carrot. They're willing to sacrifice the White House to gain the Capitol Building.