What Kamala Harris' Coronation Says About the Democratic Party

Plus: A listener asks the editors about Project 2025.

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What Kamala Harris' Coronation Says About the Democratic Party

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman altogether flinch at the newfound media fawning over Vice President Kamala Harris' ascendancy to the top of the Democratic party's presidential ticket.

01:35—Cringe media honeymoon phase with Kamala Harris

21:23—GOP buyer's remorse with J.D. Vance

39:14—Weekly Listener Question

47:58—President Joe Biden proposes SCOTUS reforms

51:46—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Kamala's Fabricated Gen Z Appeal," by Liz Wolfe

"Media Coverage of 'Border Czar' Kamala Harris Is Cringe," by Robby Soave

"America Deserves a Boring Vice President," by Bekah Congdon

"'Karens for Kamala?' Inside the White Women Zoom Call for Harris," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"The Border Czar Illusion," by Liz Wolfe

"Even After the Harris-Biden Substitution, the Presidential Race Still Sucks," by J.D. Tuccille

"It's Been Easy To Forget How Bad Kamala Harris Is," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"J.D. Vance Is a Bridge to Trumpism Beyond Trump," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"J.D. Vance, Taxing the Childless, and the Power of Framing," by Ilya Somin

"The 'Pro-Worker' GOP Is Anti-Worker," by Veronique de Rugy

"Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections," by Christopher J. Devine and Kyle C. Kopko

"Evaluating the impact of vice presidential selection on voter choice," by John Wihbey

"With Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel Has Lost the Plot," by Peter Suderman

"The Bad News Bears Gets More Disturbing—and Awesome—Every Year," by Matt Welch

Despite its apparent brevity, it's going to be a very long election cycle. pic.twitter.com/1hn8VvhAAH

— Nick Gillespie (@nickgillespie) July 29, 2024

From the @AP: '"When she speaks, she speaks for me," Biden said, noting her past work as California's attorney general makes her specially equipped to lead the administration's response.'…The move echoes not only Obama's decision to deputize Biden but also Trump naming Vice… https://t.co/BjDNTr1KnN pic.twitter.com/1nnkYC6C5V

— Nick Gillespie (@nickgillespie) July 25, 2024

Send your questions to [e-mail]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

• Students for Liberty
• ZBiotics. ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Just remember to make ZBiotics your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Go to zbiotics.com/ROUNDTABLE to get 15 percent off your first order when you use ROUNDTABLE at checkout.

Audio production by Ian Keyser; assistant production by Hunt Beaty.

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser
• Producer: Hunt Beaty

What are we consuming this week?

Katherine Mangu-Ward

• Tesla Cybertruck

Nick Gillespie

• The Bad News Bears

Peter Suderman

• Deadpool & Wolverine

Matt Welch

• Hemingway

---

Comments

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Yup, Democrats have gone full-retard bat-shit crazy. The question is how many other people are willing to get on the Ken Kesey bus for a magic trip to the commune?

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

It shows they're surprisingly unified. I had assumed Biden's withdrawal would have triggered a big fight at the convention.

[JohnZ]

It's as if they all ate some magic mushrooms.
They've all flown over the cuckoos nest.

[Zeb]

I think they are on meth. Mushrooms would be a lot more interesting.

[MK Ultra]

I should probably have something to say on the subject, but I'm Leary of hippies taking things Furthur.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

How many people think Project 2025 is the Q-anon of this election cycle? You know, the thing that guides all thought of the half of American that is far/alt/Nazi-right, even though twice as many Democrats have heard of it, compared to Republicans.

[Mike Parsons]

Ya, been seeing the same thing. All the same vibes.

Another boogeyman I haven't heard anyone, conservative, or "far right" person mention, ever, once. And I work with a dude that is 110% in on the adrenochrome cult stuff being a major nuisance. Yet I see a post multiple times per day clutching pearls that "They are coming with their handmaids costumes! Project 2025!!!"

Its absolutely Qanon 2.0.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Never heard of it.

[Liberty_Belle]

You tend to be more aware of the cop beating you to death than the person down the street who is not being beat to death by the cop.

Likewise, when the GOP was enforcing "Red State" hardly anybody know what it was, except for the people being disenfranchised by it. (Red State being the concerted effort across multiple areas to change the voting demographics.)

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/who-controlled-redistricting-every-state

[JesseAz (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

Lol. A leftist think tank.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Tell us again, how many million people the cops beat to death last year, and what percentage were black.

[Social Justice is neither]

Thanks for the confirmation that you're a Leftist retard.

[R Mac]

When I lived in NC my congressional district was basically a snake shaped district that went around and along an interstate from my city to a neighboring city. My democrat congressman always won easily.

[Ben of Houston]

I do find it odd how they keep bringing this up like its something new, when gerrymandering is centuries old and both parties have engaged in it repeatedly. That doesn't make it good, but pretending that one side is squeaky clean of something so obvious is eyerolling.

[shawn_dude]

This is a strawman. No one is pretending one side is "squeaky clean." In fact, a quick Google search of "Democrat Gerrymandering" produces a number of non-right-wing sources discuss this issue right at the top of the list is VOX.

However, Democrats don't need to gerrymander to the same extend as Republicans because, in a pure numbers race of party registrations and voters, Democrats have over 10 million more nationwide. Bothsides/everyone-does-it explanations don't represent the significant anti-voting projects the Republicans have championed over the last two decades--largely because they lose on numbers anywhere there's high levels of voter participation. This is also why no Republican candidate for US President has won the popular vote their first term since George Bush Sr.

[David Perry]

So, by anti-voting do you mean the incredibly high bar of ensuring that you are a citizen and are allowed to vote where you reside? Those kind of anti-voting, Jim Crow 2.0 projects?

'no Republican...' '...has won the popular vote...'

What is this popular vote you speak of? Did we do away with the EC without telling anyone? Are Dems going for the national popular vote though it means about as much as a rat's fart?

[Mother's Lament]

"Brennan Center for Justice"

Oh that link is totes legit.

[JohnZ]

You mean preventing "Illegal Aliens" from voting.
Or preventing election observers from doing their jobs.
Or the vote fraud in nearly every state.
By the way, those on welfare should not be allowed to vote. Criminals should not be allowed to vote either.

[DesigNate]

I bet you and the Brennan center didn’t say dick about gerrymandering when Democrats controlled all those Southern states up through the 90’s.

[David Perry]

But but but all the Southern racist dems became Republicans after the 60s, right?

[Roberta]

A libertarian friend of mine recently learned of Project 2025 and signed up for whatever it is.

[Mother's Lament]

You get a coupon for a free Wendy's Frosty if you can also get a friend to sign up at the same time.

[CE]

It's not exactly libertarian.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

How many people think Project 2025 is the Q-anon of this election cycle?

Wow, this is world record ignorance.

The majority of Republicans believe that QAnon is a cabal of Democratic elite child-eating villains although no shred of evidence of such has ever been found.

Project 2025 is a 900 page document that can be found on the Heritage web site. No one doubts its existence. Sure, Heritage is on the lunatic right fringe of US politics but go look at it yourself.

Equating the two is beyond stupid even for a conservative yokel.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Aren't you adorable. And full of shit, as always.

Never change, ButtPlug. Even if your handlers have abandoned you, and you are now writing your own comments.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug - Jan 6 = 9/11 (same motive)]

Oh, that was your comment I insulted.

Well to be fair I will give you a chance to rebut it. Be back in 20 minutes.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Huh. Says "37 mins ago".

Probably out pedo trolling.

[Mother's Lament]

Three hours later...

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

I’ve never once seen Shrike attempt to refute that he’s a pedophile. It’s far more likely that he really wants to boast about it, but knows that he can’t get away with that.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the TDSs-addled ass-clown of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[Mother's Lament]

“The majority of Republicans believe that QAnon is a cabal of Democratic elite child-eating villains although no shred of evidence of such has ever been found.”

You didn’t even bother to look up what QAnon supposedly is on Wikipedia before you decided to be stupid.
See, this is why Open Society fired you, Shrike.

“Project 2025 is a 900 page document that can be found on the Heritage web site”

And how does that have anything to do with Trump, retard? Nobody had even heard of it before your guys decided to associate it with an unrelated presidential candidate. This is the equivalent of saying NAMBLA is the Democratic Party platform.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

NAMBLA is the Shrike platform, and it is under the control of it’s new CEO, Chemjeff, Radical Child Grooming Enthusiast.

[Minadin]

The only people I know who 'know' anything about QAnon are card-carrying leftists who watch MSNBC religiously.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

That's just you claiming not to know anyone who is into it. Maybe that's true, but there are plenty of Trumpistas who are into it. You can see that from the Q flags/stickers/signs at any Trump rally (unless he's censored them--I haven't seen any recently).

Yes, I researched it, so maybe I do know more about it than the average MAGAtard. From what I've seen of them, they prefer ignorance if the alternative makes them uncomfortable.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

If you’re looking for ignorance, one need only join any democrat controlled group. Your kind are subnormal idiots. That your kind are accepting a retarded who’re like Harris as their candidate proves this.

You all need to go.

[David Perry]

Wait, so that you know more about QAnon than the average 'MAGAtard' somehow makes your point? You literally are admitting that you (and lefty douches no doubt) are the ones who know more about QAnon...

[JohnZ]

That's PMSNBC

[Mickey Rat]

"Heritage is on the lunatic right fringe of US politics but go look at it yourself."

Heritage was the source of the policy paper that the Left used to claim was the origin of the ACA, now they are beyond the ideological pale. The convolutions of the Leftist narrative are sudden and sharp.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

You could more persuasively argue that the Heritage Foundation was controlled by non-MAGA Republicans, because it does have deep ties to the "old" GOP, but I believe it has been taken over by Trump's people. Indeed, the two main members of Heritage's Project 2025 are Paul Dans and Spencer Chretien:

"Dans served in the Trump Administration as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management."

"From 2020-2021, [Spencer] Chretien was a Special Assistant to President Donald J. Trump and Associate Director of Presidential Personnel, helping to identify, recruit, and place hundreds of political appointees at all levels of government."

It is what it is.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"...“Dans served in the Trump Administration as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.”..."

You stupid shit, Trump and Epstein also lived in Manhattan. FOADD, asshole.

[JohnZ]

They change whenever needed.
This week's chocolate ration has been increased from last week's thirty grams to twenty grams.
Now stand in front of the "view plate" and repeat after Big Brother.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

No Kiddie Raper, Qanon is something the majority of democrats think the majority of republicans believe in. When most of us don’t know anything about it. Other than Marxists pedophiles like you raving about it.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

turd, the ass-clown of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[Ben of Houston]

And I haven't heard any actual quotes from it that were objectionable.

Say what you object to with a quote and page number. You can't. Because the actual text isn't anywhere near what they are claiming.

It's like climate change. The IPCC report is a bit exaggerated but still overall scientific. Then people take this and claim that it means the immediate end of the world, and they rely on the fact that no one will read the actual report to find out that it simply doesn't say that.

[Rick James]

I had to scroll to the listener question to find out what Project 2025 was.

[MasterThief]

Wishlist from Heritage, a conservative think tank. Not all ideas in it are bad, but the way it's represented in media is way off

[Overt]

It also isn't just a "Wishlist". It is a symposium of writing. There is an impassioned plea for protectionist "Fair" trade. There is also an impassioned plea for Libertarian Free Trade.

The major flaw of Project 2025 is that it is so big that anyone can find something to wring their hands about.

[Mother's Lament]

I'm concerned about the ban on Taco Tuesdays and the tipless condoms clauses.

[Ersatz]

The main flaw of Project 2025 is the branding. The name is too easily manipulated by the media to imply it is a call to action by people in or with power. It is not - as has been pointed out. The publishers have no power to make their policy advice reality - not like the crazy ideas espoused by the left. It is not like Agenda21 that became Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2050:

It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels. One major objective of the Agenda 21 initiative is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda 21

They should have given it some boring academic name like Notes from The Symposium of Conservative Think-Tanks blah blah blah

[CE]

Just trying to preempt the WEF's Agenda 2030.

[R Mac]

The primary author of it was just on Tim Pool’s Culture War podcast. Only listened to the first part, where he said that social security isn’t addressed at all, so if someone claims it says that you can write them off as a liar.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

It's not "Nazi"; it's just what a bunch of influential Republicans have put together to try and avoid the futility and counter-productivity of the Trump's "first" term.

Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, but the Heritage Foundation certainly hasn't--it's still the most prominent item on their website.

But the idea that they (or anyone) can "manage" Trump is touching (if not touched).

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"...it’s just what a bunch of influential Republicans have put together to try and avoid the futility and counter-productivity of the Trump’s “first” term..."

You.
Are.
Full.
Of.
Shit.
Stuff your TDS up your ass; your head is begging for company.

[JFree]

This is now the third election cycle where D's have chosen to manipulate the primary outcomes in order to ram the establishment's preferred candidate into the nomination. Not really a surprise given that their Prez is an instrument of party and D's will never internally reform. But still a surprise.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

Sadly, it's a choice between the Democratic Machine and the Demented Machine.

I hope for a more or less evenly balanced Congress in 2025, to minimize the (D)amage while the (R)epublicans get tired of (L)osing.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Didn't know you were running; thought it was Trump.
FOAD, shit-pile

[Rick James]

What Kamala Harris' Coronation Says About the Democratic Party

Do I have to listen to the whole podcast to get the centrist take?

[Social Justice is neither]

Sometimes you have to destroy Democracy to save Democracy from an existential threat like DJT seems to be the MO of the DNC.

[CE]

Reluctantly and strategically, yes.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

No. The Reason editors will endorse the conventional wisdom with a libertarian twist. It will be on CNN and all over Mastodon tomorrow. Just add your own twist.

[Don't look at me!]

Crazy joe wants 18 year terms for Supreme Court judges, but:

As of June 2022, there have been 116 Justices. What is the average length of a Justice’s tenure? The average number of years that Justices have served is 16.

No improvement found.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

But there's also the appointment side of the proposal: each President would get a chance to appoint two justices.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Elections have consequences. That’s part of the fun.

Everything Is So Terrible And Unfair when it doesn’t go your way, eh spammy?

Haha. What a doosh.

[CE]

And elections would still have consequences. But the Supreme Court consequences would be systematically distributed, and not random.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Sooner or later the podcast listener will run out of questions. Will that be the final broadcast?

[Mother's Lament]

White Mike has been gone for ages.

[Rick James]

It is happening.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

They're all in; the epic failure will be memory holed just as quickly.

[Ersatz]

Daffy Duck would exclaim the following:
"Sickening Sicophancy!"

[Zeb]

It is. I’m just not sure what “it” is.

Edit: I do get teh Ron Paul reference. But I have no fucking idea what that picture is supposed to be about.

[AT]

Heard an interesting analogy for Kammy today.

“The backup quarterback.”

And, like in football, we’ve seen with Kamalamadingdong the same thing with backup quarterbacks. An initial surge of support from the home team, with a new hope and high expectations. A hesitancy from the away team as they try to readjust their gameplay. And maybe the backup quarterback makes a few great plays during that transition. They even become the shining star for awhile, with playoff and even superbowl talks.

But at the end of the day, the backup Q is the backup – not the starter – for a reason. And, like in football, a few months isn’t enough time to groom a backup player into a reliable starter. So, don’t let the media fool you on the subject of K-brat.

1) She can’t string a coherent sentence together to save her life.
2) She has no policy beyond Democrat Status Quo.
3) She is riding in a flaming dumpster fire of the last four years that has made every American worse off.
4) She is an admitted DEI hire that never received a delegate vote and was second fiddle to a bowl of jello.
5) The border chaos falls in her lap.
6) The climate change slush fund with zero returns falls in her lap.
7) She sides with literal terrorists over American allies.
8) She is inherently unlikeable by any social metric.

Clown show.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Excellent analogy, thank you.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

More like a cry for help!

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

Except AT is exactly right.

[DesigNate]

L O fucking L

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"More like a cry for help!"

Steaming pile of shit heard from.

[JohnZ]

Don't forget the billions....50 0f them, spent to connect every home in America with high speed internet and not a single home connected.
$100+ billion for that little coke sniffling clown in Ukraine.
$35 trillion in debt.
Highest gas prices ever.
Cost of living becoming a nightmare.
Cities on the verge of collapse.
Unchecked illegal immigration.
Allowing illegal aliens to vote.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

Remind me again why we allow the democrat party to exist?

[JohnZ]

I can't think of any reason.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

Them there needs to be an organized effort to dismantle their organization. and destroy their leaders, major donors, etc.. Their propaganda organizations (NYT, MSNBC, WaPo, CNN, etc.) must be either destroyed or purged of democrat influence.

There are ways to accomplish these goals. Litigation, prosecution, corporate takeovers, etc.. We also need to progressively make the practice of,Marxism illegal. Which should ultimately involve a constitutional amendment.

[CE]

Harris has no notable accomplishments as VP, and at least one notable failure (as border "czar" or "not-exactly" border czar).

Harris has no notable accomplishments as Senator, unless you count voting on party lines reliably as told.

Harris has a few accomplishments as a prosecutor and AG, and has latched onto them like a dog that found a bone, saying "a prosecutor is just what we need to beat a felon like Trump!" And it seems like she has completely forgotten that Tulsi Gabbard reminding everyone of her actual record as a prosecutor is what torpedoed Harris out of the presidential primaries just 4 years ago.

[Bill Dalasio]

Harris's coronation tells me that the Dems will believe whatever they're told to believe by their establishment. Three months ago any Democrat would have happily agreed that Joe Biden was fit for another term and that Kamala Harris was an incredibly weak and ridiculous candidate. And on a dime, after the talking points went out, Biden was a ridiculous old man and Harris was Washington, Jefferson and FDR (their hero, not mine) all rolled into one.

If the Democratic Central Committee told the party that it was important to eat my dog's droppings, I'd make a fortune selling Dolly poop to eager Democrats.

[Longtobefree]

We have always been at war with Eastasia.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Do not believe your lying eyes and ears; we will show and tell you what to believe, when you need to believe it.

And the vast majority of MSM is totally in line with this.

[Ersatz]

Its not a matter of believe. The democrat floor is about 40-43% – some disguised as faux Republicans and\or undecided.

They will vote for a potato if they had to and totally accept that the deep state actually runs things no matter who is the token prez.

The rest of the media dog and pony show is to convince the actual uninformed and mush-heads that its cool to vote (D) and evil to vote (R). They hope the wall of sound messaging and narrative will peer pressure anyone of those that actually get dragged by D- people harvesters to the polling stations to vote D.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Agree with the percentage; 40% would vote for an urn of ashes as long as it appeals to their misguided sense of virtue and supports a profuse government that will make the rest of us get in line

[JohnZ]

It's unbelievable, isn't it? Total enslavement of the mind.

[JohnZ]

Gee, golly,....I missed it. All the pageantry and mysticism. Not!
I also missed ole Joe's speech. Not that I missed anything of importance.
The Demmunists or Commucrats are going to have to really pull a rabbit out of the hat to cheat and defraud on this one. Of course CNN and PMSNBC are all in with Kamaltoe.
Warning: If this little whore gets into the White House, you'd better have a backup plan. I give it two years or even less before all hell breaks loose and America collapses in on itself. Every city will become a hell zone. Mad Max returns, with Snake Pliskin in the driver's seat. Even worse, WWIII will have decimated D.C. and every major city.

[Fire up the Woodchippers! (5-30 Banana Republic Day)]

We should get rid of the democrat party now.

[Uomo Del Ghiaccio]

While I'm thoroughly disgusted with the choices that have been offered for President, I sincerely hope that Kamala Harris is not elected. Both Trump and Harris are narcissists, but in-spite of all the braining-washing that the corporate media has been doing against the Trump since the summer of 2015. Trump still is the better option versus Harris and by a large margin. Still Trump is a crappy choice and will not get my vote unless I'm physically forced to vote and Harris is the only other option. Trump was a mediocre president that the corporate media has tried to turn into Hitler. The more absurd they get the more they force me to defend him. Harris is an abysmal failure and embodies the worst aspects of politics. The more that the corporate media attempts to spew BS the more repulsed I get.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Trump was the best POTUS we've had for a century. If you've got evidence otherwise, let's see it. Or stuff your TDS up your ass.

[Public Entelectual]

Then why your write-in vote for Taft?

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Public ignoramus seems to think that was clever, rather than imbecilic.
FOAD, asshole.

[CE]

The Harris coronation tells us that the Democrat Party isn't smart enough to follow Obama's lead all the time. Obama notably did not endorse Harris when Biden dropped out, promising a "fair and open" nominating process at the convention. A week later he had to get on board the Harris train before it ran him over, as the rest of the party looked at the campaign cash and the checked boxes and rallied behind Harris.

I suspect Obama would have preferred Mark Kelly or one of the Dem governors currently being considered for the VP slot to be leading the ticket, since he knows that Harris is unelectable.

[AT]

I’m convinced that Biden’s immediate endorsement of Kamalamadingdong was a last vestige of lucidity in the form of a middle finger right at Barack’s face.

[AT]