Guest Editorial by Paul Leslie |
You can’t fake confidence — that’s true of individuals and organizations. There’s nothing like a little confidence to help you on the road to where you’re going. But it’s something that must come from a real place: knowing what you believe and can accomplish. Sooner or later, imposters reveal themselves.
I was thinking about this after seeing the Vice Presidential debate hosted by CBS. This debate was perhaps more compelling than the only Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris Presidential debate, because this would be the first lengthy exposure of Trump’s pick J.D. Vance and Harris’s pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Walz’s Midwest image
I heard Ohio Senator J.D. Vance speak publicly in Atlanta. As a communicator, I knew this guy had the goods. My exposure to Tim Walz was mostly from the crafted social media videos produced by the Harris campaign.
For many people, the first exposure to Tim Walz was seeing him in the staged video shot in his house. Clad in a camouflage hat, he expressed that being her running mate would be a privilege, what with all of the joy and enthusiasm she was bringing to the country.
Then there was the other “getting to know you” video where Walz talked about how he makes “white guy tacos,” and mostly did his best to seem like a nice fellow from the Midwest. For a lot of people all of this seemed a little contrived. All this supposed joy seemed more façade than truth. There’s a reason for that.
Vance exuded confidence, Walz struggled
To see Vance and Walz debate stirred up my curiosity.
“Let’s see,” I thought as the television broadcast began.
After the introductions from moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, the first question was whether the candidates would support Israel mounting a preemptive strike on Iran. About a minute into Walz’s answer, he seemed to sputter and run out of actual substance so he began fear mongering the viewers about Donald Trump.
As the debate went on, Walz revealed a low inventory of actual ideas. He seemed to be uncertain of himself, while Vance seemed to exude a calm confidence. Self-assurance without bravado would be a good descriptor of J.D. Vance’s debate performance.
It didn’t get better for Walz. He began to show lots of signs of being out of his element. Rather than present ideas, he seemed more suited to bellow about Trump.
Walz would rather talk about Trump than his own campaign. It smacked of insecurity.
Walz took notes feverishly
The other thing I noticed — Walz was a scribblin’ kind of guy. I’ve never seen someone take so many notes. Was he jotting down Vance’s ideas? Well, that would be true to brand. The Kamala Harris campaign has, after all, been the campaign of appropriation. From absconding with Trump’s no tax on tips idea to shoplifting the source code from the old policy page of the Joe Biden for President campaign website.
Walz wrote on his paper constantly, even after J.D. Vance said that he “hoped his kids were in bed by now.” Why would that cause you to reach for a pen? It dawned on me that this was less about taking notes and more about being nervous. It was a crutch and it revealed the lack of confidence that permeates Walz and Harris.
Harris-Walz face communication challenges
Avoiding real answers and delivering word salads can pass the time between questions. For Harris and Walz having something that’s close to an idea means asking yourself if people will really buy it first. A confident person can speak frankly, which is why communicating is something the Harris-Walz campaign struggles so much with.
If you think about it Harris and Walz have a tricky objective. They have to make people believe they have principles. They also have to minimize the truth about what they’ve done in the past and what they formerly said they believe.
When Walz was asked to explain his deception about being in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests, he started talking about how he “grew up in small rural Nebraska, a town of 400, a town that you rode your bike with your buddies until the street lights come on.”
Hey, he’s proud of it. What did this have to do with Hong Kong? Just like his boss Kamala, he’s just filling up the minute with words until the next question comes. It’s hard to be confident or to speak with real journalists when there is so much you don’t want to talk about.
Harris won’t speak to many reporters, but she sat down with the Call Her Daddy podcast, where the host and celebrity guests and pornographic performers share sexual technique tips and relive their more lewd exploits. So, I guess Kamala Harris is only comfortable and confident when it’s something in her milieu.
Harris-Walz must pretend
The Harris campaign is in a bad spot. Everyone knows that the United States of America is in a state of decline, and the morale is low. The Harris campaign is trying to assert that Kamala has been a leader and that we can’t “go back.” Do they mean go back to the times of prosperity and peace through strength?
Kamala Harris must pretend that none of the calamities and confusion of the Harris-Biden administration are her fault because she wasn’t the one in power. She also maintains that she’s been a leader in charge of getting things done. So which is it?
Kamala Harris was anti-fracking and went on the record saying that she wants to ban gas-powered cars. She supported defunding the police and paying for prisoner’s sex change operations. Now, supposedly she has changed all of these positions just in time for America’s ultimate election.
Tim Walz doesn’t want anyone asking him about signing a bill that required Minnesota public schools to stock the boy’s restroom with tampons, or allowing the city of Minneapolis to burn during the George Floyd riots of 2020. Nor does he want to be asked about his wife Gwen Walz keeping the windows of the governor’s residence open so that she could “smell the tires burning.”
Harris and Walz have so much to hide. They’ve also rushed to fabricate new identities and slap together what looks like a platform. None of this lays down a foundation of confidence.
It’s no easy task—convincing millions and millions of American voters that you’re someone other than who you are.
I don’t think Americans are buying it.
Photo: Adobe Stock
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