Close Reading Kamala
Kamala Harris’s 2019 memoir, The Truths We Hold, is vague from its title to its final page, filled with soft-focus anecdotes and inspirational platitudes. In its last chapter, however, she offers eight specific rules for leaders. We graded her presidential campaign on how well it followed each one.
“Test the Hypothesis”
Hillary Clinton already tested the hypothesis that you can beat Donald Trump by running to the right, ignoring the working class, and hoping voters fear the other guy more than they resent you. It failed. But hey, we’re all worried about the replication crisis in science, so she gets points for rerunning the experiment.
“Go to the Scene”
Unlike Clinton, Harris spent significant time campaigning in the Rust Belt. In the final stretch of the race, though, she blew a ton of campaign cash on a flashy rally with Beyoncé in Texas — far from a swing state, but at least she bothered to go to Michigan.
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