The Beyoncé Campaign
Thursday's DNC rumor mill debacle symbolizes the empty promise of Kamala Harris
The Democratic National Convention wrapped up Thursday night with a bang if you’re a Kamala Harris fan and a whimper if you’re a Beyoncé fan.
The DNC is well known for their high profile celebrity guest roster. This year the heaviest hitters showed up to take the stage - the Obamas and Oprah Winfrey.
So, it was a bit surprising when rumors of a REALLY BIG guest to close out the convention began swirling. Who could be bigger than Oprah? TMZ appeared to be the main source of this massive “stunning-if-true” surprise. They claimed the surprise guest would be Beyoncé Knowles herself. The mainstream media, never a group to let themselves be distracted by actual journalism, spent the entire day chattering about the rumor and speculating about the impact of such an appearance. Not a single word had been uttered by the Beyoncé camp, the Harris/Walz campaign or any credible news source about her possible appearance but Beyoncé’s celebrity cloud of glitter and awe descended upon the United Center anyway, and its occupants were helpless to resist the gravity.
I felt it had to be Taylor Swift, even though that would be a blow to her fiancé’s fanbase and could possibly cause a negative media storm for his upcoming football season. I felt it could be Beyoncé - she’s certainly a big get - but she has performed at inaugurations and other political events in the past. It wouldn’t be a huge “surprise” to see her on that stage, although it would certainly be exciting for the audience.
As we all know by now, it turns out the big “surprise” was Kamala Harris.
Cue one million sad trombones.
Not only was it a hilarious let-down, it was yet another indictment of a legacy media that no longer performs journalism but rather is a lazy stenographer pool that can’t be bothered to do any real work beyond reporting on social media posts. They had all day and every investigative resource to hunt down that rumor and/or confirm with the Harris camp - a camp they are all friendly with. Then they had the nerve to be perturbed with TMZ - a gossip publication - for spreading gossip.
But I think the symbolism of that Beyoncé-less final night goes far beyond the media’s typical terribleness. What happened (or didn’t happen, to be more precise) Thursday night is indicative of the entire Harris/Walz campaign. It was a shiny symbol of a presidential ticket that is all rumor and innuendo and absolutely no substance.
Kamala hasn’t faced one serious interview or press conference or even delivered a campaign platform and yet we are treated to nonstop glowing diatribes about how ready she is to lead, how effective she is and how formidable she will be as President. All based on ideas, rumors, hopes. There isn’t a shred of confirmation in the form of a question, answer or policy position that would lend credence to the rumor that Kamala is a great leader, but we’re going with the story anyway…and wouldn’t it be nice if it turns out to be true!
Not a single person who has worked with or even socialized with Kamala has ever publicly described her as “joyful” or used the word “joy” to describe anything related to her. If anything we’ve only ever seen her acting bizarrely in her vague duties as Vice President.
Still, someone labeled it the campaign of “joy” so now that’s what it is. Someone said it so now it’s true. No deep dives needed. No investigations pending. No interviews with former staff or old colleagues. Just eat this word, swallow it dry and show us how excited it makes you feel.
Kamala has no policy wins, a problematic prosecutorial record in California and a questionable personal reputation. And it feels almost too obvious to have to say out loud, but she’s been the second-in-command for 3.5 years in the very administration she’s now running against. Every negative she claims she can turn into a positive has been the direct result of her administration’s policies. Her supposed desire to turn things around brings forward the most obvious question…
WHAT IN THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME?
There’s no there there, but there are a lot of rumors about Kamala and “Coach” and how great they are and how experienced they are and how NORMAL™ they are. And sure, no one in the mainstream press is bothering to confirm those rumors, but golly-gee it would be nice if they were true, and that’s good enough to make it true.
The Harris/Walz campaign is just a macro of the Beyonce appearance debacle. It’s all rumors and wishes and empty promises.
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