WaPo columnist faces backlash for advising Harris to 'reassure moderate White voters'
A Washington Post columnist received some blowback from the newspaper's readers on Tuesday after he advised Vice President Kamala Harris to have her white husband to campaign for her if she wants to win the presidential election in November.
Matt Bai's lengthy editorial dives into the fraught subject of racial politics in America, something Harris might already know something about as the first Black woman ever to serve as this nation's vice president, then advocates for letting white men take charge.
"Because Harris is a Black woman, a lot of White voters will probably assume she harbors racial resentments," Bai explains. "Her running mate, when she finally chooses one, might help reassure moderate White voters. So might the fact that she’s married to a White man; if I were her strategist, I’d put Doug Emhoff on every TV show I could find, from now until Election Day. But that’s probably not enough."
Bai explains that what Harris need to do is tell her own story -- and then proceeds to tell her story.
"What Harris can do, however, is tell her own personal story: of a girl born to two immigrant academic parents (one Indian and one Jamaican), a child of divorce raised with the help of a strong African American community, who willed herself to a higher level in U.S. government than any woman in history," Bai writes. "Simply by recounting her own improbable journey, Harris can embody the American story that most voters still want to believe."
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Bai explains Harris has no other option if she wants to win over skeptical white voters and pull ahead of former President Donald Trump.
"It’s hard to see how she comes out on the right end of what is now a statistical tie with Trump if she doesn’t champion the liberal idea of equal opportunity for everyone," Bai writes.
Bai also explains Harris was likely picked by President Joe Biden because he had committed to choosing a woman as a running mate and faced pressure to pick a Black candidate.
"Harris’s main qualification, at that point, was that she was easily the safest choice," Bai writes. "Absent her identity, it’s hard to imagine she would have been anywhere near Biden’s top choice."
Readers of Bai's many explanations delivered many explanations of their own in the comments section.
"If you are going to call her a DEI VP then you better tell me who was the superior candidate for the position that Biden passed up," replied Papa_Zed, "because if you can't name someone it sure sounds like you are just a racist."
"Oh wonderful, Matt telling us he can be bigoted, he has black friends," added michaeledward. "She has an awesome career ... and even a blind deaf man could understand it."
"But the white columnist has to advise Harris on how to talk about her race," replied WesternCoast.
"When you compare Harris’ qualifications to Trump’s history of business bankruptcies, stiffing tradesmen and suppliers, lying as he breathes, lies about his education, causing chaos, grifting at every opportunity, and babbling incomprehensibly," wrote Carollo51, "she should not have to explain ANYTHING. Trump was pushed to succeed despite his lack of qualifications."