Until Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee, she was one of the most unpopular high-ranking politicians in recent times; on July 21, 2024, she became the apparent savior of the Democrat party and the nation.

How can one explain this remarkable turnaround when she has consistently been on the unpopular (leftist) side of the three big issues—crime, inflation, and the border—for Americans?

Crime

When William McKay killed Riverside Deputy Sheriff Isaiah Cordero during a traffic stop, the three-strike convicted felon was not in custody because of Harris’s reduced bail rule, despite having been convicted of three previous violent crimes. Reduced (or no) bail policy along with charge reductions (from felonies to misdemeanors), and no crime at all if theft, viz., shoplifting, less than $950 — these were all elements of Harris’s pro-crime posture when she was District Attorney of San Francisco (2003-2010). Her policies turned one of the most popular travel destinations into a dangerous, crime-, garbage-, and needle-infested, homeless dominated “unlivable hellhole.”

She extended her pro-crime approach, adding defund the police, to all of California when she became that state’s Attorney General (2010-2017). Illegal immigration into the Golden State soared under her watch. Between the open border and Harris’s pro-crime attitude, gang violence in general, and particularly murders in Los Angeles, reached new highs. Out-migration from California accelerated to places less crime-ridden and lower taxes or rents.

As a senator (2017-2021), and despite being a former state prosecutor, Harris demonstrated her disdain for rule of law by aggressively supporting the arson, looting, general mayhem, and even murder by BLM/Antifa during the summer of 2020 riots. On social media, she exhorted Americans to donate bail money for the rioters.

While her law enforcement (or lack thereof) behavior gave her credibility with progressive ideologues, it did not sit well with the populace and contributed to her unpopularity.

Inflation

Inflation is eating away at the purchasing power of Americans’ take-home pay, with prices of everyday goods up nearly 20 percent since Biden took office. The major contributor to inflation is federal deficit spending.

Harris’s record in the Senate is unimpressive except when it comes to spending money we don’t have. By casting her tie-breaking Senate vote, Harris approved the passage of Biden’s American Rescue Plan of 2021 and the falsely titled Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. With these two bills, Harris added $1.9 trillion and $1.2 trillion (respectively) to the national debt, exacerbating Americans’ pain at the grocery store or gas pump. 

Border/Illegal immigration

During his first week in office, President Joe Biden signed executive orders that reversed Trump’s border policies, particularly the Remain-in-Mexico measure. This opened the border to massive illegal immigration. Two months later, he put V.P. Harris in charge of the border crisis he had created, saying, “...Vice President [Harris] has agreed to lead our diplomatic efforts and our work ... to...enhance migration enforcement.” Since Harris was placed in charge, there have been more than nine million illegal crossings, resulting in huge increases in human trafficking, drug deaths (especially fentanyl), fatalities among those attempting illegal entrance, terrorists gaining admission, and South American gang violence plaguing our cities, plus the massive expenses associated with transport, housing, food, and social services for nine million-plus illegals who also need (and receive) medical care.

Americans in need are acutely aware that the billions spent on illegals are monies that won’t be spent on them. They know who to blame.

Sinner to Saint

Harris’s lack of action on illegal immigration, her voting to increase inflation, her encouragement of criminal activities, her vicious and unwarranted attacks on Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings, along with her close affiliation with the “Squad” prove she is a hard leftist ideologue, clearly opposed to American values and out of step with the voters. When Harris’s public demeanor, her cackling, and her meaningless word salads are added to her actions, Harris’s unpopularity prior to July 21, 2024 becomes readily understandable. How then to explain Harris’s sudden transformation, with some polls saying Harris versus Trump 2024 is a “toss-up.” The latest poll, admittedly from the hyper-partisan New York Times, puts Harris ahead of Trump in three key battleground states.

How is this possible? How did she go from sinner to saint? 

Five letters: TGINB. Thank God It’s Not Biden. Among undecideds, Independents, and especially Democrats, Biden had been finally exposed for what he is — a senile, corrupt professional politician, incompetent to lead our country, guaranteed to lose the 2024 election, and to take down-ticket Democrats with him. His performance at his debate with Trump and misnaming Harris as “Vice-President Trump” at the NATO Summit put the final nails in his political coffin.

The sense of relief that Biden is off the ticket, combined with angst over Trump’s constant vitriol, has translated into a bump in popularity for Harris. Nonetheless, she and her just-announced running mate, Tim Walz, both leftist radicals, would govern to exacerbate the three biggest woes of Americans: violent crime, an invasion of illegal entrants (including terrorists!), and prices for food, housing, and energy people can’t afford.

Maybe we should start a new hashtag, PPDESK. Please, Please, Don’t Elect Socialist Kamala!

Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Decision Science; former Director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; former director, New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange; and author of 12 books including the multi-award winning Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine.

Image: YouTube video screen grab, edited.