Everybody already knows who and what Donald Trump is. But does anybody really have a clear idea about the electorally unchallenged presumptive Democrat presidential nominee? The time has now come for Democrat operatives to reinvent Kamala Harris in what is perceived to be a popular form.

How’s it going so far? Not all that well.

There has of course been the introductory polling bump -- the sustainability of which is clearly in doubt. This is largely due to the low quality of the subject. There are also structural problems facing the effort. Byron York has recently written about the independent voter factor. In her previous run for the nomination, Harris’s possible voters had other Democrats to choose from… and they easily left her in the lurch while never considering jumping over to Trump. Since there are now no other Democrats running against Harris, today’s polling has, essentially, two camps of Harris voters: loyal knee-jerk Democrats and less-than-loyal independents… who can easily flip back to Trump once they realize how unworthy Harris is.

Now to Trump. First, he was a well-known media and business personality. Then he served a term as president of the United States. It is common knowledge that he doesn’t possess the reserved verbal carefulness of a professional politician. His opponents try to take advantage of this by portraying him as something he isn’t, such as when he used the term “bloodbath” to describe what Democrats’ New Green Deal would do to the American automobile industry. They tried to extend that to anything and everything in general… which only worked on the knee jerkers. Salena Zito aptly described Trump as someone who should not be taken literally -- but should certainly be taken seriously. This requires a bit of the mental effort that distinguishes Trump supporters from his opponents. He has also acquired several years of political experience since his famous descent down the escalator… which, to some degree, has led to improved discipline.

Meanwhile, Harris is being kept under wraps. She has agreed to at least one debate against Trump… which was politically fatal for Biden. The debate being about a month away, the suppression of her overt candidacy allows the voters to fill in the many blanks about who she really is -- and Trump and his allies are doing what they can to supply the necessary building blocks for this task. One block, however, Harris has just stolen from Trump: making tips tax-exempt. Could this be a “tell”… revealing a hint of desperation? Nonetheless, Harris and her cronies are still trapped by the specter of inflation. They continue to blame greedy corporations for price gouging while Mom and Pop America have no choice but to feed themselves and their families while facing soaring prices. Profound economic ignorance cannot be sustained indefinitely.

Then there are the running mates. Tim Walz is actually better known than J.D. Vance, having been a member of Congress and then governor of Minnesota. At this stage, however, what is known about Walz is mostly not good. And, although Vance is barely old enough to be eligible for the vice presidency, he’s already published an autobiography that became a best seller and a feature film.

I can’t help but be reminded of the supposed Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Seeing an incumbent president withdraw from seeking re-election right after the first debate against his opponent, and then promoting a particularly lackluster third-string political hack to be his successor, all while a totally corrupt media throws camouflage over the whole messy business, reinforces the analogy.

I may have an explanation. The Democrat party has been infused with totally leftist-committed activists. They are not the establishmentarian architects of traditional public policy. Rather, they are narrow-focused idealogues who are brimming with hostility to personal freedom. Meanwhile, the American public are the progeny of many generations of self-centered individualists. The party idealogues don’t want to know this. Rather, they believe that most folks want to be more or less enslaved for the betterment of the Earth and its population.

Pursuant to this assumption, they take few pains to conceal this agenda. Their media friends agree with this nonsense. But the pushback isn’t subsiding. Other than the implosion of the Democrat party, the collapse of media credibility is also a likely consequence of this folly. Left nakedly exposed is the reality that all the totalitarians can muster against Trump and his allies are personality foibles -- rather than agenda issues. Why? Because their agenda sucks. In the real world, public policy is the result of imposed agendas. Politicians who impose harmful agendas can expect to have their careers terminated. Let’s just sit back and watch this happen.

Image: AT via Magic Studio