Kamala Harris Baffles Republicans

Republicans are grasping for attack lines that aren’t likely to work or are counterproductive.

One bad argument is that Ms. Harris is “a DEI candidate.” That may literally have been true in 2020 when Mr. Biden promised to appoint a woman as his running mate. But diminishing her in this way now, after she’s been VP for four years, will alienate women and the minority voters the GOP is trying to attract.

Another misfire is asserting that Mr. Biden should resign now since he isn’t running for re-election. Voters can distinguish between the next six months and the next four years, and in any case Mr. Biden is now yesterday’s man. Ms. Harris is the candidate to beat.

Calling out Ms. Harris for being childless is another false note. The decision to have children is intensely personal and often a matter of chance as much as choice, and the attack underscores the culturally censorious side of the GOP that alienates many voters. She has two stepchildren. It’s possible to stress the virtue of families, and children, without sounding like moral scolds.

Some Republicans think they can win by portraying Ms. Harris as “weird,” as if her laugh is disqualifying. But that only works if a candidate plays into the critique. So far on the stump she’s performing better than she did in 2019 or in her early days as Vice President. Too many Republicans seem to have bought the triumphal claims in the conservative press that Ms. Harris can’t win. Of such media-bubble overconfidence are defeats made.

One wild card will be candidate performance, especially in debate. Mr. Trump defeated the declining

Joe Biden

in a walkover, but Ms. Harris won’t be so easy. The former President will have to make a case on policy, rather than personal insults, and that isn’t his strength. The economic and security fundamentals still favor Mr.

Trump, but this is now a competitive race.