I’ve been a professional journalist for more than 60 years, I’ve covered all kinds of stories and interviewed all kinds of people. There is no subject I am afraid to tackle, but if I were Dana Bash, I’d be feeling a butterfly belly, and a puckered sphincter about tonight’s interview.
It is almost a no-win situation.
If she doesn’t drill through Kamala Harris’ well-rehearsed and vanilla Soft Serve answers, she will be skewered by the Right as a progressive patsy.
If she slashes through Harris’ explanations, she will be bullwhipped by the Left as a tincup traitor.
This will be her Goldilocks moment — not too pleasant, not too nasty, just right.
Over the years. I have seen Bash do many interviews, and almost always they are pointed and fair. Only on occasion does the mask slip, showing her Left leanings. Not surprising, most of her colleagues are the same.
One big tell was her observation after the September 2020 first debate between Joe Biden and Donald J. Trump, who constantly interrupted and talked over Biden.
In her post-debate analysis, Bash called it a “shit show” and there was no question who she was talking about.
Not to me, anyway — the disrupter Trump.
Honest to God, when she said “shit show,” I blurted out, “Holy shit.” But I was sitting at home, not on national television.
It was one of the most inappropriate outbursts I ever heard from a professional journalist. I was not shocked by the actual words, but who said it, and where.
I am not the only one who remembers that.
Nor am I the only person wondering why CNN chose Bash, as opposed to yoking her with Jake Tapper, with whom she often works.
Was it some kind of “sisterhood” thing CNN was aiming for, believing that a really tough grilling would “look” better coming from a woman than a man?
I don’t know.
I do know that Kamala has about two dozen hard Left positions, and she has yet to explain them publicly.
Through flacks we have heard she no longer would ban fracking, nor implement the Green New Deal, nor endorse Medicare for all, nor demand that 100% of new car sales be EV by 2035. She also had favored getting rid of ICE, defunding police, helping raise bail for rioters, and expanding the U.S. Supreme Court.
The issue is not whether or not you like each of these ideas. Kamala has to explain where she is now, and if she changed, why? She must be credible, and authentic.
Bash can’t raise all those issues, but she must raise some — including the border, which most Americans see as a Biden failure. Ditto inflation.
And the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Was Kamala the last person in the room when that decision was made?
Harris’ challenge will be to share the applause for Biden’s successes, while divorcing herself from the blame for his failures.
That will be hard to do, and Bash must be there to fact-check on the fly.
I don’t envy her.
Here is how Kamala should answer any questions about her shifting positions: “I am for or against those things I was previosuly for or against.”
Ah, but the followup question is WHY?
The answer is “that it is something I need to do. As the president I will make the difficult choice or not moving our country forward and effect the change from the past administration’s failures”
Or in addition to the explanation I previously gave, she can say the last 3 1/2 years were a learning experience that weaned her off far Left views, which allows her to paint Biden as moderate.
But that’s an outright lie? Another one.
Her response: “Why not?”
I hope she is as tough with Harris as she was when she interviewed Trump. Just be fair and honest.
Maybe if the other Dana..(Loesch) does the interview? 😜
Liked that ‘puckered sphincter’ comment.
The other Dana is not a journalist, she is a propagandist for the NRA. And thanks for appreciating the line.
Remember when Richard Nixon told America that in order to get your party’s nomination you had to cater to them, and if you won it, you had to scamper back to the center to address the interests of the more general population? That’s not a quote, but a pretty good summary of his assessment of politics in our country. Has anything changed? While our divisions are more entrenched right now than they were back then, the same holds true. What she said she was for in the 2020 primary has little bearing on what she is for in the 2024 general election. What is important was written yesterday by the great columnist David French in the NYT, that most of America (he said about 2/3, not sure about that) is sick of the divisiveness and will vote for the candidate promising hope for the future, not fear of the past. I think that is the difference that needs to brought out in tonight’s interview, and in moving forward. Extreme, and even not so extreme policies, will be blocked by Congress anyway, so the policy part is less important to me than the demeanor that each candidate projects.
Biden and Harris never tried to move to the middle. They only care about forwarding their socialist agenda. Instead of having proper primaries and debates they lied about Biden condition. And then forced Harris on us without one vote. Unless you are a socialist why would you vote for these corrupt dishonest people.
Again with the stupid “socialist” bullshit. Daniel continues to prove he has no idea what socialism even is. He continues to throw out “scare words” in the hopes that he will generate fear. There is NO candidate running on either ticket that is a “socialist,” genius, and I DARE you to prove otherwise by defining socialist and showing which policies any of them have put forth that qualify. I DOUBLE dare you.
Freeze, I could say the same for the “threat to democracy” or “dictator bullshit scare tactics.
The fact of the matter is neither candidate is offering anything but slogans and bullshit hope. I bought it with Obama, listened with hope when Biden talked about bringing the country together, while doing the opposite.
The Democrats have to look in the mirror when they speak, so far they have been the biggest threat to our democracy, battling in the courts to hold back candidates from speaking office.
That said, I am listening to Harris and hope to hear something of substance from her instead of bullshit tag lines, like “weird”.
How refreshing would it be for Harris to denounce Biden’s continuous untruth about Charlottesville, that he started his 2000 campaign on. I believe there are enough educated people in this country to appreciate honesty over bullshit manipulation.
How did we fall so low on talented and educated leaders to accept the present candidates, we should be embarrassed as a country.
Mitt Romney said the same, about Etch-a-Sketch and was crucified by the Left for telling the simple truth. Kamala is attempting the same, which is fine, but she must explain it.
While I think of it, Trump does NOT run back to the center. He pretty much never changes dance paetners, except for VP, of course.
What does Trump do that is far right.
I’d be interesting in knowing which of her positions are considered hard left in today’s political arena. I always thought of myself as kind of a centrist, but it seems that I am now a flaming far-left liberal. I’m not sure if I’ve moved more to the left or if a percentage of the country has moved more to the right.
Redistribution of wealth, big government., free healthcare, free college etc if that’s not socialism what is? Enlighten me.
Seems to me you ain’t sure about anything, but nevertheless, you post it. You think of yourself as a centrist? I’m not sure, but reading your daily screed I’d surmise you ain’t centered, at all. Imbalanced, bordering on psychotic, chock-full of utter hatred and usually very disrespectful. I may be wrong. No offense intended.
You have posted several times that you were a progressive. I don’t think you know what you are. I just think of you as that low life anti American ass hole.
That’s funny, because I used to be a liberal, but now I am a centrist. What’a Far Left? Kamala’s 2019 positions. No joke. That is why she is running away from them. As she learned then, they are NOT popular with most Americans.
Will the interview be LIVE or pre-recorded, allowing for edits befre airing?
Taped Thursday afternoon. Don’t like it and CNN did not say why. If “live on tape,” that means no edits. IF edited, CNN dare not screw around because any cheating WILL get out.
Campaign Funding Disclosure: Paid for by CNN
Journalism was pronounced dead today. RIP Tim Russert.