Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer
Vice President Kamala Harris is experiencing what could be the end of her campaign as four major issues converge simultaneously.
It’s not hyperbole that Harris needs an easy October politically if she wants to win the White House. The race between her and former President Donald Trump is so close that any disruption could result in a last-minute vote surge. Unfortunately for Harris, she is staring down four issues that will be a disaster for her campaign as Nov. 5 approaches.
The least discussed but most important problem facing Harris (and the rest of the country) is the longshoreman port strike that started Oct. 1. It’s likely Americans are just realizing that negotiations that have been going on for months between United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) are at an impasse. The promised strike started Tuesday, and workers have vowed to hold out until their wage and automation protection demands are met.
In just a few days, a strike at our ports can impact supply chains & consumer prices. Where is our President. We have urged him to intervene to prevent this looming disaster. pic.twitter.com/8pyQeXLwRk
— Office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (@RepMalliotakis) September 27, 2024
Already, parking lots at major retailers are filled with cars as Americans prepare for massive disruptions to supply chains and a rapid increase in inflationary prices. While Harris can count on the media to demonize these workers as selfish, greedy people looking for a payout, what they aren’t willing to tell the American people is that none of this would be an issue if the Biden-Harris administration had protected American manufacturing so that we didn’t have to rely on foreign countries (who control our docks) to make the products we use every day and longshoremen to unload these products from the docks. (ROOKE: Looming October Surprise Could Wipe Out Kamala’s Campaign)
Harris is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the Biden-Harris administration does not weigh in on the strike, she might win political points with union workers, but she will have lost the vote of the American family. Should the Biden-Harris administration force port workers back to work as they did with the rail strike, it may negate some economic damage. The harm will still be done, however: Americans should still brace for a pretty hefty economic impact, and Harris should expect blue-collar workers not to show up to vote for her in November.
Note to voters: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris got the PRO (Union) Act stripped from Build Back Better. They also broke a Rail Strike by OUTLAWING it! They are blatantly anti worker. https://t.co/fcquOKQ36s
— Robert (Durden) (@realrobdurden) August 5, 2024
Either way, the American taxpayer will bear the cost of this fight after four years of Democrat policies causing almost unrelenting inflation that erased the purchasing power of our dollar.
Harris also faces a humanitarian tragedy in the Carolinas, Florida, Tennessee and parts of Georgia as the effects of Hurricane Helene continue to unfold. The optics here are terrible. President Joe Biden told Americans that the federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had no more support to give the affected areas because they pre-planned a package. Biden and Harris, however, were slow to acknowledge the damage being done by Helene, and neither of them have visited the areas to appear at least a little bit concerned. (ROOKE: Trump Sends Clearest Message Yet To Catholics With St. Michael Post)
This woman has family trapped in Spruce Pine, North Carolina for 4 days… She just called out Biden and Harris live on NBC: pic.twitter.com/FFT11nuOPM
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 1, 2024
Staged photo ops of Harris sitting at command centers in DC aren’t going to be enough. The people on the ground are complaining about the lack of state and federal support. Thousands of people are stuck in their homes with no running water, food, medicine or way out of the disaster — that’s if the flooding and mudslides didn’t annihilate their homes. The death toll will continue to rise, and it seems like this disaster didn’t become an issue for Harris until Trump mentioned it in his campaign speech. Whether this is true or not doesn’t really matter. What matters is that people on the ground feel this way, and Trump is the only candidate to fly to Georgia with supplies and meet with emergency crews for an update on the devastation.
NC resident has a message: the government is not coming to save you, it’s up to all of us to help save each other.
I find this to be devastating because the amount of money our government God knows where for God knows what reason is obscene. But when it comes down to helping… pic.twitter.com/aNsJ5nzYgG
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) October 1, 2024
For these voters, the question will be: Where was Harris when we needed her? The answer is that Harris was at a California fundraiser securing cash for her campaign. Harris can only hope the media will help Americans memory-hole her lack of action. Without this safety net, the appearance of callous indifference will turn voters off.
Additionally, immigration continues to be a thorn in Harris’s side. It’s a product of her own making, so she shouldn’t be shocked that it’s looming over her campaign. Still, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) letter sent to Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales in late September states that as of July 21, 662,566 illegal immigrants with criminal histories were on ICE’s national docket, with 425,431 convicted criminals not detained. This list includes 13,099 criminally convicted murderers, 2,521 kidnappers, 9,461 sex offenders (not involving assault or commercialized sex), 15,811 sexual assault offenders and 2,200 sex traffickers.
As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket—13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!
Americans deserve to be SAFE in our own communities. pic.twitter.com/fIoCAduJ9M
— Rep. Tony Gonzales (@RepTonyGonzales) September 27, 2024
The ICE letter is merely a glimpse of the people who come across the southern border and makes Trump’s campaign statements about foreign countries opening their prisons and mental institutions and sending these people to America ring true. Harris can’t escape from the fact that Biden put her in charge of the “root causes of migration” or that she was dubbed the “Border Czar.” She is now synonymous with open border policies that are wreaking havoc in our country.
“It’s a jaw dropper to say the least” — Fox’s @BillMelugin_ on new ICE data showing huge number of border migrants with convictions pic.twitter.com/mxe2ZG2p4t
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) September 27, 2024
And all of this is coming at the worst time for her. Not only does she have just over a month until the Nov. 5 election, but her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is set to debate Trump’s pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Tuesday night. Walz will have to answer for all of these issues. I expect Vance to bring up the longshoremen strike, the Biden-Harris disastrous response to Hurricane Helene and Harris’s open border policies.
.@Tim_Walz, you ready for tomorrow pal? pic.twitter.com/3Vt8yJ1Iws
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) September 30, 2024
While the VP debate has done little to move the needle for presidential campaigns in the past, this year could be different. The two assassination attempts on Trump’s life give new meaning to the duties of the vice president should something happen to the president. Vance and Walz are not just interviewing with the American people for the supporting role. They are trying to prove that should anything happen to Trump or Harris, they are more than capable of taking charge of the country. (ROOKE: Democrats’ ‘New Masculinity’ Will Keep Turning Away Critical Voting Bloc)
Harris can’t afford for this debate to go badly for Walz; in the same way, it would be a disaster should the longshoremen strike implode, the victims of Hurricane Helene speak out against her and the effects of illegal immigration continue to be a problem. Her campaign needs an easy October, but it’s looking like she’s riding into Revelation.