# Kamala Harris and the runup to the 2024 Presidential Election {No more on Guns} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [July 22, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571 "2024-07-22T00:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 43
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/847 "2024-08-30T15:13:39Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Healing the wounds of the Trump era may sound naive but it is still desirable. They are not the wounds of the Individual-ONE era. They go way back to Newty, _et al_, and that whole Contract on America. Individual-ONE helped widen them from bleeding sores to open gashes. A President Harris might be able to work us toward less bad, but it is highly improbable that she can effect any real healing. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/848 "2024-08-30T16:12:30Z")
Point well made. Still I’ll take movement away from the extreme brink as an important step. Please note: I am not advocating what I saw as Obama’s failed continued attempts to clap with one hand approach. It would be _a_ gesture of both symbolic and pragmatic value, a right hand reaching out ready to shake, but she should still have a heavy object in her other hand held behind her back ready to slap an obstructionist Congress upside the head with if the outstretched hand is slapped aside. Fortunately she’s apparently a leftie, or so we hear, so that other hand is her swinging one! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/849 "2024-08-30T17:00:20Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > They are not the wounds of the Individual-ONE era. They go way back to Newty, _et al_, and that whole Contract on America. Some of them go back to 1640 and John Punch. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/850 "2024-08-30T17:40:37Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Here’s some math on that, if you believe the Morris/538 model has some value. > > Right now, their model gives the presidency to Harris for 58 out of every 100 runs. Their model gives _Pennsylvania_ to Harris for 55 out of every 100 runs (link below). > > So, for 3 out of every 100 runs, she does indeed win the presidency while losing Pennsylvania (feel free to correct my math if necessary). That doesn’t exactly follow. The information that Harris won 58/100 national runs is independent of the information that Harris won 55/100 Pennsylvania runs. 538 would have to provide a searchable state-by-state result for each of their model runs to suss this out. And now we speculate: Realistically - out of the 58/100 national runs she wins, she probably gets Pennsylvania 50 or more times. I’d buy as low as 48 or more times. So we’re likely quibbling over maybe three to seven runs out of 100. Don’t have the information to exactly nail that down, of course. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/851 "2024-08-30T17:41:23Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The MAQAts are terrified of her, will blort endlessly against her and will try to “raise the heat”. Most likely they will appear increasingly desperate and lose ground. The CNN analyst I Believe was Scott Jennings, one of their stable of panelists, and that perfectly describes him. He was clearly miserable after Harris’s convention speech. ETA: As to putting a Republican into her cabinet, she could do quite well by inviting [former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker), who’d be a good fit for Health and Human Services. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/852 "2024-08-30T17:48:46Z")
I’m also betting on Transportation Secretary. It’s important but out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/853 "2024-08-30T17:53:31Z")
Should he lose the Maryland US Senate race: maybe former MD governor Larry Hogan? Would keep him from running for national office again, at least for a little while. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/854 "2024-08-30T19:16:37Z")
There’s been a probably futile suggestion that she’ll offer a cabinet post to Susan Collins (Secretary of Concern, maybe?) . Maine has a Democratic governor that would appoint her replacement and Maine does not have a law requiring the appointed senator to be from the same party as their replacement. Won’t happen, but it’s a fun thought. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/855 "2024-08-30T19:32:59Z")
That would ABSOLUTELY be worth it, and every Democratic president going forward should offer cabinet offices (or other appointed offices) to blue-state/district Republian Senators/House reps. The tradeoff would be definitely worth it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/856 "2024-08-30T19:34:25Z")
Got it – thanks. Yup, I _knew_ I was succumbing to some form of the ecological fallacy (perhaps the fallacy of division?) – and that the actual number was somewhat higher than what I’d postulated. But, as you said, the likelihood of Harris winning the presidency without Pennsylvania is still quite low…and this fact is unlikely to change, even if her poll numbers – in PA and elsewhere – skyrocket (meaning she’ll win both for sure) or plummet (meaning she’ll lose both for sure). ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/857 "2024-08-30T19:53:29Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > There’s been a probably futile suggestion that she’ll offer a cabinet post to Susan Collins (Secretary of Concern, maybe?) . Actually, I think there’s a chance she could be bought off with a high-profile ambassadorship. She’s up for reelection in 2026 when she’ll be 73, and her seat is likely to be one of the most heavily targeted in the country. Doesn’t a nice diplomatic posting in Paris or Rome sound better than trudging through Maine snow canvassing for votes? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/858 "2024-08-30T20:07:09Z")
New lies- [No, Harris Didn't Say All Democrats Will Be Required To Take COVID-19 Vaccine in Order To Vote | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cnn-harris-democrats-vaccine-vote/) And when they Fact Checked Harris they found one slight exaggeration and one comment that “needed context”= which is actually pretty damn good. > **[Fact-checking Harris’ CNN interview | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/29/politics/fact-checking-harris-cnn-interview/index.html)** > > Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz sat down with CNN anchor Dana Bash on Thursday for the first formal interview of their campaign. When they fact check trump they get- _false, mostly false, and “pants on fire”._ ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/859 "2024-08-30T20:24:52Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > a cabinet post to Susan Collins (Secretary of Concern, maybe?) . OK, this made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/860 "2024-08-30T20:29:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And when they Fact Checked Harris they found one slight exaggeration and one comment that “needed context”= which is actually pretty damn good. Yeah. I thought they were trying pretty damn hard to find anything (though I don’t remember which fact checker I read) so as not to be accused of not checking at all. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/861 "2024-08-30T20:49:33Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > There’s been a probably futile suggestion that she’ll offer a cabinet post to Susan Collins “Hey, I tried to offer a Cabinet post to a Republican, but she turned it down. Whatcha gonna do?” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/862 "2024-08-30T20:56:08Z")
I think she should offer one to Trump. Think of the unity it would promote, the warm feels…_kumbaya!_…is there a Secretary of Golf? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/863 "2024-08-30T21:22:40Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Should he lose the Maryland US Senate race: maybe former MD governor Larry Hogan? Would keep him from running for national office again, at least for a little while. I expect her to look for one, and maybe two or three, Republicans who she thinks would do a good non-political job. Yes – like what Obama did. It would not be some kind of trick to hurt the GOP. And if she does play such games – again, I predict she will not – that would be a reason to vote against Harris in 2028. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/864 "2024-08-30T21:34:24Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > It would not be some kind of trick to hurt the GOP. And if she does play such games – again, I predict she will not – that would be a reason to vote against Harris in 2028. Fun Fact: Harris’s campgian theme song is not, as you seem to think, Tom Lehrer’s “Fight Fiercely, Harvard”. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/865 "2024-08-30T21:49:22Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > ETA: As to putting a Republican into her cabinet, she could do quite well by inviting [former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker), who’d be a good fit for Health and Human Services. I worked for MassHealth (the state Medicaid agency) during Baker’s tenure. I would not be so eager to endorse him. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/866 "2024-08-30T22:52:52Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Fun Fact: Harris’s campgian theme song is not, as you seem to think, Tom Lehrer’s “Fight Fiercely, Harvard”. I believe she properly distinguishes between campaigning, which is a bit like football, and governing. Making appointments is part of governing. In theory, I dislike campaign promises about who you will appoint when governing. But the chance that at least one of the fifteen cabinet appointees would be nominal members of the other party, regardless of promises, is so great that she might as well make that popular-with-swing-voters pledge. I just listened to Lehrer’s song on YouTube, and her campaign is closer to how he describes Harvard football than you acknowledge. [Consider how she dealt](https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/29/politics/harris-walz-interview-read-transcript/index.html) with this opportunity to make a slashing attack on Donald Trump: > [@](#): > > **BASH:**. . . [Trump] suggested that you happened to turn Black recently for political purposes, questioning a core part of your identity. > > **HARRIS:** Yeah. > > **BASH:** Any— > > **HARRIS:** Same old, tired playbook. Next question, please. (LAUGH) > > **BASH:** That’s it? > > **HARRIS:** That’s it. Good answer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571.md?page=44)