A year into Barack Obama’s presidency, Sarah Palin, a former Alaska governor and John McCain’s 2008 running mate, mockingly asked a Tea Party gathering a question: “How’s that hopey, changey stuff working out?”
The roomful of conservatives howled with laughter because by then, Obama’s dreamy campaign motto of “Hope and Change” had been replaced by hard policy lurches to the far left.
The Palin question is a piece of history 2024 voters should keep in mind as they assess Kamala Harris.
The parallels between then and now are striking.
Like Obama, the Democrats’ current nominee has been maddeningly elusive about what she would do as president.
Yet she is nonetheless riding a wave of enthusiasm that could carry her to the White House.
As they did with Obama, big media outlets are helping to promote her candidacy rather than vetting her for voters.
Take recent top headlines in The New York Times: On Friday, beside a huge flattering photo of her, the newspaper declared: “Harris Making History While Putting Her Faith In the Art of the Possible.”
On Saturday, the same space said: “Harris Faces Challenge: Turning Joy Into Votes.”
A Washington Post opinion piece on Harris’ husband carried this headline — “Doug Emhoff: modern-day sex symbol.”
