We Don’t Need Any Stinking Position Papers

As proud as I am to be part of the national press corps, at times I’m embarrassed by some of the nutty stuff I see or read in the media by people who should know better.

After the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump, for example, it was widely asserted as an article of faith that the election was, in effect, already over. Nope! Later, when President Joe Biden stepped aside, it was almost universally proclaimed that Democrats could never accept any other nominee for president without an ugly, crowded, last-minute primary. Nope! And how much ink was spilled predicting that, because of all the protesters, Chicago 2024 would prove a repeat of Chicago 1968? Nope!

Now here’s the nuttiest theory of all – which, in some fashion, is standard fodder today on every media outlet. We’ve all heard it. It goes like this: Kamala Harris is doing great so far. She’s drawing huge crowds. She’s raised over half a billion dollars. She’s leading in the polls. She’s generating great vibes. But, but, but (here’s the kicker): Good vibes aren’t enough. Now she has to issue a detailed, 25-point position paper on every policy under the sun.

No, no, no. Don’t be fooled. Recognize that seemingly high-minded demand for what it really is. It’s nothing but a trap set by right-wing media in particular, and the media in general, who only want the Harris/Walz campaign to issue their own version of Project 2025 so they can dig into it, pick it apart, demand even more specifics, and drive Kamala Harris down a forever rabbit hole of nit-picking.

Let’s be honest. Nobody reads position papers but pesky reporters and opposing campaign staffers. The idea that any still undecided voters out there are waiting to make up their minds until Harris details in excruciating detail how she would calibrate which tariffs to impose on which products from which countries, or the precise number of immigrants seeking asylum she feels would be necessary before she shut down the southern border, is absurd.

In any presidential campaign, policy is decided on the macro, not the micro, level. And on the macro level, the policy differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are vast, clear, and already well-known.

On climate change, Harris, like Biden, is committed to doing everything we can to slow down or reverse it; Trump calls it a hoax. On the economy, Harris, again like Biden, wants to grow the middle class; Trump wants to give millionaires and billionaires another tax cut. On reproductive freedom, Harris is America’s pro-choice leader; Trump brags about killing Roe v. Wade. On crime, former prosecutor Harris believes in holding criminals responsible; Trump promises to pardon those convicted criminals who, summoned and directed by him, attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. On Ukraine, Harris is for continuing to support a democratic Ukraine; Trump says give Putin whatever he wants. What more do you need to know?

This whole demand for a pile of position papers is nuts because, in the end, this election – more than any other presidential election in our lifetime – will be decided, not on where the candidates stand, but on who the candidates are. And here, again, we already know the vast differences between the two.

Kamala Harris is a former prosecutor; Donald Trump is a convicted felon. Kamala Harris specialized in prosecuting men accused of sexual assault; Donald Trump has been accused of sexually assaulting 26 women, found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll and fined $88.3 million for defaming her. Kamala Harris is an experienced public servant, having served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, United States senator from California, and vice president of the United States; Donald Trump has held only one office, a failed and disastrous presidency. Kamala Harris is a person of undisputed moral character; Donald Trump is a proven racist, sexist, narcissist, bully and pathological liar.

Here’s one other key difference. Harris is 59; Trump is 78, the oldest presidential nominee in history. Everything about the Harris campaign is looking forward: a new face, new team and new beginning. Everything about the Trump campaign is looking backward: still refusing to accept results of the 2020 election, seeking revenge on political opponents, pulling out of NATO, reversing all progress on climate change.

In the end, this campaign is about the future and character, and the choice is clear. We know all there is to know. We don’t need no stinking position papers. We’re not going back.

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(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod.)