Bernie’s Weekly Q&A (8/30)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Kari Lake, and more!

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Let’s get started:

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Bernie, how do you explain the rise in approval rating for Harris who was below Biden before he bowed out. I am reminded of the great Newhart monologue on Abe traveling to Gettysburg while being prepped by his PR man. Is that what’s going on? I am not buying it! — lensattic

Her team is running a really good campaign. She smiles a lot, talks in platitudes, bashes Trump … and comes off — especially to low information voters — as likeable. So far, they’ve kept her in a protective cocoon — away from even friendly journalists. When you read this on Friday, she and Tim Walz will have sat down for a CNN interview with Dana Bash. We’ll see how that turned out and if that changes anything.

The question I keep raising in my quiet moments of deepest reflection is “how the hell did we let ourselves get here” again? For way too long, every election cycle has been a process of selecting the lesser of the evils. The political machine keeps spitting out flawed options with overstated goals that seldom meet the real needs the average citizen hopes for. It’s either “free” stuff for the down trodden or Pollyanna promises that are doomed to die on the floors of Congress. HELP! — Larry H.

Maybe it’s because good, decent, smart people don’t want to run and expose themselves to relentless scrutiny and relentless attacks by pols and journalists who are rooting for the other guy or gal. Who needs all that? So we wind up, Larry, as you say, with the “lesser of the evils.” That’s why I refuse to play the game — why I’m sitting out the presidential election for the third straight time.

Bernie, I once asked you if you would write a "Slobbering Love Affair" type book about Trump while he was in office, and the right-wing media was doing the same as the liberal media have done for Barack and Kamala. You said that you would not. So my question is a simple one. Don't both parties and its friendly media slobber over its candidates? And if the answer is yes, why even bring the subject up? — Douglas S.

You’re right, Douglas, both sides are guilty of slobbering. But there’s been so much from the left about how Fox, for example, goes easy on Trump. So, I figured that since I wrote a book about slobbering a while back, I would write a column about how it’s happening again — with the same liberal journalists kissing up to one more liberal/progressive candidate. All that said, I understand your point, one that makes sense.

Hey Bernie and John. Is the Harris campaign onto something new? Hide your candidate and prepare them for debates. Worked for Biden's election and now with Harris. And most important, don't have a platform. — Tim H.