As the last episode of Seinfeld ended, they played Green Day’s version of Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life). Consider listening to it as you read on.
Interestingly, so many events in our lives can be illustrated by an episode or character from Seinfeld. By its own admission, it was a show about nothing. As the last days of this year’s election wind down, let’s explore the similarities with the Harris-Walz show.
It’s a campaign about nothing.
When objective political scientists write the history of this campaign, what will they say about the Kamala effort? A Democrat nominee who couldn’t think of a single policy she would change from the failed Biden administration. On the issues that matter most to voters, things like the economy, run-away inflation, the wide open border, or safer streets, she could only remind us that she was raised in a middle-class neighborhood.
Pathetic.
Consider the similarities between George Costanza and Tim Walz. George was a balding, stocky character who had a propensity for prevarication. Remember him coaching Jerry on how to beat the lie detector? He famously said, “It’s not a lie, Jerry … if you believe it’s true.” Maybe Gov. Walz actually believed some of his stories. Perhaps he thought he actually carried an automatic rifle into battle or that he witnessed history at Tiananmen Square.
Like George, Gov. Walz made things worse when he was called out on his yarns. Having a confessed “knucklehead” sitting a heartbeat away from the presidency is hardly reassuring to an already wary electorate.
Like Seinfeld, the Harris-Walz campaign was filled with pretense and pretending. The vice president and much of the media maintained that Joe Biden was sharp as a tack long after the body politic had reached the opposite conclusion. Their flagging campaign was reduced to pretending that Donald Trump was a Hitler and his millions of loyal supporters were brown-shirted garbage.
Remember Elaine and the Big Salad episode? Kamala cast the vote to spend trillions of dollars (that we didn’t have) on programs that don’t work. The Inflation Reduction Act fueled runaway inflation. She delivered billions in handouts to favored groups. We (like George) got the bill.
They had to get top-line entertainers to fill seats at her rallies. When Beyoncé didn’t perform, candidate Harris was greeted with boos, cat-calls and walkaways.
Former President Obama wasn’t helpful when he tried to browbeat black men into voting for V.P. Harris and suggested that refusing to vote for her was proof that they were disloyal sexists. It was demeaning. They weren’t impressed with the vacuous vice president who had little empathy for their issues or circumstances.
In fairness, the Democrat ticket did offer issues where they planted the flag. Allowing males to pretend to be females so they could dominate women’s sports and taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries (even for illegals in penitentiaries) were two positions that were undebatable. Throw in tampons in boys’ restrooms and COVID snitch lines in Minnesota for good measure, and you have a rather unattractive issue offering for middle America.
They never backed down on their commitment to totally unrestricted abortion. Federalizing the late-term butchering of the unborn in all 50 states would have been job one in a Harris administration. Beyond that, it was pretty thin gruel.
High-minded nonsense like being “unburdened” by the failures of the Biden-Harris years, the sitting vice president pledged to “turn the page.” Gwen Walz loudly and awkwardly echoed that expression. Americans scratched their heads, wondering, “But you’re singing from the same hymnal?”
The media and the deep state did their best to boost the odds for Kamala. Alas, they could not cover all the flaws. Even a billion-dollar campaign could not buy enough lipstick. The smoke and mirrors failed. The malicious invectives and even the lawfare unleashed on Donald Trump proved ineffective.
Trump is clearly winning and having fun doing it. Who can forget him handing out burgers and fries at a McDonalds? Or mounting a garbage truck while wearing a bright orange vest?
So, the curtain is finally coming down on the 2024 campaign. Consider the lines from the song: it’s been something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
This article was originally published at Townhall.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not represent an official position of Alpha News.
Gil Gutknecht
Gil Gutknecht is a former Republican congressman from Minnesota.
