Effect Without a Cause

Far more attention must be paid to a line Republicans are using to discredit Kamala Harris.

True, we hear and see it often enough in conversations and on social media posts. But that’s simply repetition to reinforce a point, a repetition geared to hide a non-existent foundation for that point. This is why the Republican presidential candidate makes the charge in his rallies–and made it in the debate–without ever mentioning the cause of the effect that Republicans want us to accept.

In the debate, it sounded like this:

She’s had four years to do all the things she says she’s going to do. Why didn’t she do it then?

Downtown yesterday, overheard:

If it was Trump in the White House, they’d be whining about why he never got anything done!

On social media:

I’m not going (in) the direction of someone who isn’t fixing the issues while they are IN OFFICE with the POWER to FIX the issues right NOW!!! They have had close to 4 years….

I’ll estimate that the latter two quotes are from people in their 40s, maybe 50s, although the all-caps emphasis on “right NOW” might suggest someone younger. Was civics erased as a subject in American elementary and high schools that long ago? Have we already raised two, maybe three generations of Americans who are completely unaware of the relationship between the three branches of government.

Or do some people just fall for this because it is so simple? Legislation is complex, demands attention, demands an attention span. And it is hard to grasp compared to the superficial ease of seeing prices go up and blaming the guy in charge, oblivious to any complications such as war, a pandemic, corporate price-gouging, diminished crops due to climate change.

Just how unaware or gullible can the American public be? Well, back in May, a New York Times/Siena poll revealed that 17% of us blame Biden for the overturn of Roe v. Wade because he was president at the time of the Mitch McConnell-stacked Supreme Court’s decision.

We might wonder what percentage of the American public is aware that a Republican-controlled House of Representatives has blocked much of what the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to do. This is most of what Harris is now offering–and what she could accomplish if the Democrats pick up a few House seats and hold the Senate.

The claim’s implied effect without a cause also ignores how much the current administration has achieved regarding infrastructure, job creation, and higher wages. Republicans making the claim want us to ignore how they themselves show up for the photo-ops when factories open or a bridge is about to be built or repaired after they themselves voted against the funding that made it possible.

In the debate, Harris reminded us of the bi-partisan immigration bill that satisfied almost all Republican demands–moreso than it did progressive Democrats–that would have passed if not for phone calls from her opponent instructing Republicans to kill the bill. Chaos is more useful as a campaign issue, what’s right be damned.

When you hear any version of “Why didn’t she do it already,” you are listening to someone who either pays no attention or who expects you to pay no attention.

Of the three quotes above, the last two are from people who have been fooled, people who have forgotten the most basic lessons in American civics–if they ever knew them. The first quote is from someone who is out to fool you, and with control of the House or Senate, Republicans will continue to play this game even if Harris is elected.

Only solution is to start emphasizing the Democratic candidates for the House and Senate. Both Harris and Tim Walz need to be making more appearances with them, which means campaigning in states that are not considered battleground, such as Texas where Colin Allred has a shot at unseating Ted Cruz if the national party put more effort into it.

Wherever they campaign, winning the Senate and House should be as prominent an issue as restoring Roe v. Wade. Why, a good 17% of the American public might wake up to the reality of cause-and-effect relationships if those two issues were mentioned together.

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