I don't think Harris needs to prove she can answer questions, I think the media needs to prove it can ask them [View all]

Traditional media organizations have been up in arms about Kamala Harris not doing a formal sit-down interview (although Harris and Walz are about to do just that with Dana Bash on CNN tomorrow). But the fact is that in this day and age there are a million ways for candidates to reach voters, via methods that have a far greater reach than any cable news program or newspaper editorial page. And frankly, the media has done an appalling job recently of demonstrating that it can ask serious questions that are relevant to the majority of voters.

So to me, this upcoming interview is not about whether Harris and Walz can answer questions. It's about whether the media can ask questions -- good ones, that have relevance to the lives of regular Americans. If I hear any of the following questions being asked on Thursday, it'll prove exactly why Harris and Walz's decision to keep the Potomac Piranhas at bay was the right choice.

1) "Donald Trump has said [insert total fucking bullshit nonsense] about you. How do you respond?"

Donald Trump is a serial liar and a nutcase. Like a petulant child, he gives silly nicknames to people he doesn't like, and attacks them personally. He's unfit to be president. And what he says about Kamala Harris or Tim Walz is irrelevant to how they will perform in office. If Dana Bash asks a question like this, it's just an excuse to once again broadcast Trump's insults to a wide audience.

2) "The Democratic National Convention appeared to go well, but sources tell us that President Biden has lingering resentment over his treatment. What do you say to that?"

Again, this question is utterly irrelevant to how Harris would perform as president, and is mostly of interest to people who like to spread gossip at Georgetown cocktail parties.

3) "Why has it taken you so long to sit down for this interview?"

Fuck off with your recursive navel-gazing inside-the-Beltway horseshit.

Kamala Harris was the District Attorney of San Francisco. She was the Attorney General of California. She was a U.S. Senator from California. She's currently the Vice President of the United States. I'm pretty sure she's going to be able to handle a few questions from Dana Bash, and I seriously doubt there will be any major "gotcha" moments in this interview.

Sadly this means that the media will probably invent one -- they'll find some minor misstatement, or misinterpret some policy position, and make it sound as bad as, say, Donald Trump doing an illegal photo-op at Arlington National Cemetery while his goons assault a cemetery worker.

Unfortunately we all know how this works by now. Nevertheless, I'm sure Harris and Walz will handle it well.