To judge Kamala Harris as if she campaigns in a political vacuum can only lead to the worst kind of foolishness as well as an excuse to do nothing at this crucial stage of the campaign. And yet too many people do precisely this. They critique her every word without any consideration of context and the main lines of attack of Trump and his underlings. And once done, they feel righteous politically and justified in their inaction.

Why do Trump and Vance double and triple down on their racist inventions that Haitian people are eating pets. The answer is simple enough. It commands media attention. Racism and xenophobia are at the core of their beliefs. And it is also at the heart of their voter mobilization strategy.

In most campaigns, voter mobilization combines activating the base with persuading the undecided. In Trump’s campaign the accent is heavily on the former. And accomplished by embracing the worst forms of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny.

How low will Trump and Vance go? As low as necessary. In other words, whatever it takes to mobilize their base on election day is in play. No lie is too big or too small. We would be naive to expect anything different.

The mass murder continues as Netanyahu and his coalition of right wing extremists wage war against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza — and now beyond Israeli borders. It’s past time to withhold military weaponry as well as unequivocally condemn Netanyahu. Israel’s right to exist and defend itself has turned into a rationale by Netanyahu to justify mass slaughter, ethnic cleansing, territorial takeover, and imperial aggression. If a much larger war ensues the perpetrator is in Tel Aviv.

I have to admire the “courage” of Taylor Swift. She could have much more easily remained on the sidelines of this election. But she chose not to. I hope other entertainers and sport’s figures follow her courageous example.

The “Swift Effect” is real!

The problem with some on the left is that they expect Kamala Harris to campaign as a candidate of the left. But she isn’t. She is the leader of and speaks for an expansive cross class, multi-racial coalition, the likes of which I haven’t seen in my lifetime. It stretches from AOC to the Cheneys and includes tens of millions in between. And its mission is to defeat a candidate whose politics fall somewhere between extreme right wing authoritarian and neofascist.

What is more, her challenge is not only to activate this disparate coalition, which she is skillfully and vigorously doing (watch her mass rallies and note her massive ground game), but also to earn the support of a sliver of voters who are so far undecided as to whether to vote for her or Trump, or not vote all.

These voters, and it shouldn’t require any reminding, don’t hang out on the left. They have no desire that is discernable, in my calculus anyway, to “storm heaven.” They are, from nearly all accounts, moderate in their political attitudes. Her appeal, therefore, has to take THEIR political disposition — not the left’s —- into account for their votes could decide who enters the White House in January. Thankfully, she does, while ignoring those on the left whose only advice, no matter what the concrete circumstances, is to up the ante, up the ante.