The "Silent Minority"

These are the folks Kamala Harris should target in the debate, and don't mind the polls. The proof of the pudding is in the eating or, rather, the voting.

It’s debate day, but I don’t think it will make as big a difference in the polls as expected by many in the media, along with rabid fans on both sides of the political aisle.

So don’t panic folks. The proof of the pudding is in the eating or, in this case, the actual voting.

The issue isn’t the people who are regularly polled, the dyed-in-the wool political amateurs who follow the ins-and-outs of our broken political system religiously, if I can use that word these days. They love being polled. It is – to manhandle a phrase – a “silent minority” of folks that will likely be the difference in this year’s election.

These are the folks who don’t decide whose name to check on their ballot until the last minute, making them difficult to account for in polls, according to a study by the American Association for Public Opinion. It’s a group that has grown considerably over the last two elections. They don’t much like politics, and they happily ignore most of the relentless campaign warfare going on around them. And they like being polled even less, with their votes often based on who they believe will provide help on the one or two issues that negatively affect their their lives the most.

For women, it may be their health care. For men, their jobs and their pay. For families, their child care. These are the voters that Kamala Harris has to address directly during the debate, her eyes clearly focused on the camera, her manner direct, her message crystal clear. Not Trump, and not the folks looking to burnish their media credentials with “tough” questions.

The “tough questions” should be addressed in short bursts that allow her to quickly shift to the policy ideas most likely to affect the 99% of us who aren’t wealthy. Given the amount of hype this debate has received, I expect many in the “silent minority” will be watching and talking among themselves afterward.

Trump will push hard on Harris being a flip-flopper, noting her stand on fracking some five years earlier – a key issue in Pennsylvania, according to the TV talking heads. He will lie about the state of a U.S. economy that’s outplayed all other major countries since the pandemic, as well as his effect on the horrible outcomes of the Roe vs. Wade reversal. And he will find ways to insult Harris on a personal level.

But none of that is new, and even those who haven’t been paying attention understand that’s just Trump being Trump. Kamala Harris has to offer something clearly different, a calm, controlled effort focused on the future that is quickly suggestive of the differences between the chaotic world of an unrepentant lawbreaker highly supportive of the rich, and the everyday efforts she’ll undertake to help the middle class and keep our national democracy strongly intact.

That’s not to say she can’t comment on Trump’s misstatements, but a quick roll of the eyes and a seconds-long “Wow, how many lies can a man pour out in just two minutes,” ought to suffice.

Now, of course, I’m not the only one handing out advice to Kamala Harris on the debate. Every newspaper, every TV news show, every columnist online is doing the same. But whichever way she takes this, don’t be too alarmed if the polls don’t change much. There’s no way to tell which way the “silent majority” will vote until the day of the election. The proof of the pudding will, indeed, be in the eating.

Between then and now, all we can do is stay positive and work hard in every way possible for our candidate.