Gerth: Mitch McConnell is delusional to think Harris, and not Trump, would be a nightmare
People in Louisville are delusional.
A press release that hit my in-box Monday says 37% of Louisville residents think they could land a punch in a boxing match, and 31% think they could score a basket in an NBA game.
But those folks ain't got nothin' on Sen. Mitch McConnell, who said in a recent speech at the National Conference of State Legislators that it would be “our worst nightmare” if Vice President Kamala Harris beats former President Donald Trump in November.
Now, to be honest, McConnell might not be too far off — but not for the reasons he’s thinking.
Trump is already laying the groundwork to claim Harris cheated and that the election was stolen from him and, like he did in 2021, he’ll try to convince state electors and members of Congress to go along with his cockamamie scheme.
Trump's crazy crowd-size theory
On Sunday, he put fourth a crazy theory on his Truth Social platform that the large crowd at a recent campaign stop in Michigan featuring Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was created by artificial intelligence.
“Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody present at the plane and she A.I.’d it, and showed a massive “crowd” of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!” he fumed.
“She’s a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting, and the “crowd” looked like 10,000 people! Same thing is happening with her fake “crowds” at speeches. This is the way Democrats win Elections, by CHEATING – And they’re even worse at the Ballot Box,” he raved.
Truth is, there are photos and videos from numerous sources that show a huge crowd at an airport outside Detroit, spilling out of the hangar where the Harris-Walz rally was held and onto the tarmac.
If Trump loses and tries to mobilize his violent mob again and get his backers in Congress to overthrow the results of a free and fair election, it could truly become a nightmare.
But that’s not what McConnell was talking about.
He was talking about policies that he disagrees with — policies that wouldn’t be a nightmare for the United States and certainly not problematic anywhere near the magnitude of another Trump insurrection.
Kamala Harris' platform
We’ve not seen the Harris platform yet, but it will likely focus on reproductive rights, which a majority of Americans favor according to polling. That’s even true in Kentucky where voters a couple of years ago rejected a constitutional amendment that would have made it impossible to challenge abortion laws on state constitutional grounds.
A Harris platform will likely include continued commitment to NATO, an organization that has made Europe safer since the end of World War II and — by extension — made us safer by solidifying our alliances with other Western countries.
A Harris platform will probably call for investment in renewable energy, which despite what Republicans tell you, will not be bad for Kentucky or the nation.
In 1990, more than 29,000 Kentuckians were employed in the coal mines, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics. By June of last year, that number had fallen to just 3,939. It’s an industry in free-fall, and miners in Kentucky could benefit from a concerted effort to build wind turbines, solar panels and other things needed to produce renewable energy.
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A Harris administration will likely have policies that, in the whole scheme of things, are within the normal confines of traditional Democratic policies while another Trump administration would likely mean a revolving door with top ranking officials who are the “best people” until they’ve had enough with the mercurial Trump.
Harris has said she will focus on affordable housing, health care and paid leave for working families.
Doesn't sound so nightmarish to me.
A second Trump term
Meanwhile, in a second Trump term, Trump won’t have many of the people around him who kept him from acting on his absolute worst impulses, like former Chief of Staff John Kelly and former defense secretaries James "Mad Dog" Mattis and Mark Esper.
(Imagine having to rely on someone nicknamed "Mad Dog" to keep you from acting on dumb whims.)
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but, unfortunately, gone will be former Vice President Mike Pence, who kowtowed to Trump and did his bidding throughout his term, but in the end dug deep and decided he wouldn’t violate the Constitution by trying to install electors who would vote to conduct a coup.
Lots of reasons to boo McConnell Gerth: McConnell should have been booed at the RNC, but not for the reason MAGAs did it
Remember, Trump was such a nightmare that McConnell's wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, quit her job in Trump's cabinet after he spurred the insurrection and then sat in the White House watching it unfold on television but refused to act to stop it for hours.
You have to wonder if McConnell even remembers what a nightmare is.
Studies show we have fewer nightmares as we age and at 82 years old, how long has it been since Old Mitch had night terror?
My guess is he hasn’t really been in fear since he hid behind Capitol police after Trump sicced his goons on Pence and members of Congress during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
To think a Harris-Walz administration would do anything worse than that is, well, delusional.
Joseph Gerth can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: McConnell delusional to think Harris, not Trump would be a nightmare