BOB EHRLICH: Harris Will Just Be More Of Biden

Takeaways familiar – unfamiliar – and odd from the first six weeks of the Harris-Walz era:

The Familiar:

Class-warfare attacks on the wealthy and trickle-down economics (and the more recent “go to” target of fossil fuels) never gets old for the left, despite its economic incoherence. Accordingly, expect to see a continuation of relentless indictments of wealth and profitable businesses and especially the oil industry — this time punctuated by the always reliable moniker of “price gauging.”

Similarly, another oldie but goodie (“they will cut your Medicare/Medicaid”) will be repeated endlessly despite all indisputable evidence to the contrary from the four years of the Trump administration.

But the fearmongering on money and entitlements pales in comparison to the ultimate impact issue — abortion—now referred to as “reproductive rights” — albeit with a new caveat of unlimited access, which is intended to mean exactly what it says. And, yes, long gone is the quaint Clinton-era notion of abortion as “safe, legal … and rare.”

And then there is the barely concealed attempt to obscure — hide — camouflage Harris’ record.  It is the Biden campaign 2.0 — without the basement but (still) limited access to the candidate. Alas, this time the repackaging must take place over only sixty days — a tall order even for an in-the-tank legacy press.

The Unfamiliar:

A demand for a return to Nixon-era price controls during the same week a reconfigured jobs report came in at 800,000 less than originally reported hit with a predictable thud. After all, what Democrat wants to spend the next two months explaining how price controls do not smack of socialism? Similarly, a new call for a 44.6% capital-gains tax rate and — you knew it was coming at some point — a brand-new tax on UNREALIZED gains for the wealthy (for now) in no way can be characterized as a “moderate” position. Once properly explained to the general public, this confiscatory scheme will prove quite difficult to defend.