NEWS AND OPINION:

The news media often emphasize very positive video footage of Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail — focusing on her public speeches, which include smiles, laughter and audience participation. Sure, there’s a place for that during an election. But some counsel that there are limits to giggles and feel-good fare this time around.

“Poll after poll has shown that the economy is the top concern for voters, with most Americans feeling worse off than before Biden and Harris took office. Yet, Kamala Harris has failed to outline a clear economic plan or demonstrate how her administration would break from the Biden-Harris playbook. Instead, her campaign centers around ’joy,’ as if optimism alone can address economic hardships,” advises an editorial released Sunday by the Tippininsights editorial board.

The title of this editorial is very telling, and here it is: “Hoodwinking voters with ’joy’ fails to address economic pain felt by voters.”

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And there are consequences to this selective subject matter.

“This disconnect is a major reason Harris is under-performing compared to Biden and Clinton in key battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin. It also explains why 59.6% of rank-and-file Teamsters support Donald Trump, with only 34% backing Harris,” the editorial noted.

Tippinsights.com is associated with the TIPP Poll, which has conducted surveys — including presidential polls — for three decades.

“The TIPP Poll has the much-coveted distinction as the most accurate poll of this century, being the only poll to accurately predict the winner of the last five U.S. presidential elections,” the organization notes at its website — found at Tippininsights.com.

A conversation of note

Let us take time to recall that the aforementioned Ms. Harris recently revealed that she owned a gun and would shoot at anyone who broke into her house. She made this declaration last week during a conversation with longtime TV host Oprah Winfrey.

“I did not know that,” Ms. Winfrey replied.

Others were curious. About the gun mention.

“I want to get your take on this,” Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo told Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican when he appeared on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee had a quick reply.

“I don’t think anyone believes that Kamala Harris is a gun owner. But if she is, she needs to tell the American people what type of gun she has. Look, this is all about crime. And when you look at the polling, Biden/Harris are getting killed in the polling with the issue of crime, which is a huge issue in the suburbs and it’s definitely an issue in urban America,” the lawmaker continued.

“Just like Kamala Harris has flipped on the issue of wanting to have a southern border wall now, when she used to say it was racist, now she’s trying to imply that she’s scared like everyone else, so she has a gun to protect her family. I mean, this is totally counter to what Kamala Harris has said her entire political career,” Mr. Comer said.

“And this is the benefit of Harris not having to run in a Democratic presidential primary. She can now say she’s in favor of fracking and that she wants to build a wall to protect the southern border, and now, of all things, she wants to have a gun to protect her family from surging crime all across America. I hope the American people aren’t buying into this,” he advised.

A not-so-final frontier

Things are complicated on Earth. And they may get complicated in space as well.

“Just a couple of weeks ago, the dean of social sciences at Wesleyan University voiced worries that space exploration may follow a ’European Christian imperialist’ pattern, and that indigenous beliefs about ’celestial bodies’ won’t be taken into consideration,” writes Dave Huber, associate editor of The College Fix, a student-written publication.

“There’s also the ’indigenous scholars’ who warned merely listening for evidence of alien civilizations could be interpreted as “eavesdropping” and/or ’surveillance.’ Now, the Canadian Department of National Defence thought it a prudent use of taxpayer funds to spend over $32,000 for an ’intersectional feminist’ perspective regarding space-related development,” Mr. Huber notes.

“Give yourself a couple pats on the back if you guessed what the report concluded. You got it: According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the report ’Hidden Harms: Human (In)security in Outer Space’ says ’current approaches to outer space are heavily Western, state-centric, militarized, masculinized, and colonial,’ and encourage practices that are ‘racist, exploitative, elitist, and environmentally destructive,’” Mr. Huber says.

“An ’intersectional feminist approach,’ the report claims, can help examine ’how gender and other social identities overlap in ways that may compound the benefits, harms, and insecurities that people experience in relation to outer space and space systems,’ ” he points out.

Meanwhile, let’s recall that Sally Ride became the first female astronaut in space in 1983.

On the radar

The seemingly indefatigable 45th president continues his public outreach.

Former President Donald Trump’s next big event is on Monday in the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. — located some 46 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. And the venue?

Mr. Trump will take the stage in the early evening at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex. But wait there’s more. His campaign has planned two more big events this week; details to come.

Poll du jour

83% of registered U.S. voters say the “overall tone and civility” in American politics has gotten worse in recent years; 89% of independents, 85% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats agree.

85% of women and 80% of men also agree.

10% of voters overall say the tone of civility in politics has remained “the same” in recent years; 8% of independents, 11% of Republicans and 12% of Democrats agree.

10% of women and 11% of men also agree.

7% of voters overall say the tone of civility in politics has gotten “better” in recent years; 3% of independents, 4% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats agree.

5% of women and 9% of men also agree.

Source: A CBS News/YouGov poll of 3,129 registered U.S. voters conducted online September 18-20.

Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, @HarperBulletin on Facebook.