Unforced Errors
Both major party candidates slipped up this past weekend at various rallies.
Donald Trump did a three-hour podcast recording with Joe Rogan Friday, which has already recorded some 27 million views on YouTube. The problem is that he was at least two hours late for a rally in Michigan as a result, meaning Trump himself did not hit the stage until 11 p.m. local time.
Then Trump did a rally at State College, Pennsylvania on Saturday…all good, but the rally overlapped the state of the Penn State football game–not a great thing.
Kamala Harris, though, saw history repeat itself in Houston. Singer Beyonce was billed as appearing, with many attendees thinking that meant at least one live song, since Harris uses a Beyonce song as her theme when she comes on stage. The campaign did nothing to dissuade anyone from making that assumption, since the announcement of her appearance came along with the promise that folks like Bruce Springsteen and Willie Nelson would be singing at campaign events.
I say history repeating itself, because the hot rumor at the Democratic National Convention was that Beyonce would be making an appearance and performing before Harris’ acceptance speech; the campaign even told media that a ‘special guest’ would be on stage that night. After inflated TV ratings by music fans…no Beyonce at the convention, with the campaign afterwards lamely suggesting that Harris herself was the advertised ‘special guest.’
So after the largest crowd of the Harris campaign gathered, there came Beyonce…to speak behind a podium for four minutes or so, before introducing Harris and leaving the stage. Speaking of leaving…that’s what lots of people did when they figured out there would be no concert. They were lined up to leave, booing as they did.
Are those people who were never Harris voters and just wanted a free show? Perhaps.
But this close to a close election, it’s not a good idea for either candidate to do something avoidable that could wind up alienating voters. And while each can point to some successes over the weekend, including Trump’s Madison Square Garden event…those unforced errors can come back to haunt a candidate.
