Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, said Vice President Kamala Harris’ “left-wing agenda” is not working in Ohio. Ohio is home to a high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Republican candidate Bernie Moreno.
Harris, who has officially become the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 2024, has refused to grant media interviews or hold a formal press conference for 25 consecutive days since Thursday.
Instead, Harris gave scheduled speeches and appeared at rallies that were promoted by national and local media.
Zawistowski, who lives and works in Ohio, said that despite the “full-throated push” for Harris and her “left-wing agenda,” that message is not resonating with Ohio voters, pointing to the contentious U.S. Senate race between Brown and Moreno.
“We have a huge Senate race here in Ohio between Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Bernie Moreno. Over the last three months, Sherrod Brown has spent $45 million on TV ads, and yet Bernie Moreno has closed the gap in the polls from 5 percent to 3 percent,” Zawistowski explained in Thursday’s edition Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“That tells us that the full-court press in favor of Kamala Harris and their whole leftist agenda isn’t working, because if it were working, it wouldn’t have happened. So not only is it the coverage — which is completely biased and yes, it’s completely in the pockets of Harris and the Democratic agenda — but it’s also adding $50 million in advertising. Not only is it not moving the needle, it’s moving the needle in the wrong direction… So much of what the Harris campaign is doing is just complete nonsense that people are picking up on,” Zawistowski added.
Even though Brown is one of more than 30 Democratic lawmakers who have called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, the incumbent senator has distanced himself from the Harris-Walz campaign — apparently in an effort to save his own reelection chances.
Still, Brown, who has served in the Senate since 2007, has voted with Harris 84% of the time she has served in the U.S. Senate — where GovTrack then named her the chamber’s most “liberal” member.
Brown, who has attended every Democratic National Convention since 1994, will not attend the convention in Chicago next week to distance himself from Harris.
Zawistowski said Brown’s absence from this year’s convention is a signal that Ohio is rejecting Harris’ agenda.
“If Sherrod Brown doesn’t go to the convention and says he’s not going to campaign with Kamala Harris at all, and she doesn’t come to Ohio, that tells us everything we need to know, which is that if we paint their record, they’re going to lose,” Zawistowski said.
Zawistowski explained that voters are “aware” of Harris’ record and are skeptical of her campaign promises to address major issues like inflation, noting, “The question everyone is asking is, if you’re going to do this if we elect you, why don’t you do it now?”
“We see on the ground that many people know Kamala Harris’ past and it’s not a pretty picture. Unfortunately for her, there’s something called the internet, where practically every stupid thing she’s ever said is available to everyone. Even this ‘change of heart’ that happens when she’s going to tighten border policy, lower inflation and do all these things, even that doesn’t work because it’s not her saying it. It’s her campaign, making these statements that no one believes,” Zawistowski said.
“They’ve really painted themselves into a corner, and honestly, her other problem is that she says, ‘I’ll do things if you elect me president,’ but she’s still vice president. A lot of people would say she’s acting president right now,” Zawistowski added.
Watch the whole interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at Ohio Star AND Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
