Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, said Vice President Kamala Harris’s “leftist agenda” is not working in Ohio. Ohio is the scene of the high-stakes U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Republican nominee Bernie Moreno.
As of Thursday, Harris, who has officially become the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, has refused to sit down for a media interview or hold a formal press conference for 25 consecutive days.
Instead, Harris has held scripted speeches and rally appearances, which have been promoted by national and local media.
Zawistowski, who lives and works in Ohio, said despite the “full court press” behind Harris and her “leftist agenda,” the messaging is not resonating with Ohio voters, pointing to the contested U.S. Senate race between Brown and Moreno.
“We have a big time Senate race here in Ohio between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Bernie Moreno. In the last three months, Sherrod Brown has spent $45 million on TV ads and yet, in the polls, Bernie Moreno has closed the gap from being behind by 5 percent to being behind by 3 percent,” Zawistowski explained on Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“That tells us that the full court press for Kamala Harris and their whole leftist agenda isn’t working because if it were, that wouldn’t be happening. So not only is it the coverage – which is totally biased and yes, they’re totally in the bag for Harris and the Democrat agenda – but also add $50 million of advertising on top of that. Not only are they not moving the needle, the needle’s going in the wrong direction…So much of what the Harris campaign is doing is just utter nonsense that people are picking up on it,” Zawistowski added.
Despite Brown being one of the more than 30 congressional Democrats who called on President Joe Biden to exit the 2024 race, the incumbent senator has distanced himself from the Harris-Walz campaign – seemingly in an effort to save his own reelection chances.
Nevertheless, Brown, who has served in the Senate since 2007, has been found to have voted with Harris 84 percent of the time while she served in the U.S. Senate – where she earned the title of the most “liberal” member of the chamber by GovTrack at the time.
Brown, who has been found to have attended every Democratic National Convention since 1994, will not be attending the convention in Chicago next week as an effort to distance himself from Harris.
Zawistowski said Brown’s absence from this year’s convention is a sign that Ohio is rejecting the Harris agenda.
“If Sherrod Brown is not going to the convention, and he also said that he will not campaign with Kamala Harris at all and she’s not coming to Ohio, that tells you everything you need to know, which is paint them with their record and 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 important issues like inflation, noting, “The question that everyone is asking is: If you’re going to do this if we elect you, why don’t you do it now?”
“What we’re seeing on the ground is that many people are aware of Kamala Harris’ past and it’s not a pretty picture. Unfortunately for her, there’s this thing called the internet where basically every stupid thing she’s ever said is right there for everyone to see. Even this ‘flip flopping’ that’s going on where she’s going to get tough on the border and she’s going to lower inflation and do all these things, even that’s not working because it’s not her saying it. It’s her campaign, putting out these statements that no one believes,” Zawistowski said.
“They’ve really put themselves in a corner and quite frankly, the other problem she’s got is she’s saying, ‘I’m going to do things if you elect me president,’ but she’s still the vice president. Many people would say that she’s the acting president at this moment,” Zawistowski added.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
