When you don’t have much of a record, you have to run on values, and yes — joy. Listening to the Democratic National Convention last week, a waggish chap could be forgiven if he thought the Berlin Wall had just fallen to the strains of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, “Ode to Joy,” now also known as the Anthem of Europe, symbolizing humanistic values such as freedom and solidarity.

The emphasis of the Kamala Harris campaign on values is a dire necessity, because Harris has been an undefined vice president and political sinecure, in an administration that has lurched from crisis to crisis, generally playing defense and not offense. Thus far we have seen mostly clichés, pablum, and talk about vision.

For almost four years, the Biden Administration has been flatfooted on an array of domestic and international issues — without accountability. And now we are supposed to think that Harris has experienced a transformation from a faithful senior acolyte and clumsy speaker unable to express herself succinctly to a tough-minded commander-in-chief, prepared to face off against the Kremlin, the Chinese Politburo, the Iranian mullahs, and the trigger-happy men in Pyongyang — with the software of Armageddon at her elbow at all times.

Our adversaries tremble not, and they must be slyly licking their chops, wondering what Western interests they can grab or damage next.

Hers is a preposterous metamorphosis: Not only have the media recreated and rebranded her, but they have also flown aircover by not questioning whether she is ready for the job of president. They have not vetted her earlier life; nor have they done much investigation into the Marxist ideals of her father, and to what extent she has embraced them.  To the contrary, the media have gushed with excitement, swiftly endorsing her candidacy without critical thinking.

Harris has performed with blandness as vice president, studiously ignoring the immigration crisis on our southern border and trying to distract us with the need for long term solutions. Her reported responsibility, assigned by President Biden, was  “to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle … in stemming the movement of … migration to our southern border.”

Harris’ Economic Illiteracy

Further, her understanding of economics seems worthy of a course in Marxist/Leninist studies at the University of Havana.  Flagellating corporate America and threatening price controls on food products is a populist way of causing shortages and lines outside supermarkets, and damaging the American farm sector.

It is well known that price controls actually lead to shortages because companies will supply less. Moreover, government efforts to reduce drug prices sounds noble but has a major downside: Research and development budgets of leading pharmaceutical companies will be cut.

With the notable and outsized exception of Eli Lilly, stock prices of major companies such as Merck, Johnson and Johnson, Abbott, and Gilead have appreciated in total in the range of 22 percent to 35 percent over the past five years, plus dividends in the 3 percent to 6 percent range; Bristol-Myers Squibb has been flat and Pfizer negative 13 percent.

These are not robber baron or venture capital returns and simply approximate performance of mature enterprises, with higher dividends in some cases to offset weak stock performance. (READ MORE: Five Quick Things: The DNC-Free 5QT)  

Government intervention by the Biden administration is causing travails in the U.S. auto industry. The mandate that 67 percent of certain vehicles be electric by 2023 (up nearly 8 percent last year) was recognized as unrealistic and is now being moderated. Very recently Ford announced it was cutting or delaying capital expenditures on EVs by $12 billion in view of consumer reluctance.  Under Harris we can certainly expect more such whiplash due to the imposition of government.

Harris is also identified with the worst inflation since the Carter administration. At Biden’s inauguration in January of 2021, the year-over-year rate was 1.4 percent, peaking at 9.1 percent on Biden’s watch.

Foreign Policy and Immigration

Harris is said to have learned much on foreign policy while serving under President Biden, whom Foreign Policy calls the “most experienced U.S. leader on foreign policy since President George H.W. Bush.” One need not be the equivalent of a Nobel laureate in political science to see the fallacy of this statement.

Harris has presided as vice president with our borders in chaos from unlawful entrants; the withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disgrace; Russia was not deterred from invading Ukraine, and supportive armaments for that country were delayed for months; Iran, appeased by the U.S. and undeterred in its nuclear aspirations, has rained fire on U.S. and Western assets either through proxies or directly; China has upped the ante in its bullying tactics against U.S. allies, especially the Philippines; and North Korea has continued with its missile testing provocations.

Except for strengthening NATO in which 23 of its 32 member nations will now pay at least 2 percent of GDP on defense in 2024 (with pressure initiated by President Trump), the Biden administration’s record on foreign policy has been dismal — with an underlying theme of perceived weakness.

At the DNC convention, Harris eloquently touted her foreign policy credentials. An appropriate reaction would be “interesting, if true.” (READ MORE: This Is No Longer The Presidential Race You Think It Is)

Thus far we have seen the specter of socialism haunting the Harris campaign. And we have yet to see any specific plans to restore confidence in American foreign policy. The Harris campaign is able to project only values and emotion — but in a charged populist body politic, that pablum may sell.

Frank Schell is a business strategy consultant and former senior vice president of the First National Bank of Chicago. He was a Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago and is a contributor of opinion pieces to various journals.