The air war has begun. 

For those of us who are terminally online (not me!), it may seem that the presidential campaign has been endless. But the majority of people have barely begun to tune in. With Kamala Harris suddenly the Democrat candidate, the Trump campaign has had to rework their strategy completely. 

The results are here and not particularly surprising. Trump is going after Kamala as dangerously liberal, especially on the border. And they are making their pitch in a significant ad buy on TV in the big swing states. 

Here's the spot -- pic.twitter.com/iUxxyXvBOY

— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) July 30, 2024

I am not a campaign ad specialist, and I am so jaded about such things that I am completely incapable of analyzing the effectiveness of these sorts of appeals. It's clear to me that they are going after Harris' weak spots, which is good, but beyond that I can't judge how people will respond. 

The focus groups must have been good, though. 

The Trump campaign is also up on TV with this spot in battleground states -- pic.twitter.com/vIlaiuPAW9

— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) July 30, 2024

What I can tell you is that Trump's campaign has identified the big states he wants to play in: Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Minnesota is not on the list, and that is smart since it hasn't voted for a Republican since 1972. It is the great purple mirage, and while it might be nice to win the state (Trump did well here, relatively speaking), its electoral votes don't really matter. No Trump path to victory requires a win in this state. 

If Trump wins Minnesota it will be in a blowout election. If he loses it, he can still easily win without it. 

I’m Kamala Harris, and I’m running for President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/6qAM32btjj

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 25, 2024

Harris is also running ads, trying to define herself in a race where she is a relative unknown, and there is a race to define her. 

With Dueling Ads, Harris and Trump Both Try to Define Her as a Candidate https://t.co/iyguZpvYgH pic.twitter.com/0XL6ZhQ0ND

— Dave Tambellini (@dave_taz) July 30, 2024

The race to define Vice President Kamala Harris began in earnest on Tuesday, with both her campaign and former President Donald J. Trump’s team unveiling television advertisements that aim to explain her biography to voters in battleground states.

Ms. Harris’s new ad, her first since becoming the party’s de facto nominee, labels her as “fearless” while leaning into her time as a local and state prosecutor. “She put murderers and abusers behind bars,” a narrator states. “Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”

Mr. Trump’s new ad, meanwhile, attacks her as being weak on the border. It suggests that she is responsible for millions of border crossings and a quarter-million deaths from fentanyl, which the ad says occurred “on Harris’s watch.” It closes with a new Trump tagline for Ms. Harris: “Failed. Weak. Dangerously Liberal.”

The effort to define Kamala on TV is just one part of a much larger campaign being pushed by Harris' team, which includes the mainstream media. They are trying to turn her into a cultural phenomenon, and have been engaged in a brainwashing campaign to define the Trump/Vance team as weird. 

It has gotten so strange that the left is arguing that both are drag queens. 

Really. It is all over Twitter, and now a gay magazine has argued that Trump and Vance are "weird" and drag queens. 

I verified this because I found it too weird. Trump wears make up , Vance wears eye liner...next it will be full drag!😁 https://t.co/nTBSyB32n1

— Marion newton (@MarionPsi2022) July 28, 2024

In an article titled "Are Donald Trump and JD Vance drag queens?," The Philadelphia Gay News pushes both ideas:

A friend alerted me to another odd aspect of these two candidates. The Republican party, known for its strong stance against drag queens, is being represented by a candidate who wears more orange makeup than any drag queen and a vice-presidential candidate known for his heavy use of eyeliner. This raises an interesting question: If someone paints their face for a performance and dances, does that qualify as drag? Trump is known for his heavily made-up appearance and his dancing at rallies, sometimes to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” So, could Trump be considered a drag queen? And if so, shouldn’t Republicans follow their own advice and protect children from drag performances? Why, then, do people bring their children to see Trump in drag? Do they think they’re bringing their child to see Ronald McDonald? So goes another week.

"Weird" is the word of the week, and they are pushing it hard. Since the Associated Press "fact check" about J.D. Vance's sexual dalliance with a couch (they rated it "false," but injected it into the conversation, the left has been pushing the idea that Vance is "weird" very hard. 

Listen, I think people should be able to express themselves however they see fit. I do, however, think it’s WEIRD that JD Vance has legally changed his name twice and is a cis straight guy who wears eyeliner while pushing for traditional genders roles… https://t.co/eu29Bv3gk2

— Laura F. Kelley (@Kelley4Florida) July 29, 2024

Total brainwashing. You can find all sorts of news stories now about the subject because the mainstream media loves the theme, and they repeat the Democrat talking points religiously. 

The brainwashing efforts of the left are creepy, and it's unclear if they are effective with anybody but the left. But then again, the Democrats had a problem with voter enthusiasm and Kamala's unpopularity, and they are determined to fix those problems. 

They should mix up the propaganda more. This is way too obvious.

Just like when they were parroting before the debate that Biden was “sharp as a tack” 🤣 https://t.co/UZRUVM0Q7z

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2024

Trump's team has a different goal: define Harris as weak, especially on the border. Unlike the "weird" meme, voters care deeply about this issue. "Weird" is the meme directed specifically at women to make them feel disgusted when they think of Vance. 

This is by far the most gendered race in history, with Trump leaning into testosterone and Harris leaning into estrogen. Both are clearly self-conscious strategies, and I'm not sure which campaign has the edge on this. 

The ads and online messaging over the next few weeks will tell us a lot about that. If the Harris campaign keeps up with the "weird" theme we will get a strong signal. 

Trump's testosterone-themed campaign is smart, though, because the image of him as a badass is indelible by now. He has always been very masculine, but after the assassination attempt, the impression is now explicit. He may as well lean into it--men love it, and lots of women will be attracted to it as well, especially married women who lean Republican. 

The ad campaigns tell you what the candidate's team thinks will work. Only time will tell whether they're right.