Despite excitement over Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate, integrity issues need clarification prior to the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
If not, Virginia’s Democratic delegates to the DNC Convention who are concerned about their candidate’s contrarian historical actions may lose the support or minority and independent voters.
But don’t bet on campaign transparency.
Minorities, independents and veterans should depend on responsible media entities providing factual news, and diverse opinion pieces.
Sadly, voters continue to witness jaded liberal media with a clear agenda with some local exceptions. Such journalism affects key communities such as the Latino vote during the election of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, and Representative Jen Kiggans (VA-02) as well as the presidential race.
One key example of this is that despite criticism from the wider legacy media in Virginia, Youngkin accepted an opinion from Attorney General Jason Miyares announcing the end of the forced California electric vehicle mandates, a move which honored his campaign pledges.
Key bi-partisan legislation reflecting Youngkin’s diverse economic understanding aided Virginia again being named best state to do business in. This is something the media could have discussed — yet curiously avoided.
In stark contrast, Minnesota’s Walz as governor should be held accountable for his equity and inclusion actions as well as with regard to concerns about his integrity.
Was Walz justified delaying calling in the Minnesota National Guard as rioters burned down Minneapolis businesses during the George Floyd incident — all while Harris sought funding to extricate jailed protesters?
Veterans also should question whether Walz actually deserted his military comrades avoiding combat in Iraq and refused acknowledging his forced rank demotion upon retirement during his congressional run.
Perhaps Northern Virginia or national operatives seeking jobs or appointments to presidential, secretarial, or congressional commissions — including media — purposely ignore such concerns.
Responsible citizens and media must factually address integrity, the economy, immigration, cost of fuel, housing, policy and safety, rather than misinformation or resorting to personal attacks, most notably such as those from ousted politicos like former Virginia Congressman Denver Riggleman, the now conservative persona non grata endorsing Harris over Trump.
Virginia voters are expressing a shared and commonly held anguish over the volatility in the stock market, and rising personal finances expenses such as fuel, food and insurance costs make kitchen table budgeting difficult.
Yet the constant mention was the nightmare concerning illegal immigration.
Validating these concerns is a recent CBS poll of over 3,102 registered voters indicating 45% would be financially better off if former President Trump was elected to Harris’s 25%. Interesting was 44% stated they would be financially worse off if Harris was elected to Trump’s 38%.
And understandable outrage exists when El Salvadorian native Juan Agular Martinez, in the U.S. illegally stands accused of recently killing Melody Waldecker, a grandmother of eight in Sterling, Virginia. Martinez allegedly ran her over in an attempted carjacking. This follows a report from the Department of Homeland Security acknowledging 99 suspects on the U. S Terror Watchlist were released into the U.S. during fiscal years 2021-2023 — startling immigration statistics indeed for the Biden/Harris administration.
Major media markets should cast a jaundiced eye towards Harris’s actions as border czar despite denials of that official title. Yet it remains fascinating to most outside observers how scores of references and news articles called Harris “czar” after Biden replaced Roberta Jacobson in 2021 who was his point person or czar selected to manage the growing number of migrants attempting to enter the nation at our southern border.
Why no objection then?
Equally disturbing is not blaming the nation’s border crisis to Biden much less Harris, acknowledging the four letter word czar.
With all the besmirching of Trump’s legal issues or his administration’s success curtailing illegal immigration, lowering fuel prices through energy expansion, including his minority economic record; the amorphous Harris continues enjoying a compliant if even adoring media refusing to even remotely reflect on her record on issues such as fracking.
Yep — politics as usual for the political chameleon Harris who previously was against fracking but now supports it, as well as Trump’s position on no tax on tips.
I suggest her actions now and in the future are political expediency over a troubling Biden and Harris record, which according to an analysis from The Heartland Institute, indicated since 2021 Americans saw an increase in energy costs to the average family of $2,548.
Clearly validation for more media scrutiny on Harris and several transparent debates as Trump and Senator J.D. Vance suggests.
Latino voters in Virginia and others are owed balanced reporting, particularly when candidates face assassination attempts — known and unknown — refusing to present the facts while allowing political subterfuge to pass as journalism. The media may hold their viewers in that sort of contempt for a time, but voters tend to catch on quickly — and will not smile kindly on being treated as low-information and easily swayed for long.
DANIEL P. CORTEZ of Stafford County is a presidential appointee, political writer and broadcaster who serves as the volunteer co-chairman of the Latinos for Youngkin Coalition.
