Thursday Edition: A Kamala Controversy

Republicans are divided on how best to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, who is almost certain to replace President Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. (New York Post)

Tactic A: A number of conservative influencers, and even a GOP congressman, have called Harris a “DEI hire,” citing Biden saying in 2020 that he was considering “four black women” to be his running mate.

• Others have referenced her relationship with Willie Brown, the former Mayor of San Francisco, to claim she “slept her way to the top.”

Tactic B: A new ad by Republican Dave McCormick, who’s running against Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, might be a blueprint for taking on Harris.

• McCormick slams Casey for backing Harris, and highlights the vice president’s controversial positions from the 2020 election.

• The ad shows Harris expressing support for Medicare for All, decriminalizing illegal entry and mandatory gun buybacks (although she’s since walked back those positions).

Related: Speaker Mike Johnson has urged House members to keep criticism against Harris centered on her policies, not her identity or personality, Axios reported.

Bubba’s Two Cents

Putting aside whether it crosses the line to go after Harris for her relationships or race, I think it’s counter-productive to take that line of attack because it puts the GOP on the defensive. Instead of a referendum on Harris, the story becomes a debate about whether conservatives have gone too far. Bottom line, it’s just not a very effective strategy, in my view.

Donald Trump’s focus on U.S. tariff policy has made trade a hot topic, so now’s a perfect time get a sense of its scale and recent history. (FEE)

An eye-popping statistic: Trade's share of U.S. GDP grew from 10.8% in 1970 to 27.4% in 2022.

Correlation: Over the same time period, the U.S. economy quadrupled in size in real terms.

Compare and contrast: The value of U.S. exports of goods and services is more than double that of the U.K. and 33% higher than Germany's.

Trump tariffs: Donald Trump's 2018 tariffs drove up the cost of affected goods.

A subject of much controversy: The 1970s saw U.S. imports eclipse exports, kicking off a growing trade deficit.

China: Our growing trade deficit with China has been seen as a key strategic concern.

Bonus: In recent decades, higher trade deficits have been linked to increased levels of domestic employment.

Bubba’s Two Cents

You’re probably aware of some of the biggest questions on trade –– Should we be doing more to protect core American industries? How do we weigh trade’s costs and benefits? There aren’t easy answers, but it's crucial to get this stuff right due to the massive impact on the economy and country. I’ve always leaned towards the idea of free markets because I see the relationship of the growth of global trade with the lowering of global poverty, but I would get a lot of pushback from today’s parties.

What’s the state of U.S. immigration going into the 2024 election? (Pew Research Center)

A new Pew Research Center report: According to the latest Census figures from 2022, there were 46.1 million immigrants in the U.S. (13.8% of the total population).

• The U.S. immigrant population grew from 4.7% in 1970 to 13.8% in 2022.

Immigration status: 77% of immigrants are in the U.S. legally, while 23% are unauthorized.

• Over 30 million immigrants are in the U.S. workforce, with 8.3 million being unauthorized.

Assimilation: 35% of immigrants have a bachelor's degree or higher, similar to 36% of U.S.-born adults.

• However, 25% of immigrants have not completed high school, compared to 7% of U.S.-born adults.

• 54% of immigrants speak English proficiently.

Demographics: The top three countries of origin are Mexico (10.6 million immigrants), India (2.8 million) and China (2.3 million).

• Most immigrants live in California (10.4 million), Texas (5.2 million), Florida (4.8 million) and New York (4.5 million).

Politics: Per a new Gallup poll, 55% of Americans want less immigration, the highest share since 2001.

Bubba’s Two Cents

Immigration has surged in recent years, and it’s led to a backlash (even among Latino Americans). This shouldn’t be surprising. Studies across a wide array of countries have shown that “increasing immigration harms attitudes towards immigrants.” It might sound counterintuitive, but if you want immigrants to feel welcome and thrive in a country, you should support policies that keep the border in check.