AP
Democratic presidential candidates over the years could count on many things heading into Election Day. Near or at the top are major union and newspaper endorsements.
But some of those vital stamps of approval are suddenly not rolling in for Kamala Harris, and it’s becoming a painful trend for this flailing campaign.
The biggest blow came Friday when The Washington Post, a newspaper that has never endorsed a Republican presidential candidate in its entire history, announced it will not endorse Harris or Trump for president.
Yup, the same publication that endorsed Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale won’t back the 2024 Democratic nominee.
Think about this for a moment: To boost Harris, many in the media — including WaPo itself — have been comparing Donald Trump to Hitler (again). The Washington Post’s gems go back to the 2016 campaign.
September 2016: “Don’t compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. It belittles Hitler.”
December 2023: “Yes, It’s OK to compare Trump to Hitler”
September 2024: “Trump gets compared with history’s great villain because his rhetoric is that bad”
But now the paper won’t endorse his opponent? Does it suddenly think she’s as bad as — or maybe even worse than — “Hitler”?
Former WaPo editor Marty Baron called the decision “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty.”
Its current editor, Will Lewis, says the non-endorsement is based on the newspaper “returning to its roots” of not officially siding with any presidential candidate.
The last time it took a pass was in 1988, when George H.W. Bush went on to win 40 states in a landslide victory over Michael Dukakis.
But this “roots” explanation doesn’t hold water. If this was always the intention, why wait until right before the election to announce it?
Maybe, just maybe, WaPo’s top brass — presumably owner Jeff Bezos himself — watched Kamala’s trainwrecks on “60 Minutes,” Fox News and this week’s Town Hall on CNN.
Bezos couldn’t get behind such a substance-free candidate like Kamala, no matter what the staff thought.
Even Democrats are horrified with her performances, with former Obama strategist David Axelrod going so far to call her out for non-answers, describing them as “word salad city.”
The WaPo’s no-endorse decision comes just days after the Los Angeles Times, the largest newspaper in Kamala’s own home state, also declined to back either candidate.
In this case, the paper’s owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, nixed any formal statement of support for either of the wannabes.
The LA Times editorial-page editor and two editorial-board members then promptly resigned in protest, showing again just how far left the newsroom has gone: Furious that their candidate of choice won’t get the paper’s backing, these “journalists” simply quit.
There may be something else in play here: For several weeks, Donald Trump has been on an upward trajectory in the polls. Almost every major forecaster has him as the favorite to win.
He’s tied nationally, a position he never came close to achieving in 2016 or 2020.
And he’s ahead in the polling averages in every swing state, with states like New Hampshire, Virginia and New Mexico coming into play.
To that end, is this hedging by these papers meant to avoid publicly backing a losing candidate who’s going backward in a hurry?
The unions aren’t breaking out the pom-poms for Kamala either.
The nation’s largest union, The Teamsters, with 1.3 million members, has refused to back her. Internal polling shows Trump up 27 points on Kamala among its rank and file.
And the Firefighters Union, which boasts nearly 350,000 members, also skipped giving her the nod.
Then there’s the Arab American PAC, based in the key state of Michigan. For all Harris’ pandering — selling out Jews and Israel — she still couldn’t win over this Arab group, which typically endorses Democrats.
Remember, all of these voices heartedly endorsed Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Their support is supposed to be an absolute layup for any Democrat running for the nation’s highest office.
It just ain’t happening for Kamala.
And that’s a strong sign her campaign is in a free-fall.
Meanwhile, Trump, the happier warrior of late, has impressive momentum as we head into November.
The joy is clearly gone for the Kamala Harris campaign — along with the endorsements she needs from voices Democrats have always had in the bag.
Joe Concha is a Fox News Contributor and bestselling author.