No one’s aiming to win the center, voters want 2019 lives back and other commentary

Liberal: No One’s Aiming To Win the Center

Kamala Harris’ choice of Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate “follows a similar path chosen by Donald Trump — one aimed at pleasing ideological base voters rather than reaching out to the electoral middle,” laments The Liberal Patriot’s John Halpin. Snubbing moderate Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro shows that “Harris and Democrats have little interest in courting the other side or strategically focusing on those in the middle” in a key swing state. “With less than 100 days to go in the 2024 election, the middle of the electorate remains wide open — valuable political terrain if only one of the two parties and their candidates cared to seize it.”

Conservative: Voters Want 2019 Lives Back

“Unfortunately for Democrats, most Americans still recall 2019, a year in which, under President Trump, median household income soared to historic highs,” while “the poverty rate plummeted to a 60-year low” and “job openings exceeded the number of people unemployed in every month,” argues Andy Puzder at Fox News. Now they want to return “to a time when you could go to the grocery store or fill your gas tank without being shocked by the costs.” “Who doesn’t miss 2019’s economic security and prosperity (let alone world peace, safe cities and secure borders)?” “Working- and middle-class Americans . . . have seen their wages depleted by inflation, personal savings well below pre-pandemic levels, and credit card debt at record highs.” “Bottom line, ‘I want my life back’ ” is “a sentiment that could decide this election.”

Mideast beat: Reading Sinwar’s Rise

“The timing of Yahya Sinwar’s elevation” from Hamas military chief to its political leader following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh is “curious,” observe Mark Toth & Jonathan Sweet at The Hill. His triumph over several other contenders could be “Hamas messaging to Jerusalem that the gloves are now fully off — that Hamas’s military and political factions are now fully united.” Or it “could also be a sign of weakness,” “an attempt by Hamas to obfuscate that military weakness by forcing the Israelis and their Egyptian and US intermediaries to directly negotiate any ceasefire” with Sinwar. The decision may have been influenced by officials in Tehran — or even Moscow, as “Israel Katz, the foreign minister of Israel, certainly believes.” “One thing is certain: Sinwar has moved to the top of Mossad’s target list.”

From the left: Tulsi vs. the American Stasi

Ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (former soldier and well-known political figure) and her family have been relentlessly harassed by airport security, including having massive teams of TSA agents follow her on board flights, reports RacketNews’ Matt Taibbi. Why? One agent “told her he’d encountered supporters of a certain former president who’d had no issues traveling before” but were now harassed and spied on. And “Gabbard has been a persistent, pointed critic of politicians in the current administration.” She’s apparently being stalked as part of “Quiet Skies,” “a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) program for tracking ‘travelers who may present an elevated risk’” — with thousands of other Americans caught up in the net.

Cyber watch: Eurocrats’ Latest Bungle

Microsoft’s compliance with European Union orders deepened the CrowdStrike damage, explains Reason’s JD Tuccille. To address 2004 EU “concerns that Microsoft was stifling rivals by limiting the interoperability of its software,” the company guaranteed that “third-party security software products” would get “the same access to its operating system as its own security products.” Why did the CrowdStrike glitch cause global Microsoft outages? Thanks to the “Brussels Effect,” such vulnerabilities “become defaults for everybody because it’s just easier to abide by the most restrictive standard.” That is: “The fallout from one company’s serious error might have been limited if Microsoft hadn’t been forced to compromise security” by meddling European bureaucrats.

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board