There is one issue with the emotional appeal of turning some into single-issue voters. Abortion has been a divisive issue for as long as I can remember, and I’m old. As one without a direct interest in the controversy, I’d like to try to take some emotion out of the conflict and inject some inconvenient facts into the discussion.

In my April post “Three Storylines Revisited,” I acknowledged the near impossibility of banning abortions in the first trimester since most are by pill. All we’d accomplish is a black market run by bad people. Further, we get wrapped up in the argument about when life begins.

The second trimester is a different story. We don’t use the pill after eleven months. We routinely perform ultrasounds at 10-13 weeks. Shortly after, we start testing the little one. Increasingly sophisticated, we’re learning all sorts of things about the baby. Aided by AI, we’ll know a lot more in the future.

Already, we’re identifying conditions, some life-threatening, that are correctable in the womb. While we can endlessly argue about when life begins, at this point, there is no contesting that the baby is alive. You can’t perform lifesaving procedures on something that isn’t alive.

We’ve all heard “Born that way,” to describe those on the Autistic Spectrum, members of the LBGTQ+ community, and many others. We have no reason to doubt these assertions, but people are “born that way ” for a reason. Some combination of DNA, enzymes, and other inputs determines these outcomes. Aided by AI, we will know the mix, probably shortly. Parents have a right to test results, so there is no keeping secrets.

Ukrainian forces enter Russia, heading towards Kursk. Iran threatens a full-scale attack on Israel. Weakening labor markets signal economic woes ahead. A U.S. ally, the Philippines, is increasingly embroiled over an island with China. The border crisis continues. With widening problems, both here and abroad, one might think The Presidential contest in its home stretch should be laser-focused on who can best handle our myriad of issues.

While Trump’s four-year record illustrates how he tackles problems, Kamala Harris recently replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. Will she continue the Biden-Harris administration policies or take a different approach? The November election is approaching, and voters should know where the candidates stand. As crazy as it sounds, we have no idea where Kamala stands on any issue save abortion. She’s for it right up to birth with little restriction.

In her short 2020 presidential, she took clearly defined positions on illegal aliens, medicare for all, taxes, and a host of other things. Does she still hold those views? She’s been part of the present administrations. Is she standing in lockstep with its actions? For example, was she in favor of our disastrous Afgan withdrawal? What was her input on the administration’s legislative agenda that resulted in the inflation hurting so many? So many questions and so little time.

What do we know so far about the Democratic presidential Candidate? According to the Washington Post’s top writer, Fareed Zakaia, she is “winning the all-important battle-vibes. He informs us that “…people don’t tend to vote rationally, but rather use voting to express themselves in emotional, ideological and moral ways.” “Harris has run a remarkably focused and disciplined campaign, one that seems deliberately light on substance and high on feelings.”

Not to be outdone, The New York Times’s Ezra Klein claims, “Harris’s communications are playful, mocking, confident, even mean.” Nowhere does he mention substance. Like Zakaria, what is important is to “fight — and win — the battle for attention. She had help, to be sure. Online meme-makers who found viral gold in an anecdote about coconuts. Charli XCX’s “Kamala IS brat.”

Time Magazine features a very flattering Harris Cover. The story inside was long on vibes but didn’t feature an interview or any statement from the subject.

We finally have one policy position: she’s against taxing tips. Where have we heard that idea? Oh yes, Donald Trump proposed it months ago. Kamala certainly learned something from Joe Biden about plagiarizing. Stealing from your opponent takes the art to new heights. Interestingly, writers at the Democrat-allied New York Times and the Atlantic knocked no taxes on tips just the month before.