The basic problem Harris has is that without a ceasefire there will be escalation. Iran & Hezbollah will attack in some way. Then Bibi will counterattack. He will call upon the US to support him which Biden will do. Thus the Humphrey box syndrome that can cost her the election. The only way out of the box for Harris is not to get locked …
The basic problem Harris has is that without a ceasefire there will be escalation. Iran & Hezbollah will attack in some way. Then Bibi will counterattack. He will call upon the US to support him which Biden will do. Thus the Humphrey box syndrome that can cost her the election. The only way out of the box for Harris is not to get locked in it---be proactive, make it more difficult for Bibi to sacrifice the hostages to buttress his political survival. If I were her I would meet with the families of the hostages. There are also creative ways to force Bibi and Hamas into a ceasefire. One would be to call for an end of the use of blockbusting bombs in Gaza. It is pretty obvious that these large bombs produce a shock wave that kills large numbers of people. If Hamas has been decimated then this is disproportional. Harris needs to figure out what steps can be taken to show Bibi that the US doesn't have his back in any escalation. This is the only way to bring him along. If there is escalation Harris will be put into the Humphrey box. The only way out of that box is to break with Biden as Kennedy did with Johnson. That is an awful lot to ask of her. Humphrey couldn't do it. I don't think she can either. So imposing a ceasefire on Bibi before an escalation is the best option. She can start by adopting the position of the hostages families. She should start there and soon.
The basic problem Harris has is that without a ceasefire there will be escalation. Iran & Hezbollah will attack in some way. Then Bibi will counterattack. He will call upon the US to support him which Biden will do. Thus the Humphrey box syndrome that can cost her the election. The only way out of the box for Harris is not to get locked in it---be proactive, make it more difficult for Bibi to sacrifice the hostages to buttress his political survival. If I were her I would meet with the families of the hostages. There are also creative ways to force Bibi and Hamas into a ceasefire. One would be to call for an end of the use of blockbusting bombs in Gaza. It is pretty obvious that these large bombs produce a shock wave that kills large numbers of people. If Hamas has been decimated then this is disproportional. Harris needs to figure out what steps can be taken to show Bibi that the US doesn't have his back in any escalation. This is the only way to bring him along. If there is escalation Harris will be put into the Humphrey box. The only way out of that box is to break with Biden as Kennedy did with Johnson. That is an awful lot to ask of her. Humphrey couldn't do it. I don't think she can either. So imposing a ceasefire on Bibi before an escalation is the best option. She can start by adopting the position of the hostages families. She should start there and soon.