Kamala’s persuasion problem, Dems’ God-hate will cost them and other commentary

From the right: Kamala’s Persuasion Problem

Trump “is doing better among Catholics now than four years ago,” reports National Review’s Jim Geraghty, particularly “Catholic voters in seven battleground states.” Notably, “roughly one-quarter of Wisconsinites identify as Catholic,” and Trump’s up by 18 points among them. It doesn’t help that Harris has “left a lot of blanks in her economic agenda” as 37% of “voters in Wisconsin rank ‘the economy’ as the most important issue.” Overall, “this is a Democratic presidential campaign that is made to make Democrats feel good about themselves, not [to] persuade the remaining voters who are not eager to vote for Trump but worried that Harris will just be a continuation of the parts of the Biden presidency they can’t stand.”

Religion desk: Dems’ God-Hate Will Cost Them

“Do Democrats hate religion?” asks Larry Kudlow at FoxBusiness. Michigan bishops protested Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Dorito video, which mocked the sacrament of communion. Dem prosecutors “went after the Little Sisters of the Poor over contraception practices.” Democratic senators, including Kamala Harris, suggested the Knights of Columbus were extremists. And Harris is skipping this year’s Al Smith dinner. “No wonder” Trump leads Harris 50% to 45% among Catholics, while Joe Biden outpaced him 52% to 47% in 2020. “More generally, the Democratic pursuit of woke cultural teachings is opposed by people of all faiths.” And Dem “fanaticism over DEI” has “fostered a terrible wave of anti-Semitism.” Fact is, “too many” Dems do hate God, and that’s still a “losing issue.”

DEI watch: Relabeled Poison Still Deadly

“The American College of Surgeons is trying to expunge the term DEI,” notes Richard T. Bosshardt at City Journal, but only by rebranding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “The new name of the game is “Inclusive Excellence,” which “seems to signal a return to a focus on merit” but doesn’t. In fact, “little if anything has changed” about these antiracist initiatives from ACS. “The new toolkit retains, without modification, perhaps the most repellent aspect of DEI — the theory of racial concordance in medicine” which claims that “patients receive better care and obtain better outcomes from surgeons of the same race.” That’s not only false, but “a slap in the face of all physicians, who do their utmost for every patient, regardless of race.”

Border beat: Biden’s Boon to Human Traffickers

“Forced labor and prostitution among underage migrants more than tripled under President Biden, reaching record highs,” and that doesn’t count “the thousands who were still held by the traffickers,” warns The Free Press’ Madeleine Rowley. Under Donald Trump, “the government issued an average of 625 letters per year to migrant minors who had managed to break free from their traffickers.” But “last year, the number stood at 2,148” through only September. Clearly, “the border crisis is the primary reason for the increase,” since “cartels and gangs” routinely “pretend to be legitimate sponsors” for unaccompanied minors and lure “migrant women and girls across the southern border.” They subsequently force “them into prostitution once they’re here.” And “Democrats have been shamefully silent on the trafficking issue.”

Foreign desk: Scottish National Bigotry

“John Mason, a 16-year parliamentarian with the Scottish National Party, has been expelled from the party for saying that there was ‘no genocide’ in Gaza,” roars Commentary’s Seth Mandel. Mason “stood by his statement: ‘There is a war going on. Lives have been lost, desperately sadly, as they have been in Ukraine, as they have been in every war. But there is a difference between war and genocide and to say that every war is genocide is not the way we use that word.’ ” He “seems understandably baffled by the controversy. But it’s a glimpse into where political anti-Zionism is headed.” Fact is, “ ‘Israel should disappear’ is rapidly becoming the default position of political parties and movements around the world. The SNP’s expulsion of Mason suggests it’ll soon become the only acceptable position.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board