"Childless Dog Lady" Just Doesn't Have the Same Ring

Dang it.

RIP, Grumpy Cat

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Hey, y’all – Unfortunately, Eddie and I only have dogs, birds, and a turtle, so I can’t credibly sport a CHILDLESS CAT LADY t-shirt. Bummer. On the off-chance that you missed the reference, this week footage surfaced of Republican Vice Presidential Nominee JD Harris claiming that the Democratic Party is run by “childless cat ladies.” How charming! Semafor’s Dave Weigel offers some context, including the fact that the remark wasn’t a one-off:

Three years ago, when his U.S. Senate campaign polled in single digits, Vance told a friendly crowd about an idea he’d been kicking around. Conservatives needed to “take aim” at “the childless left,” whose “rejection of the family” was undermining their country. [...]

“Why have we let the Democrat party become controlled by people who don’t have children?” he asked. “Why is this just a normal fact of American life, that the leaders of our country should be people who don’t have a personal and direct stake in it via their own offspring, via their own children and grandchildren?”

Five days after the speech, he repeated the basic “childless left” message on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the show he’d launched his campaign on. Yes, he’d said that parents of children deserved a bigger role in democracy than the sad “childless cat ladies” of the left, and he meant it. He once again named Harris, a stepmother of two, as part of that group.

“When somebody calls out that ‘Look, if you’re a miserable cat lady, you should not force your misery on the rest of the country,’ they just get really upset about it,” Vance said.

I’ve tried to muster some righteous indignation over this, but mostly I’m just puzzled by the whole thing.

How does one arrive at the conclusion that childless folk are miserable? Child rearin’ is hard, and kids can be pretty annoying. I’m sure having children is worth the sacrifice, but I don’t buy the logic that parents are happier people. (In my childless misery over here, I ate ice cream for supper last night and played tennis this morning.)

If progeny is necessary to facilitate desirable future outcomes, how do we explain the leadership of George Washington? Or Jesus Christ?!

But the worst part of Vance’s cat lady quip is that it wasn’t even funny. Neither was his “Democrats think Diet Mountain Dew is racist” remark from earlier this week – an unforced error that didn’t even require the DNC’s research team to do any work. Donald Trump says mean-spirited things constantly, but he’s funny! It does make a difference.

I’m bewildered that the Trump campaign thinks Vance is going to deliver the so-called “Blue Wall” states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin – for their campaign simply because Vance grew up in neighboring Ohio. I’ve got more hillbilly vibes than this guy! And on the charisma continuum, he might outrank Ron DeSantis, but that’s about it.

Anyhoo, y’all have a great weekend, and let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to dive into in this space. I’m noodling a few ideas and would love to hear yours!