Joe Biden would rather sate the appetites of his party's culture warriors than unite a divided nation.

That's the central lesson from his choice of Sen. Kamala Harris as a running mate.

Harris is a vindictive culture war cop whose political and prosecutorial career has been built upon punishing those she finds deplorable. Biden has just raised the stakes of the 2020 election and relinquished his claim to being a "safe pick."

Not in our lifetimes has a nominee's running mate been so consequential. His choice matters, not only because he is very old and clearly in decline but also because he is running to be a placeholder president. Biden was nominated not for his virtues but for his lack of the politically deadly vices that beset his opponents in this year's primary.

It is shocking that he would pick such a divisive No. 2, whose unpopularity outside the core Democratic base is abundantly evident. Harris collapsed in the presidential polls almost the moment she stepped into the spotlight. Despite being amply funded, she went from tied for second place at 15% in mid-July 2019 to low single digits by September.

Harris' favorability is underwater among independents, with 33% unfavorable to 25% favorable, and during her presidential run, she was never above water.

Harris is not the pick Biden would make if he were trying to maximize his chances of winning the election. This is baffling if you believe, as the cable networks and graying old editorial pages have screamed, that getting rid of President Donald Trump is of utmost importance for the survival of the republic.

No, you pick Harris if you are beholden to your party's woke culture warriors. The left has largely won the culture war, securing gay marriage, saving Roe v. Wade, and normalizing transgender ideology. Now, they want to punish dissenters. This is Harris' area of expertise. You can call it "cancel culture," but that term is too benign. She is not a mere demagogue. She is a demagogue who will use the power of the government to punish "the other side."

She is a dead-on prosecutor," her mentor Willie Brown wrote, "and when she goes into that mode, watch out. She is out for blood."

As California attorney general, Harris prosecuted and persecuted pro-life undercover filmmaker David Daleiden for his work exposing Planned Parenthood's trade in fetal remains. She seized his recordings while pursuing the abortion lobby's endorsement for Senate. She was also the first prosecutor to use California's eavesdropping laws against a journalist, all after secret consultations with the abortion provider.

The government should treat pro-lifers like segregationists, Harris has argued publicly. A clear majority of the public, about 70%, believe there should be restrictions on abortion, but Harris wants to treat states that pass restrictions as if they are acting outside the bounds of democratic legitimacy. She's called the Knights of Columbus "extremist."

She will attack "the bad guys" on the flimsiest grounds. Recall her bizarre line of questioning about the "Kasowitz law firm" during Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. When Kavanaugh looked confused by the questions, Kamala's cheerleaders in the media credited her with a beautiful "prosecutorial beatdown." It turns out there was nothing there but innuendo — empty badgering to make a political opponent look bad is just what an abusive prosecutor does in front of a jury. It's her style.

Harris' presidential campaign was focused on dividing the country. Gun owners, pro-lifers, home-schoolers, and traditional religions will have reason to fear persecution in an administration where Harris has sway. We know she will have sway because the culture-war wing calls the tune in Biden's Democratic Party.

Biden will probably continue to talk about reuniting a country divided by Trump's presidency. But as of today, nobody should believe it.

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

Photo credit: 12019 at Pixabay