Vice President Kamala Harris has undoubtedly united the Democratic Party behind her candidacy, dutifully protecting her left-flank with the selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice-presidential candidate. Unfortunately for her, and for the rest of us, she is nowhere close to uniting our country.

I ask you not interpret such a comment as an endorsement of former President Donald Trump’s ability to unite. I find very few politicians at the national level capable — either politically or morally — to say and do the things necessary to bring our nation together. With great dismay, the daycare is without guardian. There are no adults in the room.

Harris’s track record proves potential for presidential leadership | POINT

Politics has never been so chock-full of jokes and jabs yet so humorless and vile. A parodic post on X about J.D. Vance having sexual relations with a couch has convinced large swaths of the electorate Ohio’s senator — and now aspirant to the vice presidency — is indeed unable to control his sectional urges. The supposed quotations from his best-selling book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” are entirely fake, yet that didn’t stop Walz from mentioning it in his first appearance as Harris’s running mate.

Humor in politics used to be funny because it was in good faith. Have you seen good faith anywhere recently? Asking for an entire nation.

On the other side, Donald Trump decided to make Kamala Harris’ racial background a central point of his campaign against her. Is she Indian-American? Asian-American? Black? The 45th president doesn’t actually care about the racial background of the vice president, but he knows millions do. It’s a wedge, further dividing and subdividing, garnering hoots and hollers at rallies and requiring hours of devoted television time to it.

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Politicians, pundits and politicos have also become committed contrarians, unwilling to give credit where it’s due, fearful even the slightest humanization of their electoral foes will offend their bases and surrender the higher ground. Orange man. Childless cat ladies. Trump couldn’t even muster a positive comment about Biden helping secure the release of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan from the confines of Russian prison. Does he think a prisoner swap — orchestrated by a president he’s not even running against — is going to be the deciding issue of this campaign?

As my counterpart said, we live in unprecedented times. Why then, should our actions at the voting booth this November be precedented? For the next few months, you’ll hear how the choice you have is binary. Pick one. The lesser of two evils. The same dichotomy, every few years, for the rest of your life. Hogwash.

An unprecedented number of Americans are rejecting the two major parties in their party registrations, in polling, and in their everyday lives. Every Coloradan — every American — should be appalled at what politics has become.

Vote independent. Vote third party. Write in George Washington. Tell the pollster “none of the above.” The silent majority must stop being silent and correct the course the Republic is on.

I have nothing personally against Kamala Harris — she’s simply a product of a system that demands a shallow, reality-show portrayal of national politics. That said, I can’t say with certainty what her policy positions are on key issues as her campaign website still lacks a platform. The media, still deliriously giddy they don’t have to cover for an ailing Joe Biden, has failed to extract any meaningful policy prescriptions from her. Not being Donald Trump doesn’t mean somebody should be handed the presidency.

Thankfully, though, the donation button works just fine on KamalaHarris.com.

Sage Naumann is a conservative commentator and strategist. He operates Anthem Communications and was previously the spokesman for the Colorado Senate Republicans. Follow him on Twitter @SageNaumann.