Past Harris Foe to Pence: Be Polite, Prepared for Scripted Lines — 'She's a Phony!'

The Republican against whom Kamala Harris eked out a win to become California attorney general warned Vice President Mike Pence to be polite in the debate Wednesday and "be prepared for her scripted lines."

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax, former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said he felt sure Harris "will come up with something dramatic — like that 'I'm that little girl' line she used against Biden" to recall he had opposed school busing in the 1970's, "but it may not be the truth."

"She's a phony," said Cooley, who actually won the race for attorney general on the election night of 2010 over then-San Francisco District Attorney Harris but was counted out when all the provisional ballots came in.

Cooley cautioned Pence to particularly watch "her laugh, which manifests itself in her constant smile. Ms. Harris is always laughing, sometimes at inappropriate moments, because that gives her time to formulate an answer to what is being posed."

Most importantly, in Cooley's view, "the vice president must be polite to her at all times.  He cannot be perceived as a man beating up on a woman."

The former Los Angeles prosecutor recalled how he had one debate with Harris in their 2010 encounter and "I was polite at all times, even though I stated our disagreements on issues such as the death penalty. I also made it clear that she would have trouble leading if she became attorney general."

By that, Cooley explained, "I meant that I was endorsed by 17 out of 18 newspapers in California that made an endorsement and 57 out of 57 law enforcement associations supported me."

He contrasted his "polite" demeanor facing Harris with the way he was in debates with then-Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti a decade earlier.

"I didn't pull any punches with Garcetti," said Cooley, recalling how he brought up everything from his opposition to the "three strikes you're out" sentencing to public corruption in the distric attorney's office under his watch. "But that certainly wasn't the way I debated Harris," he added.

Cooley went on to unseat Garcetti in a landslide. The former district attorney's son Eric Garcetti is now the mayor of Los Angeles.

Noting that Pence has a background as a successful radio talk show host, Cooley told us he felt "he'll do fine if he stays calm. Harris can be very immature and may show her temper.  She's a mean person."

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.