It took over a month for the Harris-Walz campaign website to list Vice President Kamala Harris’s stances on the issues. In the 66 days since she became the official Democratic Nominee for President, Harris has yet to hold an official press conference either. How is Harris getting her message out to the American people then? Through “the vibes”. For the Harris campaign, issues are not what is important, “the vibe” is.
From Tik-Tok dances to calling support for two-parent families “weird” the Harris campaign has taken a strategy that the campaign for Commander-In-Chief is more about developing a social persona than a political one. Governor Tim Walz has bought into this vision implicitly.
“I don’t know who came up with the message, but I salute them,” said David Karpf, a strategic communication professor at George Washington University, adding that, “it frustrates opponents, leading them to further amplify it through off-balance responses.”
Kamala Harris’s liberal roots are strong with Republicans labeling her tenure in the Senate as one of the most liberal.
“There is no liberal horse that she has chosen not to ride,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Pundits have encouraged her to push forward with a Progressive agenda even as outlets such as The New Yorker advocate for the campaigns to pivot center in an effort to win Middle America swing voters.
The bump in the polls Harris received immediately following Joe Biden’s withdrawal has nearly evaporated as Republicans targeted Harris’s policy with a barrage of attacks. Walz does not help in those polls.
As governor, Walz signed a law requiring public schools to stock female hygiene products in boys’ bathrooms. The majority, 68 percent, of Americans oppose medical gender transitioning for minors, so the campaign knows the issue does not win, and that is just one of the issues Progressives are struggling to sell to voters.
The platform that Kamala Harris ran on in 2020 polls poorly across America and in swing states like Georgia and both she and Walz have records that prove unpopular. But they do have personality. Thus “the vibe” campaign.
Democratic surrogates are quickly leaning into the campaign strategy branding Harris/Walz as the Cool Aunt and “Cool dad energy.” Aside from her policies, Harris has faced criticism for creating toxic work environments and Walz for failed crime and economic policies, but the Harris campaign knows how to “vibe.”
The current strategy worked well for Joe Biden who won in 2020 largely off what pundits called a basement campaign – refusing to appear in public or in press conferences.
Will this strategy work again? Can “the vibes” propel the current Vice President into the Commander-in-Chief position? The American people will decide that in just 40 days.
