Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. Vice President Kamala Harris has been successful in energizing the Democratic base with a new campaign strategy that includes calling Donald Trump and his team “weird,” “old,” and “creepy.” Kayla Wolf/AP Vice President Kamala Harris has only been campaigning for president for about a week. Her team has been successful in generating much-needed energy among the Democratic base. Campaign experts say Harris is better able to attack Trump than Biden, who has more political problems.
Days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and his running mate, Kamala Harris, rose to the top of the Democratic field, the vice president quickly launched a dramatically different campaign, generating an energy that was sorely lacking among his base.
She has received support from business leaders and pop stars alike, raised record amounts of money through grassroots donors and turned around national poll numbers that had faltered under Biden.
While the people running her campaign haven’t changed, the methods and style have — and it’s something the Biden campaign couldn’t do because of the president’s political challenges, campaign experts told Business Insider.
“A very efficient campaign, not just publicly but privately, took control and started making big changes to the message, the candidates and everything,” said Republican strategist Evan Siegfried.
One of the most notable changes for Harris has been her tone and how her campaign has sought to contrast her with her opponent.
In Biden’s case, Siegfried said the comparisons often focused on the president’s record and Trump’s dangerous impact on democracy. When Biden did resort to jokes, they often sounded like outdated tropes, such as casting Trump as a “stray cat morality.”
Some of that messaging remains the same for Harris, but voters are also seeing her campaign hurling more direct insults at Trump and his team, calling them “old,” “weird” and “creepy.”
A blatant attack on Trump
“Mr. Trump is old and has changed a lot,” the memo from Harris’ campaign said.
Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, of Ohio, is also “weird” but “creepy,” another Harris campaign press release said, refuting Vance’s anti-abortion views and comments he made in 2021 about single, “childless catwomen” holding America back.
Christian Gross, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California, said Harris allows Democrats to challenge Trumpworld in a way that Biden couldn’t because of his age and popularity.
“I think she has more flexibility because she’s not totally tied to the Biden message,” Gross said.
Siegfried, the Republican strategist, sees two more immediate opportunities to attack Trump while galvanizing his base: propelling him into a debate and choosing the right running mate.
With Trump wavering over a debate with a new challenger, Siegfried said Harris has the opportunity to “mentally torture” her opponent until he agrees to take the stage.
The Harris campaign has already sent out a fundraising email with the subject line, “What happened to ‘Anytime, Anywhere’?”
“Weird” might be effective
Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, told BI in an email that Harris’ attacks on Trump have “become sharper and more targeted, and the Trump campaign is trying to figure out how best to respond.”
“Harris’s great strength is that Trump has not demonized or attacked her the way he has done with Joe Biden over the past eight years,” Panagopoulos wrote. “That the Trump campaign is being forced to change course so late presents a challenge.”
Democratic strategist Tim Hogan told Politico that Harris’ message is effective because it’s “simple” and reflects “how we talk to our neighbors about the crazy political climate we live in.”
Election experts who spoke with BI said the attacks appear to be working so far, but they also acknowledged that voters are still watching the early signs of the Harris campaign, and with just 100 days until the election, messaging could change quickly.
“They’re going to experiment,” Gross said. “You’re going to see more of these from Harris, but she might change her tone. It’s kind of crazy for a campaign to go from zero to 60 in one day.”
Siegfried said Harris’ running mate, who he expects to announce in the next week or so, could also be an opportunity to galvanize the race by selecting someone with broad support.
Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Harris’ campaign has narrowed its list of candidates to three: Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.
“Something has to be done to keep the momentum going, keep the energy going,” Siegfried said. “This is about a war dominating the headlines, in a good way.”
A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
