Kamala Harris Accused Of Copying Biden’s Script On Policies – Democrat Party Unhappy

Daily Report August 15,2024

Vice President Kamala Harris is following the same script, showing the same support for much of President Biden’s policies. That pivot, however, has produced a campaign that now appears to put style over substance since Harris took the Democratic nomination at last month’s convention from Biden.

Still, Democratic campaign insiders caution that the move could turn into a boomerang if voters see it as political opportunism.

“It’s a marketing strategy that is TV-esque,” one senior Democratic aide said. “With such a short timeline now, policy matters less than personality.

A separate Democratic operative said Harris is focused on the fact that Biden’s “terrible” polling numbers and she would be wise to separate herself in terms of strategy from the economic messaging, even if it means repudiating some administration talking points that have matched less well with public attitudes.

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Harris, 59, is also distancing herself from a number of progressive causes that she embraced when running for the Democratic presidential nomination in last year’s campaign — including her call for Medicare-for-all to provide federal health-care coverage and bills sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), support Court packing, banning fracking, and more.

“As far as Harris distancing from Biden, she was going to do that,” the campaign operative said, noting that Democrats have been energized by the opportunity to redefine the 2024 race.

“It wasn’t called Harrisflation,” the operative added, in reference to the “Bidenflation” moniker that Republicans have put on the 81-year-old president.

Now, Harris is trying to appeal even more directly to the kind of moderate swing voters who were disgusted by Trump’s boorishness and rudeness — this time talking about inflation, rising prices, and pledging just like Trump did on tipping promises for service/hospitality workers in battleground states including Nevada.

Harris has also been skipping major media interviews and is perceived in some corners as being unengaged on policy discussions, a senior Democratic aide said this month — an approach which the aide described at the time as buying her “time to get your story straight later.”

Republican vice-presidential hopeful JD Vance also attacked her, claiming “all of it was fake” of her campaign and that the constant campaigning she aimed to make about “joy” and “fun” were themselves not authentic.

According to a recent Financial Times poll, voters give Harris the slightest edge over Trump on handling of the economy: 31% vs. 29%, even though a larger plurality think they would be worse off financially under Biden (43%) than in their estimation of how things will shake out with her running mate again occupying the Oval Office full-time (39%).