Three weeks into Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, her new pollsters—previously part of the Biden campaign—conducted a thorough analysis with her inner circle to review her public messaging.
The feedback was mixed: while there was praise, there were also suggestions for improvement. Veteran Democratic strategist Geoff Garin advised Harris to move away from the phrase “We’re not going back,” suggesting it lacked a forward-looking vision. He also recommended avoiding what he called “weird” rhetoric, which he felt was too negative.
Harris’s team took the feedback under consideration but chose to stick with the messaging that resonated with her supporters in the arenas. When her advisers relayed the pollsters’ suggestions, Harris, according to CNN sources who spoke with multiple insiders, decided to trust her own instincts rather than conform to the pollsters’ advice, overcoming the self-doubt she had long grappled with.
In just four weeks since her campaign launch, Harris has surprised even her closest allies with her transformation. Many political analysts who had initially discounted her have been taken aback by her newfound confidence and effectiveness, noting her strikingly improved presence and messaging onstage.
Part of the strategy behind Kamala Harris's approach was to limit her public appearances and avoid interviews, ensuring that her only major unscripted moment occurred on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base. There, she welcomed the Americans returning from President Joe Biden’s multilateral prisoner swap. During this appearance, her remarks—“This is just an extraordinary testament to a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances”—were quickly seized upon by Republican National Committee operatives and others for criticism, highlighting her somewhat jumbled syntax.
While several Democratic officials have privately expressed concerns that Kamala Harris’s recent turnaround might set the party up for trouble if she falters, Harris is not merely riding the wave of Democratic optimism that followed Biden’s departure. Instead, she feels a new sense of freedom campaigning on her own terms, rather than adjusting her message to fit around Biden’s.
“This is her authentic voice. When she says, ‘I will sign this into law,’ those are promises she hasn’t been able to make before,” said Erin Wilson, her deputy chief of staff, who has been instrumental in managing Harris’s political relationships over the past two years.
“It was her role to be the strong partner Joe Biden needed in his administration,” noted Daniele Monroe-Moreno, Nevada Democratic Party chair and a state representative who has known Harris since before her vice presidency. “Now the spotlight is on her, and you can sense a renewed confidence in her.”
Harris is also benefiting from a quietly revamped internal operation and a close-knit team of advisers who meet regularly at her dining room table at the Naval Observatory. This location remains central to her campaign, while the staff based at the Wilmington headquarters, established by Biden, handles campaign operations.
These advisers are the core of her strategy. They have been working on debate preparations and other plans independently, even before Biden’s debates were underway.
A Brain Trust at Her Dinner Table, Separate from Wilmington HQ
Unlike Harris’s previous campaign, which unraveled amid self-doubt, second-guessing, and internal conflicts over ideas and messaging, her current campaign is characterized by its brisk pace and lack of time for indecision. With the race moving quickly, she hasn’t had the opportunity to bring new people into her inner circle.
As a result, despite her previous reputation for muddled messaging and indecision, this campaign is notable for being one of the least message-tested Democratic presidential campaigns in decades. Instead of spending months refining a stump speech, Harris had just about 26 hours from learning she would run for president to delivering her first major campaign address, broadcast live from her new Wilmington headquarters.
The speech was crafted in part from prep sessions led by Harris’s chief of staff, Lorraine Voles, and shaped by her team, including volunteer consultant Sean Clegg, former policy adviser Rohini Kosoglu, and long-time Democratic debate expert Karen Dunn. Brian Fallon, who came on board in January as Harris’s campaign communications director, quickly assembled the speech from lines Harris had developed and others the team had helped create.
Even one of her signature lines, “I know Donald Trump’s type,” was a last-minute adjustment.
Standing in a Wilmington hold room and reviewing her prepared remarks about her prosecutorial background, Harris said, “I want to say something like, ‘I know his type,’ but more eloquent.”
Her communications director, Kirsten Allen, replied, “Just say that: ‘I know Donald Trump’s type.’”
By the time Harris used the line at a Philadelphia rally two weeks later, the crowd was already cheering before she reached the punchline.
To Anita Dunn, the recently departed top Biden adviser, Harris’s current performance on the campaign trail should be expected by anyone who has observed her determined efforts to revitalize her image.
Dunn noted that Harris’s experiences offer her distinct advantages at this moment. “Nothing prepares you to run for president like running for president. Plus, having served as vice president for three and a half years provides a depth and foundation that's hard to replicate. And unlike most vice presidents, she doesn’t face the issue of being seen as just more of the same because she is clearly positioning herself as a force for change.”
Emerging from her early psychological retreat
Bruised and grappling with the challenges of her first year as vice president, Kamala Harris found herself distrusting everyone around her—Biden’s West Wing staff, reporters, and even her own instincts.
The strategy was to prepare for a 2028 presidential bid while neutralizing any primary challengers. The key to this plan was pulling Harris out of her psychological bunker.
In the summer of her first year, Voles, an aide with a history of presidential experience dating back to the Clinton administration and someone trusted by Dunn, came on board as an adviser to help navigate the chaos. Voles’ promotion to chief of staff in April 2022 was a signal that Harris needed a more profound overhaul than merely swapping out top press aides and other staff members who had already rotated through.
The changes included operational adjustments like merging the scheduling and advance teams and establishing a robust in-house online outreach operation. Strategically, the focus was on pushing Harris to agree to more interviews, despite her reluctance, both to give her more practice and to mitigate the impact of her inevitable mistakes. There was also an emphasis on rekindling the qualities that initially made her a compelling candidate, aiming to remind her and others of the strengths that had brought her onto the ticket and her ability to connect with voters when she stepped out from the shadows.
Aides turned Harris’ focus on abortion rights into a strategic asset for organizing. While there were some rallies, her efforts were primarily centered around meetings with faith leaders and state legislators, both in Washington and on the road. The goal was to leave attendees with a more favorable impression of her. Given that her speeches had not been as impactful, the team shifted to moderated conversations in front of supportive audiences, hoping to capture compelling moments for social media.
Wilson, the deputy chief of staff, and other aides identified potential future convention delegates and primary challengers, booking them onto Air Force Two. Each airport arrival featured a lineup of officials for her to greet, and every photo opportunity after events was carefully curated with local politicians, business owners, and student leaders. By Christmas 2023, receptions at the Naval Observatory had ramped up significantly, with two and a half weeks of multiple daily events, including hot chocolate bars, photos with Harris and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and souvenir aprons.
Megan Jones, a seasoned strategist from Nevada who had worked on Harris' previous campaign and joined her office in 2022, emphasized the need for a push. “When you’re building a car, if you put the gas in the tank, it’s going to move,” Jones said. “We just needed the gas — because we built it.”
Jones, alongside new senior adviser Stephanie Young, initiated college tours to brand Harris effectively. These tours not only created built-in audiences and allowed for multiple stops on a unified theme but also targeted a demographic that would be crucial for future primaries.
Harris often remarked on how college students already received extensive lectures in their classes. “They get that in their college classes all day,” she would say, according to an aide. Her team responded by stressing the need for her to be engaging and disciplined with her messaging. They focused on simple themes like “freedom” and emphasized the tangible benefits of Biden’s policies, such as lead pipe replacements and tax credits for electric cars, rather than abstract legislative terms.
Despite her growing anxiety that Biden’s messaging wasn’t resonating with voters, Harris’s team, led by Voles with his background in campaign communications, pushed for greater media exposure. They abandoned a previous policy of limiting off-the-record conversations on Air Force Two and embraced local interviews, contrary to initial concerns about muddling the message.
Harris herself requested more drive-time radio appearances, but the team primarily focused on influencer conversations and targeted media like podcasts. Aides now admit they were creating “echo chambers.”
Data from early focus groups confirmed Harris was performing better among young, Black, and Latino voters compared to Biden. Analysis from key states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada indicated that these efforts were paying off.
By late summer 2022, as COVID-19 receded and Biden was concluding a legislative agenda that had often kept Harris on standby in Washington, she informed her aides of her desire to hit the road at least two days a week (and most Saturdays) in preparation for the midterms. While Biden had assigned her the roles of addressing migration’s root causes and voting rights, she had quickly positioned herself as a leading advocate for abortion rights following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Alongside her team, she focused on other key issues resonating with the Democratic base and particularly the younger generation: climate change, small business support, and maternal health.
Harris understood that if Biden were to lose to Trump, her own political future would likely be at risk.
“Our two destinies are tied,” she repeatedly told her advisers, according to several accounts.
Voles and campaign chief of staff Sheila Nix worked to help Harris and her team navigate this precarious balance. However, as late as July, concerns among some of Biden’s aides about Harris’s potential shortcomings were significant enough to influence his decision to stay in the race. These concerns were widespread; by spring, many top Democratic operatives were still doubtful about Harris and her team, expressing skepticism about her ability to endure the Democratic primaries in 2028.
The context of this campaign was crucial, particularly regarding Harris’s laugh. For years, it had been mocked by Republicans and sympathetic media as forced, often labeled a “cackle” by critics. Now, her campaign was working to reframe it as a symbol of the positive energy she aimed to convey.
“The quirks and her humor and the way she presents herself,” noted Robert Garcia, the freshman California congressman who had grown close to Harris when he was mayor of Long Beach, “are now being seen as endearing and hopeful by today’s audience.”
.webp)
0 Comments