Harris risks ignoring voter concerns in final stretch, as she falls back on Biden’s attack rhetoric

Vice President Kamala Harris seems to be ignoring voter demands for substance on policies in final campaign stretch and has fallen back to rhetoric reminiscent of President Joe Biden’s harsh anti-Trump rhetoric. But with polling data showing voters still know little about her plans in the final days of the campaign, her approach -- switching from "vibes of joy" and "brat summer" to fear mongering --  risks turning off engaged voters near the finish line.

While Republicans have long attacked Harris for ducking tough interviews and refusing to engage with the media on substance, her recent CNN town hall has even Democrats joining the chorus chastising her lack of substance.

“When she doesn't want to answer a question, her habit is to kind of go to word salad city,” said longtime Obama advisor David Axelrod of her performance. “She would acknowledge no concerns about any of the administration's policies and that's a mistake. Sometimes you have to concede things.”

The event saw Harris slide into hyperbole, calling former President Donald Trump a “fascist”, and disparaging the MAGA movement as undemocratic in its ambitions. The rhetorical shift drew comparisons to Biden’s. Wednesday evening marked the first time Harris publicly described Trump as such.

There is “a legitimate fear, based on Donald Trump's words and actions,” she said, “that he will not obey an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

“And she sounded, in short, an awful lot like JOE BIDEN. That’s a surprise,” read Politico Playbook. The outlet contrasted Harris’s initial rhetoric of dismissing Trump as “petty” with Biden’s manner of portraying Trump as a larger, more existential threat to the nation.

"I'm not Joe Biden"

The outlet further highlighted the risks of embracing the campaign approach of a candidate who failed to convince the public he was the preferred option over Trump. Harris herself was quick to try to distance herself from Biden upon taking the top spot on the Democratic ticket. In her interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, when asked what changes she would make from Biden, she replied "I’m obviously not Joe Biden."  Even far-left documentarian Michael Moore, responding to that statement on his podcast demanded from Harris: "Prove it."

Biden embraced fiery rhetoric ahead of the 2022 midterms and through the duration of his own presidential campaign, often telling supporters that “Democracy is on the ballot” and denouncing “extreme MAGA Republicans.” His State of the Union address this year, moreover, went a step further, drawing exclamations from both sides of the aisle.

Harris’s embrace of Biden's anti-Trump rhetoric may further complicate her efforts at self-definition. The vice president has somewhat struggled to characterize her relationship with the current commander-in-chief, often portraying herself as a driving force behind the administration’s key policies while simultaneously asserting that she represents a genuine change.

Harris has already struggled to emulate Biden’s successful 2020 “hiding in the basement” strategy. The current president famously eschewed large campaign events and minimized his time in the spotlight, lowering the risk of major gaffes and effectively allowing his status as a known commodity to carry the day.

Disastrous media blitz

The vice president initially attempted to do the same, drawing backlash from Republicans, but ultimately her Democratic allies began to realize that Harris could not repeat Biden’s success with Biden’s strategy. The basement strategy was a success for Biden in 2020, but when he abandoned it in 2024, driven in part by the need to showcase his fitness to remain in office, his disastrous debate performance led to his ouster from the ticket altogether.

In a sense, Harris followed suit by embracing a widely panned media blitz in which she made a number of awkward gaffes and drew flak from many directions. With the exception of Fox News, Harris' handlers chose to position her in front of friendly, if not supportive outlets such as NBC, CNN, and niche podcasters and late night hosts. 

“The more interviews Kamala Harris does, the weaker a presidential candidate she seems,” said Piers Morgan. “Just endless word salad bilge. Democrats must be kicking themselves they didn’t have a proper contest to replace Biden.” In addition, traditionally left-leaning publications such as The Washington Post "fact checked" statements she made on that tour, and found a number of distortions, exaggerations, and outright falsehoods.

Claiming the title of "Change candidate"

Recent polling data suggests there remains a potentially decisive voter block that wants more information about Harris in order to form a clear opinion. While 86% of respondents in a Wall Street Journal survey, conducted Oct. 19-22, said they knew enough about Harris to have a firm opinion, a further 13% of the electorate said they did not.

Such a percentage far exceeds differences in polling for every major swing state, suggesting that Harris does have an audience should she work to more clearly define herself and her policies.

At present, however, Trump appears to be the “change” candidate in the eyes of the electorate, with 49% saying he would bring about “needed change” compared to 40% who said the same of Harris. More respondents (45%) also said that Trump has a clear vision for the future than Harris (43%).

She also appears more “inconsistent” in the eyes of voters, as 45% affixed the label to her than to Trump, with 42% saying the same of him. Crucially, 54% of respondents said that “Kamala Harris will largely continue the approach and policies of the Biden administration” while just 41% said she “will bring fresh ideas and new leadership to the White House.”

With fewer than two weeks remaining and early voting already underway, Harris has precious little time to change public perception of herself and her candidacy and to convince voters that she represents a shift from Biden. But emulating his attack-mode rhetoric and declining to present herself in detail to an audience seeking substance may not be helping her case.