WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s dark warnings about life-or-death risks to American democracy are gone.
Instead, Kamala Harris talks vividly about protecting abortion rights and limiting drug costs, lowering inflation and growing the middle class.
While Biden dwells on the MAGA movement’s threat to democracy, Harris “offers a sunnier vision of a nation made up of”not an enemy, but a neighbor.”
Less than three weeks after Biden dropped out of the presidential race, his successor is in the early stages of reworking his campaign message and making it his own.
Harris is differentiating himself from Biden, strengthening positions that reflect his own priorities and increasing his commitment to running what he calls a “joyful” campaign. He expects to lay out more concrete plans for what he will do early in his term and give voters a clearer picture of how he will govern, people close to him said.
Next week, Harris will begin highlighting parts of the unfinished agenda Biden will champion as president, including universal child care, paid family leave, affordable housing and minimum wage increases, according to a person familiar with the discussions. speaks on condition of anonymity.
“He’s going to say we’re all in this together. Bringing people together is what the country needs, and that’s great politics,” said Jim Messina, who managed Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
No one in Harris’ orbit expects him to reject Biden’s policies. As vice president, Harris is bound by his record — good and bad.
Last campaign ad The Democratic super PAC described how Harris “fought to get the cost of insulin down to $35 a month” — crediting him with what he cited as one of Biden’s longtime signature achievements.
Moreover, Biden and his successor remain on good terms. One of his advisers said that Biden will participate in a campaign event with Harris in the coming weeks. He will also raise money for her and meet with parts of the Democratic coalition to boost her candidacy.
Democratic strategists say Biden is a potentially valuable campaign partner, amid signs his approval rating has risen since he’s no longer on the ballot. When Vice President Al Gore ran for president in 2000, he avoided the notoriously scandal-prone Bill Clinton. Strategists say it would be a mistake for Harris to do something similar.
A Marist College questionnaire Taken after Biden left the race, his approval rating, while still below his disapproval rating, has risen to 46% — the highest in 2½ years.
“He’s comfortable talking to those same voters so he can appeal to the Midwest,” said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist.
Several clues indicate where Harris and Biden’s priorities may diverge. Biden took pains to demonstrate the brick-and-mortar infrastructure improvements he enacted. He was so focused on road projects that former White House chief of staff Ron Klein said he spent a lot of time privately talking about bridges. Audio obtained by Politico.
Harris seems more passionate “care economy” among other things, a set of policies intended to ease the financial burdens of those raising children, caring for the elderly, and the disabled.
His first speeches as the Democratic standard-bearer are aimed at helping middle-class families struggling with high food and gas prices — real problems that concern many voters sooner than the durability of democracy.
Speaking in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Harris vowed to fight for a woman’s freedom to “make decisions about her own body without the government telling her what to do!”
Biden, a practicing Catholic, was struggling with the issue abortion and was concerned about discussing it on the stump. Supporters say that as a woman, Harris can speak more freely about restoring a right that was taken away by a conservative Supreme Court majority.
“Any woman knows what it’s like to have the government tell us what we can do with our bodies,” California Governor Eleni Kounalakis said in an interview. “Whether it is a presidential candidate or a local voter, we understand very well what this issue means to us. So, of course, she is the best champion for the restoration of women’s freedom in this country.”
“Freedom” It’s an umbrella term Harris uses to discuss what’s at stake in the election, including what former President Donald Trump sees as threats to democracy, a member of his team said.
Biden used the same word, although he tended to emphasize the threat posed by Trump, while Harris pointed to the opportunities that would open up if Democrats kept the White House.
Harris mentioned “democracy” only once in a speech in Philadelphia the day after he officially clinched the Democratic Party nomination. And this was in the context of empowering people to decide the future for themselves.
A more prominent part of the speech was how Trump might address health care reform that would ensure coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions.
“The ‘freedom’ he thinks about it is an easier way for people to understand how it affects them personally,” said a member of his team, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions. “‘Freedom’ is an easier way to understand what it means for democracy to be under threat.”
Foreign policy is one arena where Harris may be closest to Biden. A senior White House official said there was not much daylight between them, with both agreeing on the importance of maintaining a network of overseas alliances, the value of which Trump has questioned.
A speech by Harris four days after Biden dropped out of the race suggests a subtle difference in their approach to the war in Gaza.
He echoed many of the arguments Biden made: His support for Israel is unwavering, he said.
But a different point caught the attention of the Arab American public. Harris said he would “not remain silent” on the suffering of Palestinian civilians. His boss, on the other hand, has faced backlash from parts of the Democratic coalition for civilian casualties in Gaza.
“He showed something that the president really struggles with — and that’s empathy,” said Khalid Elgindi, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a foreign policy think tank. “The president really failed to empathize with the Palestinians. And that’s something you can’t fake.”
On July 30, Harris arrived in Atlanta for a rally. While posing for photos offstage, he met with Ruwa Romman, the representative of the Palestinian American state of Georgia.
Romman asked Harris for a few minutes to speak directly, and he agreed. Romman told Harris that Israel’s bombing of Gaza must stop.
“We don’t have a complete idea of what his position is on this issue,” Romman said in an interview. “I think it’s important to at least have someone willing to listen.”