WASHINGTON — With just two weeks left in the 2024 campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris currently has no plans to appear on the trail with President Joe Biden before Election Day, according to three Harris campaign officials and three White House officials.
Instead, Biden plans to help Harris this week by drawing on his longstanding political connections, particularly with labor leaders, and holding official White House events highlighting his administration’s record. According to him, the calendar of the last week before the election has not been determined yet.
The strategy was developed in coordination between aides to Harris and Biden, who now believe “the most important role he can play is to do his job as president,” said one White House official, as did others in this article. granted anonymity to speak candidly.
“He’s working there as president, and he’s campaigning there,” he said, adding, “It’s clear voters want something new.”
One Harris campaign official described Biden’s role for the rest of the campaign as “tailored.”
That’s a markedly diminished position in the 2024 campaign for a president who, until just a few months ago, was at the top of the Democratic ticket. It comes as Harris tries to convince voters in the final days before the election that he is not representing a second Biden term and is instead a candidate for change. Aides to Harris believe the message could be undermined by campaign photos of her with the president.
“Harris has to establish himself as an agent of change, and that’s hard to do with a president sitting next to him,” said one longtime Democratic strategist.
Harris has at times struggled to articulate how he would differ from Biden and has tried to be more definitive in recent days.
“Let me be very clear: my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” Harris said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
Harris promised a “new generation of thinking.” This was reported by NBC News “There’s no question that I bring my experiences and my life experiences,” he said in an interview on Friday.
Still, the Trump campaign tried to cast Harris as a candidate for change by tying him to Biden and the boots of his tenure, especially when it comes to two key issues for voters: the economy and immigration.
“They don’t know what a good economy is,” Trump said during the September debatesIt tied Harris for Biden’s record. “And remember this: He’s Biden.”
Biden’s unpopularity has made him more marginalized on the campaign trail, officials said. a A new survey from NBC Newsonly 25% of voters said Biden’s presidency would help them and their families, while 45% said his stay in office would hurt them. On the other hand, when it comes to Trump’s time in office, 43% of voters said it helped them and their families, while 31% said his presidency hurt them.
Biden has aides expressed his concerns According to a second campaign official and a second White House official, Harris told the campaign not to emphasize more of the president’s accomplishments, including low inflation and border crossings and a high stock market. Officials, aides to the president argued, would help Harris.
But Harris’ team decided to launch a promising campaign that was necessary Some distance from Biden — including physically on the trail.
A Harris campaign official said internal campaign data showed that messages about Biden’s policies while in office are not resonating with voters as they did before the president left the race in July. The official said there was little desire within the campaign for the vice president to appear at events or rallies with Biden.
So while Harris is set to campaign this week with former President Barack Obama in Georgia on Thursday and former first lady Michelle Obama in Michigan on Saturday, he plans to hold the only official White House events focused on specific policy issues the Biden administration is trying to address. , such as prescription drug costs during a trip to New Hampshire.
The president also plans to reach out behind the scenes this week to labor leaders in battleground states, which have strong ballot efforts, a White House official said.
Biden is also likely to be seen at political events over the next two weeks, perhaps with an eye on adults, such as the one he headlined at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall with the Philadelphia Democrats last Tuesday. He is expected to use himself as an example of how this separation is possible, continuing to emphasize how Harris’ presidency will not be extended. At the Philadelphia event, Biden publicly said he expected Harris to “get his way.”
Citing recent hurricane responses in Florida and North Carolina, it could also be an asset for President Harris by keeping the government running smoothly, campaign officials said — a resolution to a potentially economically devastating dock workers’ strike and diplomatic efforts to keep the war between Israel and Israel at bay. Hamas is spreading throughout the Middle East.
“The White House is just smart to do his job,” the Democratic strategist said.
Biden was last seen with Harris at a campaign event about seven weeks ago. On Labor Day in early September. That’s in contrast to Barack Obama, who has chaired a number of Harris campaign events, and former President Bill Clinton, who is in the running for vice president. First lady Jill Biden has also hosted several events for the Harris campaign and is set to follow in his footsteps again in Nevada on Wednesday.
White House and campaign officials say the president understands the strategy behind his reduced role in the campaign, even if he didn’t like it at times.
For Biden, who plans to stay in the United States through the election after a brief trip abroad last week, his 2024 campaign role embodied one of his longtime political maxims: “Whatever helps, I’m going to campaign for you or against you. most of them.”