Like the president Joe Biden Advisers fighting to stay in the presidential race this summer have often claimed the existence of a “Biden coalition” — a cohort that only the incumbent could pull together. With the vice president Kamala Harris On top of the Democratic ticket, there has been a shift in focus to those voters, such as white working-class voters, seniors, and union members in places like Pennsylvania.
A pro-Harris super PAC is running a series of ads in heavy rotation during the Major League Baseball playoffs — featuring statements from working-class voters as well as voters who previously said they supported the former president. Donald Trumpthis echoes Biden’s message. A coalition of labor groups targeting unions in battleground states points to Biden’s tenure. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., trained voters who backed Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020 to keep him in the Democratic camp with a populist, progressive pitch based on Biden’s achievements.
And Minnesota Gov. Tim WaltzHarris’ running mate, Biden, has a campaign trail that closely mirrors what he’s experienced in this and previous election cycles. On Friday in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Walz made a case for Biden’s hometown residents for the new Democratic nominee, emphasizing their shared values.
“That patriotism, that fierce patriotism that puts the American people first, is what has guided Kamala Harris throughout her career,” Walz said at the same venue where Biden delivered an economic address in April.
Biden’s advisers insist the president continues to reach key constituencies, albeit in a more under-the-radar fashion. On Friday, he held an official event on tribal lands in Arizona, where he spoke to a group of voters who pitched the state for him four years ago.
Asked who, if not Biden, is speaking to Biden voters, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., replied: “Kamala Harris.” The Harris campaign points to events such as a recent stop at a union hall in Lansing, Michigan, where he highlighted the administration’s record on manufacturing and the critical role of organized labor in supporting the middle class.
Coons noted that the vice president is campaigning in Pennsylvania’s largest cities, but also in places like Wilkes-Barre, Johnstown and Erie to reach the types of voters Biden has long considered key. A longtime friend of Biden said he received numerous questions from Democratic supporters about the president during his last stop in Scranton, which he used to make a different pitch to vote for Harris.
“People, it’s simple. If we lose, it will kill him. Literally,” Coons recalled saying. “If we win, nothing would make him happier.”
Harris has faced a tough balancing act, showing loyalty while building independence from Biden, who continues to suffer in the opinion polls. He has said repeatedly in recent weeks that his presidency will not be an extension of his term. So the president’s allies say efforts to ensure that Biden stalwarts still hear about the president’s economic successes are crucial.
For some of the voters Biden won in 2020, the message moved away from being about him.
“The paradox of this moment is that this administration … will go down as one of the most influential and transformative administrations in history,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “But there is a difference between what would be seen through a historical lens and what is seen now.”
Weingarten noted that Biden tapped Harris to chair the White House Task Force on Labor Organization and Empowerment, saying his union and others are focusing on member-to-member messaging, where the vice president acts as a validator for voters. familiar with him or may hear a counter message from Trump supporters.
“We know him and we’ve worked with him for the last three and a half years and we’ve been his replacements in terms of who he is and what he’s about,” Weingarten said before an event in Scranton. his union’s cross-country bus tour. “In a certain sense, we have become people who can say: ‘He is us and fights for us.'”
A series of ads from Future Forward PAC — a group created to support Biden’s re-election and focused on working to elect Harris — are running ads arguing for tax fairness, a position Biden has put front and center. The ads show a clip of Trump telling campaign donors they are “rich as hell” and will receive tax cuts if elected.
This week in New Hampshire, Biden, along with Sanders, warned of what the Republican administration and Congress could mean for another signature administration achievement: allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
Sanders praised Biden and Harris for “having the courage to be the first administration in the history of this country to stand up to the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.” It was one of two dozen events Sanders has attended around the country since September to highlight a progressive agenda that has been carried out in part under Biden, including stops at campaign offices coordinated by members of the Culinary Union in Nevada and the United Auto Workers. President Shawn Fain in Michigan.
This weekend, Biden will travel to Pittsburgh to meet with members and management of LIUNA, which represents 70,000 workers in the construction and energy industries. The union has held rallies and other organizing events there and in Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada, targeting itself and other union members.
Behind closed doors this week, Biden held separate meetings with union leaders in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to discuss efforts to encourage members to support Harris. He recorded a video and robocall for Senate candidate in his home state of Delaware, Rep. Lisa Blunt of Rochester.
“Biden is achieving more historic results for American families, and every day he’s in office and around the country he’s been highlighting those life-changing benefits and Vice President Harris’ role in delivering them,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.