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Vice President Kamala Harris is preparing for a Democratic National Convention like no other, as she prepares to deliver an acceptance speech nearly a month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Managing her introduction to voters ahead of the post-Labor Day campaign is a complex task. Democrats must decide how to brand her, tell her story, and position her politically, not just in her speech but in their entire platforms.
“I think she needs to be positioned as what I know her to be, which is a pragmatic, hands-on leader who will fight for the concerns of everyday Americans,” said Ashley Etienne, the vice president’s former communications director. The conference should “lean into being a prosecutor, but one that stands up to corporate greed on behalf of the common man,” she said.
Compared to the Trump-focused Republican convention, Democrats also have a long list of political heavyweights — the Obamas, the Clintons, the Bidens — who will need significant stage time and more press attention. They will all have to stay on the same page to make sure they consistently elevate, rather than overshadow, Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.
“The conference gives people guidance on what areas they should focus on,” Etienne said. “I think this is a big, important moment, where everyone will stick to the message and the script. I think there is a lot to lose and a lot of momentum to waste, and no silly mistakes should be made, and no ego should be allowed to spoil it.”
At the same time, conference organizers will need to make room for fierce competition among rising stars, speakers targeting narrower constituencies, and some potential appearances by some big-name celebrities.
“Yes, we’re going to hear from the Obamas and the Clintons, but I want to hear from Governor Gretchen Whitmer, I want to hear from Pete Buttigieg, and I want to hear from Governor Shapiro,” said Quentin James, founder and chairman of the political action group Collective. “President Biden was one of the last original leaders of this demographic of Democrats, and now Vice President Harris is going to lead a whole generation of people.”
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Harris will get some distance between herself and Joe Biden at next week's convention, which the current president will attend on the first night of the rally in Chicago.
It’s a departure from the tradition of having the incumbent headline the night before the nominee, and a step toward one goal Democrats believe is crucial to the momentous convention: cementing Harris’s independent identity. The timing gives Democrats a chance to praise Biden — Harris led a crowd in chants of “Thank you, Joe!” at their event in Maryland on Thursday — before devoting full-time attention to the incumbent ticket.
There are lesser-known figures who could help engage specific blocs of voters. New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam, a member of the Central Park Five, has been invited to speak, and could help counter Trump’s attempts to reach out to black men if he accepts the invitation. One Democrat suggested highlighting ordinary Americans who have benefited from Harris’s record—like a homeowner who was part of the Central Park Five. $20 billion settlement She has received funding from major banks because of foreclosure violations or from a beneficiary of the administration’s student debt relief programs. There is speculation that the conference will include at least one “anti-Trump” Republican who could speak to a narrow swath of conservative opponents and potentially persuadable Nikki Haley voters.
“She needs to excite the base, but she has to convince us that there is room in our tent for… [roughly] 20% of Republicans who Vote against Trump “In the primary,” Democratic strategist and former Biden campaign official Caitlin Legacki told Semaphore.
Harris, for her part, has begun laying out a more specific economic platform ahead of the convention, emphasizing direct tax benefits for parents, workers and homebuyers and a populist stance against “price gouging.” At the same time, she has abandoned some of the more left-leaning proposals from her previous presidential campaign, and has been using her ads to shift to a border security message and present herself as a tough-on-crime prosecutor.
So far, Democrats have given Harris plenty of room to craft a brand that can win over swing voters, and the convention will be her most watched opportunity yet to allay remaining concerns from moderates.
“Only a fool refuses to change,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri, told Semaphore.
Keeping progressives motivated may be easier this time than the last time she ran for president in 2019. Some of the more crowd-pleasing elements on the left tend to do well in the polls—even relatively centrist groups like the Reid Hoffman-backed polling firm Blueprint have been acclaim On her offer.
“I honestly think the country is now in a major progressive position where I think it’s going to be able to come out and speak out forcefully about its history versus the greed of big business,” said Jesse Lee, a former senior Biden campaign official. “It’s something that might have been seen as left-wing in the past, but it’s really where people are.”
A view from the conference organizers
“We’ve spent the past year building a stage in Chicago for our candidates to tell their story to the country,” Matt Hill, senior communications director for the Democratic National Convention Committee, told Semaphore. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s historic record and victories for the American people will remain central to this story. We’re excited to welcome delegates from every state and territory in the nation as they rally around the Harris-Waltz ticket and their bold, optimistic vision for the future—a stark contrast to the Trump-Vance 2025 agenda that sets us back in extremism and chaos.”
Republicans' Viewpoint
“At the Republican National Convention, we told stories about everyday Americans who captured hearts,” Danielle Alvarez, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, told Semaphore. “The celebrity was President Donald J. Trump, who had just survived an assassination attempt. The conversation at our convention focused on the policies and leadership of Donald J. Trump that everyone is ready to get back to. This Democratic National Convention will ignore everyday Americans and focus on Hollywood elites in hopes of drawing attention to Kamala Harris and obscuring her policies, proposals, and miserable failures over the past four years.”
noteworthy
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There is one wild card that worries Democrats: the protesters. Semaphore's David Weigel reports on the latest developments from pro-Palestinian and anti-war organizers, who expect tens of thousands of marchers in Chicago.
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Politico spoke to Democratic delegates who were thrilled about Harris' nomination, but I'm still worried About narrow elections“We can’t be lazy and assume we’re going to have a big party and we’re going to elect Democrats,” said New York Assemblywoman Grace Lee.
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