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HOUSTON, Texas – JULY 25: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the American Federation of Teachers' 88th National Convention in Houston, Texas on July 25, 2024. The American Federation of Teachers is the first labor union to endorse Harris since she announced her presidential candidacy. (Photo by Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)
President Biden's selfless decision to drop out of the presidential race paved the way for Kamala Harris to move forward. She quickly seized the opportunity, securing enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination within 48 hours and raising millions of dollars to vigorously attack Donald Trump.
The vice president went after the former president with prosecutorial zeal in a speech at her national campaign headquarters, as she told supporters, “I've fought all kinds of abusers. Predators who abuse women. Scammers who deceive consumers. Charlatans who break the rules for their own personal gain. So hear me when I say I know what a person like Donald Trump is like.”
The presidential race should be a clear and compelling contrast between a veteran prosecutor and a convicted felon. Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, Harris served as the District Attorney of Alameda County (Oakland and its suburbs) and the Attorney General of California. That experience serves her well. Her comments about Trump show that her instincts are squarely on the life of her opponent. Exactly what's needed to defeat a failed former president.
The Democratic Party's new standard-bearer should also channel that enthusiasm into his message on the economy. Greedy corporate executives like Trump have gratified themselves with record profits while hardworking families suffer. The vice president should aggressively go after big corporations, break up corporate trusts, and stop price gouging.
As Biden's poster child for reproductive rights, she is the perfect candidate to counter Republican threats to ban abortion altogether and make family planning and IVF more difficult. It's up to her to remind voters that Trump's Supreme Court picks have stripped away the freedom of choice for millions of women across the country. If Trump's allies in Congress and state legislatures have their way, millions more women face the same fate.
New Democratic candidates need a message that connects these concerns.
Harris' inauguration after Biden's handover of the baton erases the age issue that has dogged the Democratic campaign. She can now play the generational card against the former president: At 59, Harris represents a bright future for America, while at 78, Trump wants to return to a dark chapter in the past.
She should be adamant that she has no intention of returning to the corrupt days of the Nixon dictatorship, with its unlimited capitalism without consumer and worker protections and its shadowy abortion practices.
A new battleground state poll from The Hill shows the two candidates vying for the White House are in a tight race, with Harris receiving more support in all of those states than Biden did two weeks ago. The Democratic surge is being bolstered by increased support from younger voters.
Trump is ahead in North Carolina (9%), Nevada (9%) and Arizona (5%), but is statistically tied in four battleground states – Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania – each with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
North Carolina and Nevada look set to be tough battles, but Harris still has hopes in the Sun Belt states of Georgia and Arizona, three Frost Belt states that remain at stake for the Democratic candidate.
It's time for Democrats to go back to basics. In four of these five states, the economy remains the top issue. In Arizona, immigration is the top issue, followed by the economy. Threats to democracy are not a major concern for voters in any state.
St. Louis Governor Josh Shapiro would be a strong running mate for Harris. Like Harris, Shapiro served as the state's attorney general before taking on the senior role. Shapiro is the most popular Democratic governor in battleground states. In Pennsylvania, he is more popular than Arizona's Katie Hobbs, Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer and Wisconsin's Tony Evers.
There are very few undecided voters in these states. These battleground voters are few in number, but they have a big influence on the outcome because the races are close. They are concerned about Donald's qualifications, but they are not so impressed with Harris. Harris' job is to paint a personal image for them and quickly paint it on the electoral canvas.
The VP has a lot to do and not much time. The road ahead is tough, but the race against Trump is fierce. Harris has made a strong start, but now she needs to finish strong.
Brad Bannon is a Democratic pollster, CEO of Bannon Communications Research, and host of the popular progressive podcast “Deadline DC with Brad Bannon” about power, politics and policy.
