By Democratic operatives, including members of Kamala Harris’ own staff, are growing increasingly concerned about her limited campaign activity, which has seen her holding fewer public events than Donald Trump and largely avoiding unscripted interactions with voters and the press.
As early voting is already underway in more than half of the country, Harris spent only three days in battleground states during the last week of September. On September 28, Trump delivered a speech in Wisconsin before heading to Alabama to attend the high-profile Georgia-Alabama football game. In contrast, Harris was attending a fundraiser in San Francisco. This contrast is raising concerns within Democratic circles that the vice president’s campaign schedule is not aggressive enough to capitalize on her candidacy, particularly in key swing states, writes Politico.
With early voting by mail and in person already underway in more than half of the country, Harris spent just three days of the last week of September in battleground states. On Sept. 28, when Trump gave a speech in Wisconsin before flying to Alabama for the Georgia-Alabama football game, Harris was attending a fundraiser in San Francisco. And beyond concerns about her schedule, Democrats argue that Harris would benefit from venues that allow her to introduce herself to voters in a more authentic way, such as town hall events, more sit-down interviews and unscripted exchanges with voters.
“There’s a time at which you just have to barnstorm these battlegrounds,” said David Axelrod, the longtime Democratic operative who helped lead Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and was an early critic of President Joe Biden’s campaigning style. “These races are decathlons, and there are a lot of events, and you have to do all of them because people want to test you.”
“It’s the most difficult oral exam on the planet for the most difficult job, and part of that is just that spontaneous — town halls, all kinds of interviews, and not just friendly interviews. OTRs where you interact in a substantive way with people, all of those things are valuable,” he continued. “And I would be doing them if I were her.”
The discussions inside the party speak to the growing anxiety about the state of the race, as polls show Harris and Trump locked in a dead heat across all seven battleground states — and with Democrats haunted by the echoes of Hillary Clinton’s play-it-safe 2016 campaign.
When Harris hit the campaign trail, she spent just half of her post-DNC days holding public-facing events such as rallies, policy speeches, and visits to swing-state small businesses. A significant portion of her time has been spent in Washington.
Comparisons to other recent Democratic nominees highlight the concern: Barack Obama, during the same period in 2008, had just two days without public events, while his schedule was packed with campaign appearances, local stops, and fundraisers. Clinton’s 2016 schedule, on the other hand, more closely mirrors Harris’, with a similar number of days without public events, even during a brief health setback when she was treated for pneumonia.
Democratic strategists argue that Harris could benefit from more authentic venues to introduce herself to voters, including town halls, sit-down interviews, and spontaneous voter interactions.
Since launching her campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris has largely steered clear of national press and tough interviews, opting instead for appearances in non-traditional media outlets. Following the concerns raised by Politico, Harris made an appearance on Alex Cooper’s podcast “Call Her Daddy” and is scheduled to be featured this week on “60 Minutes,” “The View,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and “The Howard Stern Show,” noted The Daily Caller.
“The vice president’s sit-down with Cooper aired Sunday, though it was filmed Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The interview primarily focused on abortion access, a topic Harris has frequently championed and spoken out about throughout the administration.”
The “Call Her Daddy” interview revealed Harris’s biggest problem: she’s almost completely incapable of speaking about issues without sounding like she has no idea what she’s talking about, even abortion.
The Daily Caller wrote that “Cooper told her listeners that she had prepared several different interviews for her sit-down with Harris and debated whether she should talk about issues such as the economy, or fracking — a policy position the vice president has continuously flip-flopped on. The ‘Call Her Daddy’ host said she eventually landed on ‘women’s bodies’ and the issues surrounding the topic such as abortion. Cooper added that former President Donald Trump was welcome to come on her podcast to talk about the same topic.
Social media users and conservative pundits took to Twitter to rip Harris over the interview, criticizing one moment when her and Cooper remarked that there were no laws that control men’s bodies.”
The answer, of course, is registering for Selective Service and potentially being drafted into war, something you’d think the person running to be commander-in-chief would remember.
Call Her Daddy Girl: “Are there any laws that give the government control over a man’s body?”
Kamala Harris: “No”
The correct answer is the draft
pic.twitter.com/zEIUV9mMZN— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) October 6, 2024
The vice president also, at times, seemed confused. For example, when Cooper asked her about taxes, Harris appeared to not understand how tax deductions operate.
It’s clear from this interview Kamala Harris does not understand what a tax deduction is.
She’s repeated the line “you can’t start up any small business with $5,000” multiple times now. She clearly thinks her own policy is for the government to hand out $50K to small businesses. pic.twitter.com/4otO6UIuUk
— Mike Palicz (@Mike_Palicz) October 6, 2024
Things did not get any better when Harris went on “60 Minutes,” either. When asked about why the Biden-Harris administration allowed illegal immigration to quadruple, the vice president offered what was labeled one of the worst answers ever uttered by a presidential candidate.
This might be the worst television interview by a candidate in U.S. presidential history.
Bill Whitaker: “You’ve changed your positions so much that no one believes anything.”
Harris: “Well, I’m the vice president and I travel a lot.”pic.twitter.com/5T33OawnD5
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 8, 2024
Anchor Bill Whitaker also seemed to baffle the Democratic nominee by asking her about the “reality” of governing.
.@60Minutes releases next clip from Harris interview.
Bill Whitaker presses Harris on how she will pay for her economic agenda. pic.twitter.com/AppgSTNVHw
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 7, 2024
Polling has shown increased tightening in the race over the past week or so, which likely forced Harris to actually answer questions in public. A recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll showed a tied race nationally, a number which would likely lead to a Trump victory in the Electoral College.
Harris had previously led the same poll by four points last month.
[Read More: Harris Haunted By Past Comments]
