This text appeared in the ‘Top Story’ email newsletter sent on Aug. 24, 2024.
CHICAGO—After four days of a boisterous Democratic National Convention in Chicago this year, Vice President Kamala Harris is quickly defining herself and her campaign after officially accepting her party’s nomination for president.Harris launched her candidacy on July 21, moments after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her as his successor.
In just four weeks, Harris has slashed leads that former President Donald Trump had on Biden in many national and state-level polls.
The Trump campaign released internal polling showing that the former president enjoys a lead over Harris among Kennedy supporters in seven crucial swing states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
But that poll found that around 15 to 20 percent of voters in those critical states are unsure.
With little more than 70 days remaining before election day, Harris has a truncated window to win over voters in what might be the briefest major-party presidential campaign in modern history.
Speaking with NTD from the convention, Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign advisor Ameshia Cross addressed concerns that Harris’ limited time will affect her viability in November.
“That’s a very short amount of time, but she’s doing the work on the ground,” Cross said.
“She’s got to be in the battleground states, pounding the pavement regularly … She’s got a lot of ground to build in an extremely short amount to do.”
“That’s something that I think has been noticeably more absent from the dialogue this go around,” he told The Epoch Times.
“Health care and people’s access, right to quality and affordable health care is more important than ever.”
Democrat LaShon Bradley told The Epoch Times that the country needs to “have more control” over illegal immigration, suggesting the topic should be a bigger focus for the party.
“There are some people who are really on the fence because [Harris is] not speaking more on that policy,” Bradley said.
Throughout the past month, Harris has campaigned on reproductive rights, gun control, housing affordability, price gouging bans, middle-class tax cuts, voting rights, and immigration reform.
She continued on the campaign trail this week, drawing nearly 19,000 attendees to a rally in Milwaukee on Aug. 20 as former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, gave speeches at the convention.
Harris–Walz campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon told reporters on Aug. 21 that this illustrates the increased level of interest in the campaign since Harris’s nomination.
“Those are voters, and they wanted to be part of this,” Dillon said.
“When you capture a moment in energy—and people will want to join a part of that—we’re going to continue to see that grow.”
Referring to the momentum, award-winning film director Spike Lee told The Epoch Times: “We’re living in it. It’s not over. We got to keep going.”
Ken Kollman, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, said Harris’s messaging must balance mobilizing her base and not being seen as too liberal by swing and battleground state voters.
“It’s a tough needle to thread, but there is a path,” Kollman told The Epoch Times.
“For Harris to get good numbers in the suburbs in the key states, she has to emphasize pragmatism and not being beholden to what is often seen as leftist activist groups.”
Many are waiting to see the split-screen effect of Harris debating Trump on the national stage, which is set to take place on ABC on Sept. 10.
Harris has also been criticized by the media and Republicans, including Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), for not giving any sit-down interviews or extended press conferences since launching her campaign.
Additionally, the few times she has spoken to reporters, the remarks were limited to a few minutes in a handful of briefings as her campaign traveled throughout the country.
The Harris campaign said she plans to conduct one-on-one interviews after the convention.
This year, the convention, which took place in Chicago from Aug. 19–22, saw speeches from Democratic lawmakers, leaders, celebrities, and cultural figures as pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in the streets.
Three presidents spoke this week at the DNC—Obama, Biden, and former President Bill Clinton.
Potential future presidential hopefuls, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, also spoke stumping for the vice president.
