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Harris speaks to a specific group of undecided voters in the final argument

Online Niel October 30, 2024

WASHINGTON ― Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign targets two different audiences that make up a small portion of undecided voters that could tilt the election as the Democratic nominee closes the race with a warning about putting Donald Trump back in the White House.

As Harris sharpened his anti-Trump rhetoric − labeling him a fascist – some democratic allies they questioned a Trump-centric strategyconsidering it a risk for Harris to focus on the character of the former president and the Republican nominee.

Republican critics charged the vice president to forego “joy” as he prepares to deliver his “closing argument” speech at the Ellipse in Washington DC, the same venue where Trump gave his speech on January 6, 2021, before his supporters attack the Capitol.

However, in an election that is historically close in seven battleground states, the Democratic nominee’s bottom line — that he views Trump as too dangerous to hold office — is destined to directly appeal to about 3 percent to 5 % of the electorate whose minds are not made up. increased or may change a week before Election Day, according to a Harris campaign official.

One camp is “convincing participation” of voters, the official said. That includes young voters, voters of color and others who are inclined to vote for Harris but need to be motivated. The group includes so-called “low information voters” who don’t follow the daily campaign news closely.

The second group is made up of more engaged traditional voters — independent voters and suburban Republicans who might have backed Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary against Trump but disagree with Harris. Many of these people voted Democratic in the 2022 midterm elections, driven in large part by the abortion issue following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’ campaign chairman, said on a call with reporters Tuesday that presidential campaigns historically only focus on get-out-the-vote efforts so close to Election Day. But she said that in addition to mobilizing, the Harris campaign remains in persuasion mode.

“We know there’s really this segment of undecided voters that is open to — and frankly after this weekend — maybe some new voters that are open to supporting us,” O’Malley Dillon said, referencing Trump’s campaign rally Sunday night at Madison Square Garden in New York which has received bipartisan backlash for its racist tropes and vitriol.

“These are very much the people I’ve talked to all the time,” O’Malley Dillon said of the two different camps. “And there’s no question that we believe we have an opportunity to chip away at Trump’s past support.”

Trump says Harris is running on ‘campaign of hate’

A USA TODAY/Suffolk University national surveytaken between October 14 and 18, found 5 percent of the likely electorate was undecided in a race Harris led 45 percent to 44 percent over Trump. A New York Times/Siena College polltaken Oct. 20-23, found Harris and Trump tied at 48 percent nationally among likely voters, with less than 4 percent undecided.

More than 50 million people across the country voted early ahead of the Nov. 5 election, according to tracking from University of Florida Election Lab.

The seven battleground states expected to decide the election — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — are all within 1 or 2 percentage points, according to to the FiveThirtyEight average of recent polls.

Trump accused Harris of running a “campaign of hate” during remarks to supporters at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, ahead of his Democratic rival’s Ellipse speech. Trump’s campaign landed on a closing message “Harris broke it, Trump will fix it” seeking to tie Harris to Biden’s unpopularity and poor record on handling the economy and immigration.

“They are engaged in a campaign of ‘immoralization’ and really a campaign of destruction,” Trump said Tuesday morning. “But really, maybe more than anything else, it’s a hate campaign. It is an absolute hate campaign.

Harris’ effort to portray Trump as dangerous comes as the former president’s approval ratings stand higher than when he ran for re-election in 2020 while leading the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic . The New York Times/Siena College poll found that Trump is viewed favorably by 48% of likely voters and unfavorably by 50%. Trump was viewed favorably by 43% of voters and unfavorably by 54% in the final Times poll ahead of the 2020 election.

In his closing remarks on Tuesday, Harris is expected to portray Trump fixated on self and personal revenge − who would bring an “enemies list” to the White House − as opposed to Harris and her “task list” of policies for the American people.

The campaign said Harris would present himself as a “new generation of leadership” to move past a decade of Trump-dominated politics and discuss his various policy proposals to improve housing affordability and spur small business growth.

“This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better,” Harris plans to say of Trump, according to excerpts of her speech provided by the campaign.

Harris faces questions about closing strategy

The Ellipse on the National Mall was chosen not just to bring back memories of the January 6 attack on the Capitol – in which Trump supporters tried to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election win. But with the White House as a backdrop, the location is meant to remind Americans of the “gravity of the work,” O’Malley Dillon said, so they can imagine the different approaches in the Oval Office.

“This speech is really designed to reach those undecided voters, those people who are making the decision, to penetrate at a time when sometimes it’s hard to penetrate,” O’Malley Dillon said.

Some Democrats have argued that Harris should make a more aggressive economic appeal in the final days of the campaign.”

“When Shifting Gears to Trump’s Attacks on Democracy, Harris’ Campaign Stuck,” Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, he wrote in a Tuesday column in The Guardian. “I think that’s because Americans continue to focus on the economy and want an answer to why they continue to struggle economically.” Reich urged Harris to connect Americans’ persistent economic anxieties to the power of big corporations.

Harris took advantage of recent comments by John Kelly, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, who said Trump fits the description of a fascist and has in the past made statements of admiration for Adolf Hitler.

But leaders of Future Forward, the leading super PAC backing Harris’ presidential bid, expressed concern about Harris ending the campaign by exclusively attacking Trump as a fascist.

In a Future Forward email to fellow Democrats, reported by The New York Timesthe group wrote: “Purely negative attacks on Trump’s character are less effective than contrasting messages that include positive details about Kamala Harris’ plans to address the needs of ordinary Americans.”

The Harris campaign has shrugged off criticism of the strategy, arguing that the sharp warnings about Trump are essential to the counter-message to Harris.

“America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind. More chaos. More division. And policies that help those at the top and hurt everyone else,” Harris plans to say in his speech. “I offer another way.”

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.