Political positions are one thing, and Kamala Harris trotted out many of them in her “final argument” campaign speech Tuesday night.

But in politics, the most important thing is symbolism, says Cornell Belcher, a Democratic strategist and pollster.

And for Harris to hold his rally on the grassy Ellipse near the White House – the same place where, on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump addressed thousands of loyalists, causing them to storm the US Capitol – it was “perfect symbolism” .

“You couldn’t ask for a better symbol of how she wants to end this argument,” he said. “I think it’s a really smart strategy.”

It was the perfect backdrop, Belcher says, for the Democrat to make his case that Trump is a threat to democracy — charges that have also been thrown around by former Trump White House officials, including former chief of staff John Kelly, who recently said his old boss fits the “general definition of a fascist.”

It also struck a far more ominous note than the joy and positivity that marked the early weeks of the summer campaign, and was part of a pivot to more negative language that appeared to begin in the days leading up to Tuesday’s speech .

Michelle Obama, at a Harris rally on Saturday, said some voters are ignoring Trump’s “gross incompetence” and “obvious mental decline,” for example. Party candidate Tim Walz called Trump “un-American,” and Harris herself echoed Kelly’s assessment during a CNN town hall last week, calling her opponent a “fascist” and a “danger to the well-being and security of the United States of America.” . ”

STOP | Harris offers the “closing argument”:

Kamala Harris warns against Donald Trump’s second presidency

A week before US Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris used what she called her “closing argument” speech to warn against a second Donald Trump presidency at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, the same venue where Trump has helped incite the president since January. 6 attacks. Meanwhile, Trump described his controversial weekend rally as a “love fest.”

But some observers, including some Democrats, have questioned both whether Trump’s claim that he is some kind of fascist should be the focus of the closing days of the campaign and how much impact it will have on undecided voters.

“I I feel like everyone who has an opinion about Trump has made up their mind about Trump,” said Sean Trende, senior election analyst for political website RealClearPolitics.

“Who is still to decide whether Trump is a real threat to democracy or not? I don’t think there are very many people. So I’m not convinced how effective it is. I think kitchen table problems are better. bet on her right now.”

Before the speech, Trump flatly rejected Harris’ closing argument, saying it was a message that didn’t address everyday Americans’ everyday struggles and concerns at the kitchen table.

Her speech wasn’t just about the potential dangers of a second Trump presidency. Much of it focused on her policy goals, including expanding Medicare coverage of home health care, increasing housing supply, and working to restore access to abortion nationwide.

“I want a dictator”

But arguably the most dramatic sections were those that cast Trump as a potential threat – a “petty tyrant” and “wannabe dictator” who is “unstable, revenge-obsessed, resentful and power-seeking uncontrolled”.

It was these comments and the setting of the speech that grabbed the headlines:

“Harris holds rally at Ellipse, warns of Trump’s threat to democracy,” was the Washington Post headline.

“In closing, Harris presents himself as the unifier and Trump as the ‘petty tyrant,'” said the New York Times.

Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Harris, says it was a good strategy for the Harris team to focus on January 6. Her assessment is that the Republican campaign is underestimating the impact of the revolt and how undecided voters and disaffected Republicans are. evaluating it.

“They worry about the president’s actions and inactions that day,” she said.

Polls suggest the economy is the top overall issue in the campaign, but for Democrats and Harris supporters, protecting democracy is a priority.

To that end, Larry Sabato, founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, says he thought her speech was a “home run” — that she outlined a very middle-class agenda while contrasting her presence on the National Mall on Tuesday at Trump’s on January 6.

“When Donald Trump was on the Mall, we remember him especially on January 6, 2021, when he essentially led an insurrection, the first attempt to prevent a peaceful transfer of power in US history,” Sabato told the CBC. Canada tonight.

“Political Malpractice”

However, some Democrats have expressed concern about the message. Future Forward, the leader of the super PAC backing Harris, warned that internal tests found the focus on Trump’s character and the fascist label to be less persuasive than other messages, according to the New York Times. recently reported. Other Democrats have he agreedurging an appeal to voters’ pockets.

Unlike Belcher, a Democratic strategist and pollster who enjoyed the symbolism of the speech’s setting, Republican strategist Brad Todd criticizes its optics.

“We plan political events for a living, and I think it was political malpractice to put it in front of this White House,” Todd said on CNN shortly after Harris’ speech.

Todd said most Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, and they blame Biden and increasingly blame Harris. Standing in front of the White House, she will reinforce that disapproval, he said.

Ron Bonjean, another Republican strategist, said her closing argument was “a weak message that’s not going to work for her because it’s already been tried by Biden for the last two years.

“What she should do is continue to sell herself to the American people who don’t know her at all yet and she only has 100 days to define herself.” he told Business Insider.

Trende, the RealClearPolitics analyst, said part of the problem for Harris is that he’s had this “kind of whirlwind campaign’ and didn’t have the opportunity that presidential candidates usually get to develop a package of ideas and define themselves in people’s minds.

“(It) really reduced their opportunities to make the kind of arguments or make the connections that politicians usually make,” he said. “I follow this as closely as anyone. I couldn’t really tell you — (beyond) social issues you know, where the parties are happening — I couldn’t tell you where she stands in anything.”

STOP | The closing speech is a “home run”, says the analyst:

Harris’ final pitch to voters is a “home run,” says political analyst | Canada tonight

Kamala Harris made the closing pitch to voters at the Jan. 6 protest site as Donald Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania. Larry Sabato, founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, reacts to the two events.