'Retrofitting a campaign in midair': How Kamala Harris revived Biden’s flagging operation

28 September 2024

Before he dropped out of the 2024 race, President Joe Biden was polling roughly five percentage points behind former President Donald Trump. But now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee, she's completely reversed roles with her former running mate.

On Saturday, the Guardian illustrated how drastic the political landscape has shifted against Trump with less than 40 days to go before voters cast their ballots. The outlet found that the 10-day national polling average shows Harris in front of the former president with 48.2% support compared to his 44.4%. A new report in the Washington Post reveals exactly how Harris managed to dramatically revive Biden's faltering campaign and resurrect Democrats' electoral hopes on a rapidly expedited schedule.

“They are undertaking an extraordinary feat — essentially retrofitting a campaign in midair 90 days before Election Day with a new candidate,” David Axelrod — a senior advisor to both of former President Barack Obama's campaigns — told the Post. “When you consider the enormity of that, and the quality of the convention, the debate and the gap they’ve closed, it’s been really impressive.”

When Biden was at the top of the ticket, public opinion of Harris was largely tied to her boss, with 54% of voters registering disapproval with her and only 37% supporting her in January. However, FiveThirtyEight data shows that her disapproval rating has dropped to 47% as of late September, with 45% in favor.

“We have a new top-line imperative. We have a new candidate that people want to know more about. The data shows that the more that they see her, the more they like her,” one of the Post's sources said of the Harris campaign's post-Biden strategy. “Trump has a ceiling. The more that we can present the clear choice to people, the better off our campaign is.”

The Post's report suggests this may have something to do with how Harris immediately restructured the Biden campaign's leadership structure after she inherited it, and pivoted in her messaging strategy from "Bidenomics" to her "opportunity economy" pitch. The vice president was also notably freed from having to carry on her boss' "finish the job" message and instead run on "a new way forward" expressing greater sympathy with Americans struggling with high prices on basic needs like groceries and gas. This strategy has yielded positive results in polling, as more voters are saying she's better for the economy than they did for Biden.

Additionally, a staff shakeup resulted in the exit of top Biden strategist Mike Donilon, who was previously the bottleneck for many of the Biden campaign's operations including polling, messaging and television advertising. Now, Harris' campaign is led by Jen O'Malley-Dillon, who has invited many of the different heads of polling, data and advertising directly onto the senior leadership team's Zoom calls to hear from them directly.

“In a very brief amount of time, the roles have become clear and the mentality has flowed from the top. Jen runs a meeting like nobody else that I have ever encountered,” Harris adviser Brian Fallon, a former Clinton aide who joins the new senior strategist Zoom calls, said in a recent Politico podcast appearance. “She is somebody that does not suffer fools and that is a credit to her.”

Aside from Harris, her running mate, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, may also provide an additional jolt of energy to the campaign after his upcoming vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on Tuesday. The debate will air on CBS at 9 PM Eastern Time.

Click here to read the Post's report in its entirety (subscription required).

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