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Progressives Believe They Have Harris Ear as She Moderates Rhetoric

4 1
27.09.2024

As Vice President Kamala Harris tacks toward the center and abandons liberal policy positions on everything from immigration to guns to climate change, the same progressives who once prided themselves on how Democrats had a plan for everything now whisper in the ear of her campaign, “vibes, vibes, vibes.”

Whether or not Harris is reading directly from the policy memos prepared by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, the strategy her team is following closely mirrors the approach outlined by the group before she accepted the nomination. And it appears to be working. Harris has made up the ground lost by President Biden by delivering a message of empathy, not a wonky presentation about the economy.

“Below are a few recommendations on language we’ve discussed with you, based on our weekly polling with Data for Progress,” reads an Aug. 16 PCCC memo sent to the Harris campaign and obtained by RealClearPolitics.

At the Republican National Convention the month before, none of the GOP speakers walked on stage with a slide deck. They painted a picture of an ugly economy instead, punctuating their arguments about inflation by reminding voters of the pain they felt in their everyday lives. The first suggested response from the progressive group: Go ahead and talk about groceries. “It’s the number one pain point to acknowledge,” the memo states before recommending that Harris block Republican attacks by pointing to the years of work the White House has done to lower grocery prices.

But that doesn’t mean simply regurgitating the policy presentation that Biden delivered while on the stump. The president could never quite quit “Bidenomics,” even as polling showed it fell flat with voters. Instead, the progressives urged Harris to focus on........

© RealClearPolitics


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