Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have adopted an interesting strategy for winning the presidency. The campaign is showcasing a conspicuous shift in tone and strategy: Projecting an image of positivity and joy.
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It appears the media has already gotten the memo and is actively helping to brand the Harris/Walz campaign as “happy warriors” fighting for the American people. It’s an interesting approach, but will it be enough to secure a victory for Harris?
When Harris announced Walz as her running mate in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the two candidates adopted a more positive messaging approach. “We are joyful warriors,” Harris declared to raucous applause from the crowd. “Because we know that while fighting for a brighter future may be hard work, hard work is good.”
Walz echoed this sentiment, thanking Harris for “bringing back the joy.”
The message seemed to resonate with the crowd. The audience responded by breaking into chants of “V-P Walz!” and “We’re not going back!” according to the Washington Examiner.
The aptly-named Charles Blow in an opinion piece for the New York Times commented on the optimistic tone of the Harris/Walz campaign. “In one fell swoop, though, when Biden stood down and Democrats coalesced around Harris, a new possibility was born, one in which voters wary of another Donald Trump presidency could trade dread for optimism,” he wrote.
Blow highlighted the reason for optimism, insisting that “[e]lecting a second Black president, who would also be, of course, the first woman and first Asian American president, would be an opportunity to demonstrate gain and empowerment, not just for Black voters but for the whole Democratic coalition — for the whole country.”
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During the Tuesday rally, Harris emphasized that she and her running mate “believe in lifting people up, not knocking them down.” She highlighted that “the vast majority of people in our country have so much more in common than what separates them.”
Harris’ strategy seems to be a calculated effort to offer a refreshing alternative to Trump’s pugilistic and bombastic manner on the campaign trail. The former president is known for his fiery, aggressive rhetoric and his penchant for name-calling. It’s an approach that has become increasingly popular on both sides of the aisle over the past decade.
Indeed, Walz himself delved into that strategy when he originated the left’s bizarre tactic of calling Republicans “weird.” Now, it seems the campaign believes striking a more optimistic tone will do more to win over voters than getting too far in the mud.
It’s a bold move, especially in a political environment in which both sides are constantly trying to “own” the other. But if the strategy is going to work, Harris would have to temper it with actual policy. She has nowhere near the charisma of former President Barack Obama, who knew how to move a crowd.
Businessman Kevin O’Leary weighed in on the matter during an appearance on Fox News. “In the next two weeks, the happy talk is going to have to stop because someone’s going to sit her down and say, ‘let’s talk inflation, let’s talk border, let’s talk policy on energy. Let’s talk policy on foreign affairs,’” he said:
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“If she wants to win, she’s got to go to the center. But she’s got to have some ideas on how to run the country. You might hate Trump, but he has this track record of policy. You might hate him. I get it. But you’ve got to do something.”
This is where Harris will truly be tested. At some point, she will have to come down to Earth and articulate actual policy solutions to the problems Americans are facing. Running a Tony Robbins-esque campaign can only be effective if the public views her as someone who can improve people’s conditions.
The problem, of course, is that Harris is part of the very administration that caused many of the hardships Americans are facing. Voters are concerned about inflation, jobs, education, immigration, crime, and several other problems. President Joe Biden has done little to address these issues.
Whether it’s fair or not, Biden’s record is now Harris’ on the campaign trail. She will have to explain how she will pull the nation out of the mess in which it currently finds itself while distracting people from the fact that she has been part of the problem.
Still, the “happy warrior” strategy is a smart approach. It is yet another reason why Trump’s campaign should not underestimate its opponents. Focusing on issues like Harris’ race, who she slept with, and other side issues will not be a winning strategy for Team Trump. The best thing they can do is focus on policy, and force Harris and Walz to defend their indefensible records while casting their own vision for the country.
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