A repackaged Vice President Kamala Harris has hit the campaign trail as Democrats work swiftly to bury her reputation as President Biden’s liberal and ineffective second-in-command and burnish her image for the top of the ticket and a brawl in swing states.
Following Mr. Biden’s withdrawal from the race, the party reinvented Ms. Harris’s image from that of a dud to a dynamic presidential candidate who can take on former President Donald Trump and capture battleground voters with a moderate and modern message.
Even Trump campaign insiders say the Harris reboot could work, at least initially.
Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, predicted in a memo sent out Tuesday that a “Harris Honeymoon” would surface in polling over the next two weeks.
“That means we will start to see public polling — particularly national public polls — where Harris is gaining on or even leading President Trump. Obviously, the situation we find ourselves in today is totally uncharted territory and has no modern historical parallel,” Mr. Fabrizio said.
He predicted a bump for Ms. Harris even before she sets foot on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which begins on Aug. 19.
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The Harris reboot began on Tuesday when she made an energetic campaign debut in Wisconsin, one of seven critical swing states in the upcoming election. She told a crowd of 3,500 cheering supporters in Milwaukee that she’s fighting for the middle class and framed Mr. Trump as a politician dedicated to helping the wealthy and corporations. She promoted her past as California’s attorney general, which added a tough-on-crime layer to her new image as the party looks to assuage voters turned off by liberal soft-on-crime policies.
“We are running a people-powered campaign,” Ms. Harris told the crowd, touting a record-breaking day of grassroots fundraising after Mr. Biden dropped out and she emerged as his successor on the ticket. “That is how you know we will be a people-first presidency. One where we are focused on the future. We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead.”
Ms. Harris must rehabilitate her poor approval ratings and poll numbers that have sunk along with Mr. Biden’s.
She won’t have long.
Early voting is just around the corner, beginning in September in some states.
In the most recent average of recent polls, more than 52% of voters view her unfavorably, while only 38% view her favorably.
Ms. Harris’s image has been dinged by her public gaffes and she’s also taken a hit over her performance as the Biden administration’s “border czar,” which has done nothing to curb rampant illegal immigration, a top voter concern.
“There is time for Harris to be repackaged but that would require addressing the immigration crisis and her involvement in it and reassuring independent voters that she is a more moderate and a more serious individual than she has appeared to them during her vice presidency,” Matt Towery, pollster for InsiderAdvantage, said. “With a hundred days left, it is possible that could be accomplished.”
Ms. Harris didn’t mention illegal immigration or the southern border in her Milwaukee stump speech. Instead, she showcased her former role as California’s tough-on-crime attorney general and framed Mr. Trump as a sexual predator found guilty of fraud who once scammed students with his now-shuttered, for-profit college.
Democrats are hoping a redefined Ms. Harris will outperform Mr. Biden in many of the battleground states where the president was losing consistently to Mr. Trump before he dropped out.
Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin and Marshall College Poll, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said Mr. Biden was headed for a loss in Pennsylvania, but the replacement of Ms. Harris on top of the ticket has reset the race.
“I still think former president Trump has an advantage here,” Mr. Yost said. “But if Harris’s elevation helps Democrats consolidate their base, given Biden’s many troubles energizing those voters, it should make for a closer race and perhaps less damage for Democrats in down-ballot races.”
Even before Mr. Biden dropped out, Mr. Trump had worked Ms. Harris into his stump speeches, awarding her one of his unflattering nicknames: “Laffin’ Kamala.”
A new Trump campaign features a montage of Ms. Harris embracing “woke” policies such as defunding the police and eliminating Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for deporting illegal immigrants.
Harris campaign Chairwoman Jennifer O’Malley Dillon celebrated the vice president’s clear shot at victory in a memo distributed Wednesday that outlined her path to victory.
She pointed to the 7% of undecided voters are gettable for Ms. Harris, who is lesser known than either Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump.
Amy Walter, editor-in-chief at the non-partisan Cook Political Report, said excitement for Ms. Harris among committed Democrats does not guarantee a win.
“Coalescing the base only gets you so far. To win in states like Pennsylvania, Harris needs to be able to win over swing voters in white, working-class areas like Erie and Scranton,” Ms. Walter said.
It is among these voters where Ms. Harris would truly have to reinvent her image from the California liberal Democrat who did little to curb the illegal immigration crisis that concerns so many voters.
“She has a brief opening for a reintroduction,” polling analyst Ron Faucheux said. “Many voters yearn for something new. But if voters want a change, she’s not it. She still has to carry her own baggage and that of the Biden administration.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.