Staunch backers of Harris say that with the right approach, the vice president can still build on her support. And most voters will be concerned about near-term challenges, including the economy and their personal rights, Gaspard added. The White House knows that attacking the vice president as a means of undercutting the ticket is part of an old political playbook, which Biden himself is familiar with after running for reelection alongside President Barack Obama, he said. “There isn't anyone in that White House from the president on down who can be shook by this at all,” said Gaspard, referring to the criticism of Harris. Patrick Gaspard, an Obama-era official who was executive director of the Democratic National Committee, said he believes Americans are not yet paying close attention to the 2024 race. insurrection will continue if they are left unchecked. He tied the attacks that are meant to discredit Harris to the period after the Civil War, known as the Reconstruction era, and said discrimination against Black officeholders and anti-democratic events such as the Jan 6. “That kind of lowlife stuff, they ought not respond to,” Clyburn, D-S.C., said in an interview. Jim Clyburn, a national co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, said the White House should not “stoop that low” and take the bait. Last week, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador wrote in a Fox News op-ed that Harris, 58, is “one of the most incompetent elected officials in the country." GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested last month that Biden, who is 80, would not live through the end of a second term. But with the presidential campaign underway, Republicans’ focus on the vice president has intensified. The attacks on Harris are not a new phenomenon. This issue of reproductive freedom is one that is not going away.” GOP attacks intensify on Harris “She continues to have 10 or 12 issues that she cares about and focuses on and pop up. “It has helped the vice president focus on a single issue that she talks about repeatedly,” said Jamal Simmons, a former communications director to Harris who departed the White House in January. In the past year, Harris has found a niche in promoting abortion rights, railing against the Supreme Court decision that gave states the ability to ban the practice. The assignment led to a barrage of attacks from Republicans, who sought to make her the face of the border crisis. Harris’ negatives rose early in the administration after she was tasked with leading an effort to stem the tide of illegal migration to the U.S. Although she has wide Democratic support, Harris is viewed favorably by just 35% of swing voters. In a CBS News poll late last month, Harris had a 43% approval rating and a 57% disapproval rating. Senate, may be hardening, and some Democrats say Biden’s team did not take that seriously fast enough. Views about Harris, a former California attorney general who briefly ran for president and served a partial term in the U.S. The vice president’s poll numbers have been below 50% since the duo’s first year in office, and several Democrats, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, expressed concern that they may be beyond repair. Democrats in the room argued that Harris would benefit from more public appearances in environments where she can be herself and in front of voting groups with whom she is already popular.īiden has since made a visible show of support for Harris, defending her in an interview and playing up an unannounced visit the pair made to a Mexican restaurant on Cinco de Mayo.īut some Harris allies fear it’s too late. And yet, the strategists found, the White House was still developing its strategy for how to combat the ruthless assault against the first Black and Asian American woman to hold the vice presidency.Ī discussion ensued about ways to lift up Harris and improve her image, four participants in the meeting said. WASHINGTON – Republican attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris are taking hold, and the White House is running out of time to reframe the narrative, Democrats say.Īt a meeting two days after President Joe Biden announced his 2024 reelection bid, a group of Democratic strategists told the White House as much during a briefing for television pundits on the pair’s agenda.įor more than two years, Republicans had been trying to paint Harris as incompetent.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |