Harris revives message around democracy as Trump escalates his rhetoric. Will it work?

When Vice President Kamala Harris took office as the Democratic presidential nominee, she rejected President Joe Biden's old message about the “soul of the nation,” leaning instead toward “joy” and “opportunity economics,” while describing her opponents as “weird.” designated.

Now, in the home stretch, Harris is reviving her messages about former President Donald Trump's alleged threat to American democracy, reviving a tactic that failed to halt her boss's poll decline but that Democrats hope will be part of one victorious closing arguments amid increasing voices could be dark rhetoric from her challenger.

“I'm really glad they're bringing back the democracy argument because I think it creates a permission structure for people who are anti-Trump Republicans and it fires up our base. So that’s a fallacy of ambiguity,” said veteran Democratic strategist Peter Giangreco. “You have to keep the abortion story going. You have to maintain the economic contrast where he gives relief to billionaires and she cuts taxes.”

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” Giangreco added. But Trump “made a big mistake, I think, with 'the enemy within.' I think it's a huge opening and I'm glad they're taking advantage of it.”

The tactical shift comes as Trump intensifies talk of the “enemy within” while fearing that Election Day will be peaceful.

“We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left-wing lunatics,” Trump said Sunday on Fox News. “And I think it should be handled very easily by the National Guard if necessary or by the military if it's really necessary, because they can't let that happen.”

Harris has seized on the comments and appears more open to calling the former president a “fascist,” saying in her own interview on Fox News on Wednesday that it was “clear to me” that Trump was “not fit to serve.” “unstable”. that he is dangerous.

“This is a democracy, and in a democracy the president of the United States of America should be willing to deal with criticism without saying he would lock people up for it,” she said.

“If he wins, he will ignore all the checks and balances that limit a president’s power,” a narrator warned in a new Harris ad released Thursday.

The willingness to focus on the alleged threats Trump poses to the country's democratic foundation represents a reversal from Harris' original strategy from the summer, when media coverage was flooded with remarks about how different her more cheerful tone was compared to Biden's more serious campaign, which focused in detail on the character of the nation.

That shift came as part of a broader Democratic struggle to make change after Biden's failed campaign faltered following his disastrous performance in the June debate. But Democrats who spoke to ABC News insisted that the democracy message remains effective — especially given Trump's rhetoric — and that Biden's inability to prosecute the case has more to do with the messenger than the message .

“It is now imperative for Kamala to make sure the American people understand what the choice is in this election,” said one Democratic pollster.

“The challenge with Biden is that visually, and this is unfair and unfortunate, people just couldn't get past the optics of a frail-looking older man trying to be president for another four years,” the person added.

This time with a different messenger, Harris' team hopes that mixing in warnings about democracy could appeal to a small portion of voters who are genuinely undecided about who to vote for, but even more voters who are frustrated with and about their decisions pondering whether they should be allowed to vote at all — especially, Democrats said, Trump-skeptical, Harris-curious conservatives.

There is already a precedent for such a strategy to break through.

Facing the prospect of a red wave in 2022, Democrats instead defied the odds by expanding their Senate majority and keeping losses in the House to a minimum by debating January 6, 2021, the insurrection, and repealing federal abortion protections. And research shared by the campaign showed that portraying Trump as unstable and Harris as a stable leader is an effective way to persuade voters this cycle, according to a source familiar with the matter.

“There is a very small portion that is…debating between the vice president and Trump. But there is a larger portion of these persuaded voters who are trying to decide between a third party or a write-in vote or just staying home. And I do.” “I think that argument really resonates, particularly with older voters and a lot of voters who may be more conservative and may have concerns about both candidates,” said a source familiar with Harris' thinking campaign is familiar.

Robert Blizzard, a Republican pollster, said Democrats could have repeated success with such an argument.

“I'm not sure voters have made up their minds about that yet,” he said when asked if voters were already clear about whether “democracy” was a top issue for them. “But if you look at the 2022 playbook that helped Democrats stem the tide of a red wave — the democracy aspect coupled with abortion was certainly an effective contrast for the left.”

Trump's campaign team rejected the new tactics.

“It's the end of the fourth quarter and Kamala is making the same losing play that the Democrats have never won with. No one believes the lie that President Trump is a threat to democracy because he has already been president for four years and our democracy, including ours.” “Kamala's position on the world stage was stronger than it is today under Kamala Harris. “Kamala resorts to lies because she can’t talk about politics,” said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

To be sure, Democrats are not expecting Harris to completely replace her messaging on “opportunity economics” and other pro-democracy campaign tactics, but rather say she will likely have it as one of many tools in her toolbox.

“I don’t think preserving democracy will be their closing argument. I expect they will return to a version of turning the page, moving forward, collaborating, opportunity economics and finding ways to secure the border,” said Jim Kessler of the center-left think tank Third Way.

Nevertheless: “Trump gave them opportunities in unplanned moments. And that also includes democracy,” added Kessler.

And Democrats said Harris would be remiss if he didn't take advantage of every opportunity in the home stretch when any issue could help push a voter from the sidelines. And with the polls so tight and the election so short, the race has turned into a trench warfare, with both sides looking for a way to stay ahead when the fighting ends on November 5.

“The way I see it is that people may still not be sure whether voting is important to them or whether they want to vote, and this is a way to give them a stake in the election,” said a Democratic strategist with connections to Harris' team.

“If they can generate stories at this point in the campaign that put Trump and his team on the defensive,” Kessler added, “then they will succeed that day.”