Democrats changed the 2024 candidates, but didn’t change their message

When Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a speech from the National Mall in Washington on Tuesday, she will want to draw a direct parallel with former President Donald Trump, who stood at the same spot on January 6, 2020, to address his supporters.

She could be inadvertently underscoring her own struggles as a Democratic candidate.

The speech is being billed as Harris’ “closing argument” to voters as the campaign enters its final week, but it will have a familiar ring. The Associated Press say Harris’ campaign hopes the speech will “crystallize for voters the battle between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.” It will likely sound a lot like the speech President Joe Biden gave from Philadelphia in September 2022, which essentially served to kick off his re-election bid.

Trump’s threat to democracy became the dominant theme of Biden’s campaign until it came to an abrupt halt this summer. As Harris reached the top of the ticket, Democrats tried to distinguish her from Biden. Her campaign was about “joy,” we were ruthlessly informed at the Democratic National Convention. It was a turning of the page, not looking back, but moving forward.

But here, in the final stretch of the campaign, Harris finds herself not embracing joy, but encouraging fear. This reversal underscores Harris’ inability to define herself and her campaign.

Of course, Trump’s authoritarian impulses and his response to losing the 2020 election were always going to be a big part of any Democratic campaign against him. Trump’s history of undermining the Constitution, and his threats to do so again if he is returned to the White House, should be taken both seriously and literally.

Yet it seems significant to make this Harris a ‘closing talk’. It’s a choice that was on display last week at a town hall event in Philadelphia, where Harris struggled to articulate her views without going into tangents about Trump’s behavior.

“Would she expand the Supreme Court? Would people making $500,000 see their taxes increase? Would Americans pay for benefits for migrants crossing the border?… Her answers boiled down to: Donald Trump would be worse,” The New York Times in summary after the event.

Again, this says more about Harris than Trump. It’s true she hasn’t had the chance to run a typical campaign, but Harris has had months to keep an eye on her positions. Instead, her campaign has spent much of that time retreating from the unpopular positions she took during the 2020 primaries.

She has also failed to articulate any difference between herself and Biden. Immediately asked how she differs from him during a performance on The view Earlier this month, Harris seemed surprised by the premise of the question.

Continuing the status quo might make sense if Biden had been forced to resign due to health concerns, despite being wildly popular and leading in the polls. But Biden’s approval rating was underwater for most of his term and he appeared to trail Trump when he resigned in July. Harris’ campaign has reportedly sidelined Biden during this crucial final stage of the race, a sign that he is seen as a risk more than anything.

And yet there’s nothing she would do differently?

Think about this in a different way. Voters know what Trump wants to do – crack down on immigration, erect trade barriers, etc. – but what is it that Harris most wants to achieve? How has Trump become the more policy-oriented candidate in this race?

It could also be a strategic mistake. If all the talk about Trump as a threat to democracy hasn’t definitively moved the needle in Harris’ favor, why should one speech accomplish much? Voters have heard this argument for two years and have probably already decided whether to vote against Trump on those grounds.

Yet these are – literally and figuratively – the places where Harris will make her final pitch to voters. Having failed to make a positive case for herself, this is probably her best bet.