Like Biden, Harris is focusing on Trump as the end of the campaign approaches

WASHINGTON — As the end of the shortened presidential campaign approaches, Kamala Harris is trying to focus squarely on Donald Trump and his threat to democratic institutions, echoing the strategy Joe Biden used before ending his reelection bid.

There’s a suggestion that fear of the former Republican president could galvanize Harris supporters and sway undecided voters to her side in recent days. Harris’s challenge will be to connect philosophical questions about American democracy to the everyday concerns of individual Americans.

That effort will be on full display Tuesday, when Harris delivers what her team describes as a closing argument on the Ellipse, the grassy area adjacent to Washington’s National Mall. This is the same place where Trump stood on Jan. 6, 2021, when he urged his supporters to march to the Capitol in what became a bloody attempt to prevent the certification of Biden’s election victory.

With his choice of venue, the vice president draws attention to Trump’s quest for unchecked power; The issue also spurred Biden’s aborted reelection campaign. Biden often spoke about the fight for democratic values; According to his critics, sometimes even to the detriment of economic concerns.

Since replacing Biden at the top of the ticket, Harris has sought to reassure voters that she would lower food and housing costs. He also promised a “new approach” if elected, putting more distance between himself and Biden.

But Harris increasingly speaks of Trump as an existential threat, with her description of Jan. 6 as a “day of love” and her former chief of staff’s recent revelation that she believes he is a fascist. He made an effort to reach out to Republicans uneasy about Trump, urging them to unite behind his candidacy to preserve American ideals.

The speech for Tuesday’s event is still being written, but there are some hints of the message in his recent public statements. He called Thursday’s election in Philadelphia “a very serious decision.”

“You have the option of electing Donald Trump, who will sit in the Oval Office and plot revenge, plot revenge, write his list of enemies,” he said. “Or what I would respond to people like folks last night” — a reference to undecided voters who questioned Harris during a televised town hall on Wednesday — “with a to-do list.”

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, said Harris’ message was a sign that she had lost and “the walls are coming.”

“This is why Kamala is resorting to the same attacks that Democrats have been directing against President Trump for years,” he said. “Unfortunately for Kamala, despite these tired old lies, President Trump is still more popular today than he has been since 2016.”

Trump’s favorability rating has been strikingly consistent for several years, though it fell to 36% following the Jan. 6 attack, according to a Gallup poll. Last month, this rate was 46 percent.

Harris’s favorable rating reached 44% last month; That’s up from 34% in June, the month before he replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee.

She’s campaigning in Georgia on Thursday with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen, and on Friday she heads to Texas with Beyonce for an event focused on abortion rights.

Faiz Shakir, a political advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders, said attacking Trump has been a “tried-and-true tactic” for years.

Biden demonstrated this with his speech at Union Station in Washington, days before the midterm elections. Although he mentioned popular programs like Medicare and Social Security, he focused more on fears that electing Republicans would embolden Trump and his anti-democratic efforts.

“I hope you make the future of our democracy an important part of your decision to vote and how you vote,” Biden said.

Democrats fared better than expected in the midterm elections, with nearly 4 in 10 voters saying the future of U.S. democracy was their primary consideration when voting, according to AP VoteCast. Among Democrats, the rate was around 6 in 10.

However, Şakir was skeptical that a similar approach was the best approach this year.

“In my view, they have abandoned the persuasive argument that we want to tell people something new or different about Kamala Harris. Instead we want to remind you of the worst part of Donald Trump.”

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said Harris should do “a little of both,” talking up her plans for the middle class and attacking Trump’s statements.

“We know what a second Trump term will look like; it will mean attacking everything we hold dear,” Shuler said.

The AFL-CIO president recalled a recent speech on the Gordie Howe Bridge in Michigan; One worker here said he liked Trump’s idea of ​​eliminating taxes on overtime pay. But Shuler said that during Trump’s time in office, his administration has tried to undermine access to overtime, which would make his promise worthless in terms of tax savings.

“That’s an easy promise to make when it would eliminate overtime,” Shuler said.