(Adnkronos) – Among the most appreciated jokes made by Kamala Harris during the presidential debate in September, “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden” ranks first. CNN recalls this, citing research conducted within the Harris team, in an article that explains how the vice president is trying to strike a difficult balance between the right amount of personal space and excessive distancing from Joe Biden, loyalty to the president, and risks for victory. This balance is even more difficult for a vice president who must find answers for voters eager for change, deal with Republicans who respond to every new proposal by asking her why she hasn’t already implemented it, and remain in the shadow of an incumbent president whose numbers have risen in some of the districts where she needs it most.
Running as an ‘extension’ of the president is not a strong position, as Harris’ aides know, while asserting what she stands for is. It’s about deciding to what extent it’s prudent to break away or whether it’s better to continue to support a president who – for example tomorrow – will fly to Milwaukee for an event where further projects made possible by the administration’s work will be announced. However, none of the vice president’s team members are opposed to Biden spending a whole week abroad for a diplomatic trip to Germany and Angola. Some would even like him to stay away longer.
Harris’ team is trying to come up with new plans and campaign promises about what Harris would do as president, in part to highlight the differences with Biden, which emerged, for example, in her recent speeches on abortion rights and the management of the southern border. “The challenge” of having so little time available in the context of a short election race, a vice presidential adviser told CNN, is to try “to reach undecided voters, and be able to communicate the differences with Biden.” (continued)
The president’s official duties can interfere with candidate Harris’ campaign: the very trip to the areas affected by Hurricane Helene was a source of tension between the two agendas. Biden’s decision to travel to North Carolina earlier this week meant Harris had to postpone her own trip to a state she is fighting hard to win.
No issue for Harris has been thornier than the escalation of violence in the Middle East ahead of the anniversary of the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023: with hundreds of thousands of votes at stake in Michigan alone, a number of leaders are pushing her to explicitly distance herself from Biden. But her aides know there can be no distance for someone sitting to his right in the Situation Room.
The economy, however, remains the issue where things get more difficult: because voters continue to complain about a recovery that is still stronger than almost all experts had predicted. Biden wants to take credit, while Harris wants to talk about the difficulties people are experiencing and how much more there is to do without being implicated in the suffering endured under this administration’s leadership.
