The first few days of the Kamala Harris for President campaign couldn’t have gone better. Her candidacy was greeted with a wave of enthusiasm from the Democratic Party unseen since Barack Obama came on the scene. More than $100 million was raised mostly from first-time donors — more than 100,000 new grassroots volunteers. Harris is a rock star on the stump, delivering a future-oriented argument for herself and prosecuting the case against Trump. The entire Harris-Biden campaign has done an astounding job by pivoting on a dime to capture this enthusiasm for their new candidate.

It’s fantastic to watch, but we are now entering the next phase of her campaign.

Democrats and Republicans are in a race to define the Vice President. The Harris campaign is out with their introductory video. 

A few hours later, the Trump campaign put up their first negative ad against Harris.

The Harris folks are trying to launch a national campaign from a standing start. They are still doing the polling and focus groups necessary to understand how the public sees her and which messages are most persuasive.

In the meantime, more people are talking about politics. Excitement and curiosity about Harris spark conversations with our less political friends and family.

With more research, I can understand the best messaging strategies, but here are some initial thoughts.

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1. Tell Her Story

Polls and focus groups show that while she has high name identification, many voters — and particularly the persuadable voters who will decide the election — don’t know her story, her values, or her contributions as Vice President.

To that end, educating voters about her experience and readiness is critical. This ad from Future Forward, a pro-Harris Super PAC, tells the story very well.

2. Harris Will Protect Our Freedoms

It‘s not an accident that the first Harris ad is titled “Freedom.” It’s no coincidence that “Freedom” by Beyonce featuring Kendrick Lamar is the campaign’s theme song.

Harris is leaning into what I believe is the Democrat’s best message — protecting our freedoms from extreme MAGA Republicans. President Biden also made this part of his campaign, but she is a natural vessel for the argument. Since the Dobbs decision, she has been the Administration’s point person on abortion — powerfully and persuasively making the case against Republicans who want to ban abortion, IVF, and contraception.

Here’s Kamala Harris in a speech on Thursday to the American Federation of Teachers:

In this moment, we are in a fight for our most fundamental freedoms.  And to this room of leaders, I say: Bring it on.  (Applause.)  Bring it on.  Bring it on … We who believe in the freedom to vote will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. 

We who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence will pass an assault weapons ban. 

We who believe that every American should be free from bigotry and hate will fight to protect our teachers and our students from discrimination — (applause) — and make sure every student can learn America’s history.  (Applause.) 

And we who believe in reproductive freedom will restore the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not to have her government telling her what to do.  (So, ultimately, in this moment, I know we all know, we each in our country face a question.  That question being: What kind of country do we want to live in — a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?

This is the core contrast in the race thus far: Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans want to take away your freedoms, and Kamala Harris will fight to protect them.

This ad from Women Vote, a Super PAC associated with Emily’s List, is a good piece of content to share.

3. She’s with Us, We’re Not with Her

This is a minor thing, but as soon as Harris announced last weekend, people dusted off the old hashtag #I’mWithHer to indicate their support. “I’m with her” was a ubiquitous slogan for supporters of Hillary Clinton. I totally get the impulse, especially with Trump and the Republicans unloading such racist, misogynistic attacks on her from the get-go.

As messaging expert Anat Shenker-Osorio worded it on Twitter:

Word of caution on "I'm with her" enthusiasm: That inverts relationship between voter & candidate. The task of the latter is to garner the support of the former - to make case why SHE is an apt representative for US.

The best campaigns are about the people, not the candidate. In the launch video, Harris embraces the notion of “us.” We should do the same.

4. She Wasn’t the Border Czar

During their convention, Republicans previewed their attacks on Harris by calling her the “Border Czar.” The approach is very typical for the GOP. It’s cynical, racist, and false.

Vice President Harris was NOT the “Border Czar.” She did not head up border security or manage the flow of migrants at the border. Early in the Administration, President Biden tasked Harris with working with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras on the “root causes” of migration. This was a diplomatic role. She was the emissary to those three countries.

For more information, here is a detailed fact check from USA Today.

In politics, if you are explaining, you are losing. This is especially true when a candidate is on a debate stage or in an interview. However, in our conversations with friends and family, there is value in addressing this false right-wing attack.

5. We’re Not Going Back

The best campaigns are about the future. When it was Biden vs. Trump, the race was about the present vs. the recent past — Biden’s presidency vs. Trump’s. This was a function of two older incumbents running against each other.

With Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, this race can become about something much larger — a bright future vs. a dark past.

Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again message is backward-looking. It appeals to nostalgia, yearning for a different time when white men had all the power. Project 2025 is the policy plan to send America back. The best campaigns are about the future. Kamala Harris is the future, and Donald Trump is the past. The Vice President said it best in her speech this past week.

“We’re not going back.”

And that’s the best argument for Vice President Harris.

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