Kamala Harris’s last mile; The Ink, October 15, 2024

ANAND GIRIDHARADAS, The Ink; Kamala Harris’s last mile

"For all of the vice president’s success thus far, it is important to name the greatest risk to her candidacy, in the hope of avoiding it: In the homestretch, Democrats cannot let themselves be defined as the Whole Foods party — a party that speaks convincingly to upscale and educated and socially conscious and politically engaged and often-voting Americans, but doesn’t similarly rouse working-class voters of various stripes and more disaffected, jaded, demoralized voters.

In the last mile of this election, so many of the remaining pool of undecided voters — or, more importantly, people undecided about voting — have simply lost faith that anyone will change anything for the better in their lifetime.

It is beyond ironic, beyond ridiculous even, that some people who feel this way, millions of them, are attracted to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, two pillars of the establishment who are running for president on a platform that would only make the richest and most powerful Americans more rich and more powerful.

But it is happening, and it must be stopped...

This outreach must be backed by policy. At her best, Harris has embraced big ideas that would change the landscape of the country, from housing construction to the care economy. Go further. Be sweeping. Propose the kind of simple-to-understand, sweeping, universal policies that make people thirst for the future.

And, finally, be everywhere, all at once. It has been a relief to see Harris saturate the airwaves in recent days, after an earlier reticence.

There is so much reason not to believe in America in 2024. If you want people to believe again, especially the people who are right now still on the fence, you need to tell them a story that not only persuades them but all but rewires their brain. You need to help them make new meaning of what they have seen and heard and felt.

This will require being everywhere all at once, in their heads and hearts, morning, noon, and night. It doesn’t matter if every interview isn’t perfect. Show them your power, your life force, the life force that proposes to smash obstacles and change their lives. Do whatever media most helps you reach them. It doesn’t need to be the old guard. But people are looking for whether you are unafraid, because if you are, it might give you what it takes to help them."