Safe to say Kamala Harris’s campaign has been nothing short of entertaining. From her riveting and lively rallies to her numerous amount of celebrity endorsements, her campaign is one for the books.
June 27th marked the date of Biden and Trump's first and last debate of this election, serving as a historic day that would end up leading to the endorsement of Kamala Harris as president. Harris announced her campaign for president on July 21st, 2024. And so the campaign began.
On July 30th, Megan Thee Stallion performed at Harris’s rally in Atlanta. Sporting the phrase, “Hotties for Harris,” Megan Thee Stallion led a lively performance, singing and dancing, all while encouraging voter support in between her sets. Following Megan was rapper Quavo from the Migos, hoping to spread awareness on issues like gun violence, and quoted for saying, “One thing I learned about working with Vice President Harris is she always stands on business.” Endorsements like these from celebrities popular among the youth are not only very interesting to watch, but extremely smart for urging young voters to vote blue! The use of silly phrases targeted at our generation's lingo and captivating performances are a great way to enhance voter turnout among young people, especially those who just gained the ability to vote.
Kamala Harris was officially nominated by the Democratic Party on August 5th. She continued to host engaging rallies, and began utilizing social media like TikTok to reach out to her younger viewers and continue to gain support among our generation. On September 10th, Harris debated against Trump. Through her points, manner of speaking, strong responses to the questions, and overall respect and maturity, Harris put up a great performance. After the debate she continued to campaign and connect with the youth, and on top of that raised millions of dollars towards her campaign, raising $997.2 million by October 16th compared to Trump’s campaign committee, which raised $388 million.
On October 20th three Harris campaign officials and three White House officials disclosed that “Harris has no current plans to campaign with Biden before Election Day,” even though she was set to campaign with Obama. Harsh. Or is it? According to Harris and Biden aides, this is the best strategy for the campaign as it comes to a close; Biden can focus on being president while Harris focuses on the campaign. And it probably is for the best. I mean come on, the man is 81 he needs a break. This is also an important decision to emphasize how Harris isn’t Biden. She isn’t trying to represent a Biden second-term, and is making sure people see this as her own presidency.
As the campaign comes to a close, Harris continues to pull out all the stops. On October 24th former president Obama joined Harris on stage at a rally in Atlanta in hopes of energizing the room and creating full support for Harris. And it worked, as millions of Americans were reportedly “energized and inspired not only by Barack Obama’s message but by how he leads,” according to Harris. The two were also joined by Bruce Springsteen on stage, who not only endorsed Harris but openly criticized Trump, calling him an “American tyrant.” Now that’s how you do a rally!
With Election Day fast approaching all we can do is hope and see how much of an impact Harris’s campaign really had. If it all ends up being for nothing, at least her campaign efforts will go down in history.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/obama-harris-bruce-springsteen-georgia.html
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/21/g-s1-18188/democratic-national-convention-roll-call-music-state
10 comments:
According to a 2020 New York Times article, fewer than half of Americans ages 18 to 29 voted in the 2016 presidential election. It’s no secret that most young people in the United States don’t vote. But with 12% of the US population falling under this age group, every vote matters. Young people are often told to be active participants in government, but oftentimes young people don’t vote because they are uninformed, unsure if they really do have a say, feel like the candidates don’t represent them, etc.
I think Harris having Megan Thee Stallion perform, and her promoting “Hotties for Harris” was a fun way to appeal to younger voters. Even though it might not appeal to older voters, perhaps it even turn them off to Harris, I think it’s important to offer a way to mobilize the youth and appeal to their sense of team-thinking (“let’s go team!”) with lingo and pop culture moments that are relevant to young people. It’s all about appealing to one’s audience, and good politicians and political advocates know how to appeal to all their audiences, or at least many of them.
I believe that voters should educate themselves before picking a candidate, not just blindly vote based off funny pop culture moments, but I think these subtle, youthful mobilization tactics are important to encouraging youth voter turnout.
I honestly really like a lot of Harris' strategies in her presidential run. She seems to be really connecting with a lot of the younger audiences on TikTok, maybe even pushing people from the younger crowds to actually go out and vote. I also think it's cool that Obama is backing her, and I have a lot of respect for the two of them going on TV to slam Trump. My issue with this, though, is that it highlights a criticism a lot of people have had about Harris: her lack of attention on policy.
Sure, coining phrases like "hotties for Harris" certainly helps people look into you, and hooks them on a candidate, but I'm willing to believe half of America's voters don't really know what Harris really wants to do. Between this whole situation and Mr. Donald "concepts of a plan" Trump, the election seems to be turning into a posturing battle between two dealers of propaganda. One, the outgoing hero of the youth, the other God's chosen man. The candidates have been doing nothing but incite arguments and clout online, and honestly? It might be what they're trying to do.
I see this campaign from Kamala Harris as almost the exact opposite of the campaign that Trump has run. Kamala is of course focused on appealing to younger voters by performances from Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo and using social media. I think this strategy is smart because many young people are not super invested in politics and could end up voting for her because they see her as more relatable o likeable. Trump is the opposite and appeals to the older generation, which could also work because they are more likely to vote.
Kamala Harris' strong connection to the youth is in my opinion her best bet at winning the election. For long time voters, the decision is likely already made as party divisions and commitment are long set. The real battle is over the youth and swing voters and Kamala's campaign has effectively connected to the youth with all the popular artists and catch phrases made. The real question is will this continue into the future of the Democratic party as whole or is it just a candidate specific transition? As we've seen and discussed in class recent developments like TV, Social Media, the internet, and general weakening of the parties have shifted them to candidate focused with the parties just being the backdrops to their ideals. If this signals a realignment of democrats getting an even larger percent of the youth with a message and backing from popular youth celebrities it could spell the end of conservative backlash since Lyndon B. Johnson.
Kamla Harris’s campaign has taken a unique approach to energizing younger voters by tapping into pop culture and celebrity partnerships. This is a great strategic effort by Harris allowing the voting process to feel more relevant and accessible to the youth. Her rallies not only bring energy but also create an inclusive platform that resonates with these first-time voters. It’s refreshing to see a campaign that doesn’t directly speak with the younger generation but instead incorporates their language, interests, etc to spark genuine voter participation. This approach seems much less like traditional campaigning and more like a movement that young people in this generation can see themselves in, which may impact voter turnout in the future.
Kamala appealing to the younger generations is a smart move. Not only because she is helping to up her votes in the campaign for president, but also since low voter turnout in youth is such a problem. Although celebrity endorsements and social media may seem a bit silly at first glance, as long as it works, it works! Older forms of spreading information to the general public, such as newspapers and news stations, are still readily available for older audiences (that are more likely to still turn to them for information), but with such low rates in youth visibility of these programs and services, it’s time to make an upgrade. According to a Harvard poll, this coming election over half 18-29 year olds nationwide say they will vote. This number has gradually been growing more significantly since around the 2016 election, and I personally believe we have the switch to social media and celebrity endorsements to thank for this shift. We still have a long way to go, but I truly do think that what Harris is doing with her campaign is smart, well-thought out, and helpful to politics as a whole.
Kamala Harris's unique use of pop culture and social media in this campaign, is one likely to be emulated in future elections; with her astute understanding of its impact. Springsteen definitely appeals to older voters , as he is an American Icon--- for example, he is the singer of "Born in the USA" --- so his legacy is one intrinsically tied with patriotism; whilst Megan Thee Stallion, appeals to younger voters, as she is currently one of the most successful and respected artists in the rap industry. Trump has tried to model Kamala's strategy in a less effective way, through YouTube influencers such as Bryce Hall, and Logan Paul, who not only have poor reputations/scandals-- but also a lack of respect in their communities for this reason and thus endorsements are looked down upon or accused of having ulterior motives. On another note of Kamala furthering her connection to youth via media personalities and sources, Kamala and Tim-- have also released a new Fortnite map-- decorated with messages from their campaign and a map focused on key American cities- which has received lots of media attention from younger voters and those in the gaming community. Despite these positive returns, I think her strategies should till be focused on swing states- as opposed to general voters, as it is obvious/predicted she will win the popular vote.
Kamala bringing in all of these celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion and other more Gen Z celebrities is a really good way for her to connect with young voters in a more exciting way. Her use of performances aimed at Gen Z and millennials makes it clear she is focused on reaching the younger audience. It's also interesting to see how she is trying to stand out from Biden even though they are from the same party and she is his VP. Her campaigning with Obama instead of Biden helps make sure people know that it is her own campaign. Her campaign is definitely unique and a breath of fresh air from past campaigns so it will be interesting to see if all her efforts pay off in the end.
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