On Thursday's broadcast of “CNN News Night,” The New York Times Astead Herndon, a national political reporter and CNN political analyst, said 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is “clearly trying to position her as the candidate of change,” but added, “I don't think there's a policy separation between her and Biden.”
Herndon said, “One of the things that stood out to me was, this is new, I think people want a new way forward. She said that a couple of times. And it goes back to David's point, but I don't think they've created a policy separation with Biden. Obviously, she's defended Biden personally, but they're also clearly trying to position her as the candidate of change in the same way that Donald Trump has positioned himself as the candidate of change. In some ways, I feel like this is going to be at the heart of what happens in November – whether voters are receptive to it.”
Host Abby Phillips then interjected, pointing out that some polls have shown the change candidate's spot as a contested race.
Herndon responded that the election seemed to hinge on this issue, saying, “For someone who doesn't want to talk about race or gender or put those identities at the forefront, that's really interesting in that it allows her to speak for change without saying those words. So, I thought that was really the tone of the speech. But as far as this dichotomy that they're trying to create of normal versus weird, future versus past, I think they achieved that tonight. I think they want to present themselves as people that people can relate to, that they can relate to.” [with]”The story is familiar and the message is familiar and relatable. And that's what she grew up with, and we saw that tonight.”
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