Deep concerns about President Biden's age led Democrats to mount an unusually off-target challenge in the primary, warning Vice President Kamala Harris to change her message in the final stages of the campaign.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), 55, will challenge Harris, 60, to challenge her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, 78, in closing arguments as November 5 approaches. urged them to reconsider their sharp focus and recalibrate their message. More attractive to voters.
“A billion dollars will be wasted in losing voters by censure instead of winning them by invitation,” Phillips lamented about X.
“She needed to be clear about what she believes and how she would behave differently than Biden, and offer common sense solutions to our problems. Instead…” he added, pointing to the paper's headline. new york times: “Donald Trump appears at Kamala Harris' closing argument”
Phillips gave up his leadership post as co-chairman of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee to challenge Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary. This was due to concerns that Biden's party was heading toward electoral defeat with the 81-year-old president floundering in the polls. the top of the ticket.
In the end, the Minnesota Democratic Party lost the primary election. Looks like I was right In July, surprise over Biden's age sparked a revolt within the party that ultimately led to Biden dropping out of the race.
Mr Phillips cheered when Ms Harris rose to the top of her district, but still publicly urged her party to support her. more open process to fill Biden's position.
Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Harris' home state, is currently considered the leading candidate for vice president.
Since securing the nomination, Harris has made some efforts to reach out to Republican and independent voters.
She has promised to appoint Republicans to her Cabinet, but has been stymied in recent weeks by clashes with Republican turncoats such as former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
On Wednesday, Harris also gave a combative interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, during which she echoed Hillary Clinton's 2016 “basket of deplorables” comments. I tried to avoid making devastating statements.
Clinton infamously used the phrase to describe half of the supporters of Trump, the president's opponent at the time.
Additionally, Harris will move to the center, dramatically reversing her ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign positions, including banning fracking, guaranteeing state jobs, and decriminalizing illegal border crossings. It is said that more.
One thing Ms. Harris appears to have resisted is pressure from Democratic strategists to emphasize her differences with Mr. Biden.
Earlier this month, she suggested on ABC News' “The View” that there was “nothing” she would have done differently than Biden other than appointing Republicans to her Cabinet.
Still, Harris emphasized in her interview with Baier that “my presidency is not a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency.” However, she did not mention many details.
“Let me be frank: The vice president does not criticize the president, including Mike Pence.” Harris later told NBC News.He referred to President Trump's authority and described this approach as “tradition.”
Democrats have long been extremely concerned about Trump's chances of returning to the White House on November 5th. Harris has described herself as the “underdog” in the race, and polls appear to have tilted slightly in Trump's direction over the past two weeks. .
Nationally, Harris leads Trump by 0.8 percentage points. Latest RealClearPolitics Aggregation of polls for multiple candidates.
Trump is at the top RCP map of battleground states.
