Gathered at the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory last weekend, a group of aides and advisers to Kamala Harris marveled at what they had just pulled off.
They did not even have a venue lined up when they started reaching out to supporters about attending a quickly arranged speech in Jacksonville, Florida, the next day. But by Friday afternoon, Harris had delivered a fiery speech that was well received among Democrats, blasting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the state’s new curriculum standards on Black history and expressing concern that Republicans wanted to “replace history with lies.” That set off a week of responses from the governor, which his opponents have used as ongoing fodder for attacks.
So last Monday, Harris aides started planning her trip to Iowa for four days later: a discussion on reproductive rights in a state where Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds had just signed a new ban on abortions after six weeks. (A state judge has since put the law on hold.) There were many of the same lines, including her riff on so-called leaders, but now on another topic that President Joe Biden’s aides are eager to highlight Republican positions on. And instead of speaking from behind a podium, Harris sat in a comfortable chair in front of a packed room of women at Drake University.
The timing – hours before the leading GOP presidential candidates gathered in Des Moines for a marquee fundraising dinner – was no mistake.
Aides and advisers are already workshopping ideas for the next quickly targeted and arranged appearance.
This is a shift for a vice president whose aides have often complained of her being left out of the spotlight and without support by many in the president’s inner circle. Now there is a conscious effort by both Biden and Harris aides to build her up.
Harris has been quietly noting how other…
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