Like Biden, Harris is focusing on Trump as Election Day approaches

WASHINGTON (AP) – Seeing the end of her shortened presidential campaign, Kamala Harris tries to focus directly on Donald Trump and its threat to democratic institutions, referring to the strategy used by Joe Biden before he ended his re-election bid.

You can bet that fear of the former Republican president could rally Harris’s supporters in recent days and shift undecided voters to her side. Harris’ challenge will be to connect philosophical questions about American democracy with the everyday concerns of individual Americans.

The effort will be on full display on Tuesday, when Harris delivers what her team describes her final argument from the Ellipse, a grassy expanse adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, DC. This is the same place where Trump stood when he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol January 6, 2021which became a bloody attempt to prevent the confirmation of Biden’s electoral victory.

When choosing the location, the vice president draws attention to Trump’s pursuit of unchecked power, which was also the leitmotif of Biden’s interrupted re-election campaign. Biden has often talked about fighting for democratic values ​​- sometimes, his critics say, to the detriment of economic concerns.

Since replacing Biden in the top spot, Harris has sought to assure voters that she will lower the cost of groceries and housing. She also increased the distance between herself and Biden, promising a “new approach” if elected.

But so did Harris Trump is being talked about more and more often as an existential threat, labeling January 6 as “love day” and the latest revelation that his former chief of staff he believes he is a fascist. She made efforts reach out to Republicans who are concerned about Trump, calling on them to unite behind her candidacy to protect American ideals.

The speech for Tuesday’s event is still being written, although there are glimpses of the message in her recent public appearances.

“Either Donald Trump is choking down his enemies list, or I work for you and check off my to-do list.” Harris said Thursday in Georgia. “You have the power to make that decision.”

Former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen attended the event, and she is headed to Texas for the event on Friday with Beyoncé focused on abortion rights.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, said Harris’ message was a sign he was losing and “the walls were closing in.”

“That’s why Kamala is resorting to the attacks that Democrats have been hurling at President Trump for years,” she said. “Unfortunately for Kamala, despite these tired old lies, President Trump is still more popular today than at any time since 2016.”

Trump’s favorability rating has remained surprisingly stable for several years, although he says it dropped to 36% after the January 6 attack. Gallup poll. Last month it was 46%.

Last month, Harris had a 44% favorability rating, up from 34% in June, a month before she replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee.

Faiz Shakir, a political adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, said attacking Trump has been a “tried and effective tactic” for years.

Biden demonstrated this just days before the midterm elections in a speech at Union Station in Washington. While he mentioned popular programs like Medicare and Social Security, he focused more on concerns that electing Republicans would embolden Trump and his anti-democratic efforts.

“I hope the future of our democracy becomes an important part of your decision to vote and how you vote,” Biden said.

Democrats did better than expected midterms, and according to AP VoteCast, about 4 in 10 voters said the future of American democracy was their top voting issue. Among Democrats, it was about 6 in 10.

Shakir, however, was skeptical that a similar approach was the best approach this year.

“In some ways, in my opinion, they have abandoned the persuasion argument that we want to tell people something new or different about Kamala Harris,” he said. “Instead, we want to remind you of the worst aspect of Donald Trump. “

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said Harris should do “a little bit of both” by laying out her plans for the middle class and attacking Trump’s statements.

“We know what a second Trump term would look like — it would be an attack on all the things we hold dear,” Shuler said.

The AFL-CIO president recalled a recent conversation on the Gordie Howe Bridge in Michigan in which a worker said he liked Trump’s idea of ​​eliminating overtime payroll taxes. But Shuler responded that during Trump’s term, his administration tried to make overtime more difficult to access, which would make his promise worthless from a tax savings standpoint.

“It’s easy to make that commitment if he’s going to eliminate overtime,” Shuler said.

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Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.