'Don't Think It Wins The Middle': Dem Strategist Urges Harris To Stay Away From Trump Talking Point

2 months ago

Democratic strategist Melissa DeRosa joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss likely Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her strategy.

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Transcript

00:00Speaking of personality, she had a speech yesterday and she positioned herself as the prosecutor running against the convicted felon Donald Trump.

00:09What do you make of that strategy?

00:12You know, I don't know that Donald Trump's legal issues are going to play much of a role regardless of how she's trying to present herself.

00:20I know that it energizes the base, but I don't think it wins the middle.

00:24We see that in poll after poll after poll.

00:26People are sort of numb to his legal woes.

00:29You know, I think a lot of the country thinks DOJ has been politicized, the FBI has been politicized.

00:33That's something that we see time after time in focus groups.

00:37And so I'm not sure that's the right strategy for her to take.

00:40I would, if I were her or if I were advising her, tell her she should be leaning into her role as a former prosecutor on public safety, on quality of life,

00:49on, you know, taking on the sort of kitchen table issues that matter to American families most.

00:56Because that's where I think she could really get the most resonance.

00:59And I think it sort of plays against the soft on time type that Democrats are traditionally viewed to be,

01:05because she has a life's work where she can point to and say, I walk the walk.

01:10And how does she win the middle? How does she win those swing voters, the undecideds?

01:15Because right now the Republican Party is pinning what they perceive as the failures of the Biden administration onto her as she was his number two.

01:24Absolutely. And, you know, they're going to keep doing it.

01:26And the way they should be talking about this, if I was advising them, is don't see the failures of the Biden administration.

01:31It's the failures of the Biden-Harris administration. You know, she owns inflation.

01:36She owns the migrant issue. He put her in charge theoretically of the border crisis.

01:40And so I think what she's going to have to do is something that is sometimes difficult for running mates,

01:45which is she's going to have to break aside from Joe Biden.

01:48She's going to have to say in certain moments, yes, I was part of the administration.

01:52Yes, I supported the president. Of course, this is how I would do things.

01:56This is how I would chart my own course. You know, being a president is different.

02:02And so she's going to have to successfully address those very real issues, which I think the public will return to after Labor Day.

02:09Right. The next few weeks, we're not going to talk about the next few weeks.

02:12It's going to be personality. It's going to be speculation. It's going to be the Secret Service head resigning.

02:18It's going to be the Democratic Convention. But after Labor Day, they're going to have to do a debate.

02:23And I think there's going to be a real return to the issues.

'Don't Think It Wins The Middle': Dem Strategist Urges Harris To Stay Away From Trump Talking Point

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