Harris’ 'joy' campaign isn't enough in 'must-win' election over authoritarian: columnist

Writing that Kamala Harris and her campaign “must do more” to win over support from undecided voters, a New York Times columnist argued Wednesday that the vice president’s road to electoral victory begins with engaging directly with what he refers to as the “final 5%.”

“Harris has run a remarkable race, one truncated by the historic route by which she became her party’s nominee," Charles Blow wrote in a new op-ed Wednesday. “But now she must finish it in the way many longer campaigns begin: by prioritizing retail politics that win over the reluctant.”

While Harris, Blow writes, is “a must-win candidate as a guard against a rising authoritarianism,” her campaign’s reluctance to allow her to engage in smaller settings over fears of “gotcha” moments could be what is keeping voters from witnessing “humanizing moments” that rallies often don’t provide.

It just might be what’s keeping Americans from feeling like they know enough about her, he said.

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“The campaign doesn’t need a post-joy strategy, but it definitely needs an in-addition-to-joy strategy,” Blow writes, adding that he believes voters wanting to better know her positions provides an area of opportunity for the Democratic nominee. Blow also acknowledged that Harris “is slowly and cautiously including more challenging settings, like her recent appearance on '60 Minutes.’”

“But her campaign must do more,” he stresses. “Harris has to come down from behind the rally podiums for more personal interactions with individual voters.”