During the 2024 election, Kamala Harris received a series of strategy memos urging her to distance herself from her boss, then-president Joe Biden, in an attempt to appeal to Republican and independent voters. Instead, she chose to stay aligned with Biden’s agenda, according to a new book chronicling the race.
The memos, written by Democratic strategist Maria Comella just weeks before Election Day, advised Harris to “create clear daylight/differentiation” between herself and Biden, warning that the Harris campaign’s messaging was failing to connect with swing voters and “doesn’t give enough of a reason to vote for Harris.”
Harris ultimately “chose a strikingly different path,” Politico reported, citing the memos obtained by journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf and featured in their new book 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America. Harris largely stayed aligned with Biden’s platform and went on to lose the general election, including all seven swing states.
Comella in the memos urged Harris to “acknowledge where the Democratic Party hasn’t always gotten it right—a willingness to not just work with the other side, but call out your own party when necessary.” Some of the issues to which Comella referred include the Biden-Harris administration’s policies on urban crime, the electric vehicle mandate, and record-high illegal border crossings—all of which, Comella argued, alienated Republican and independent voters.
Infighting and public finger-pointing gripped the Democratic Party after President Donald Trump’s victory over Harris. Some Democrats believed Biden would have been a stronger nominee, while others, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, argued that Harris might have performed better had Biden withdrawn from the race sooner.
Biden reportedly told Harris to do the opposite of what Comella recommended. When he stepped down from the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance last June, he “had no interest” in giving Harris room to “forge her own path” and “demanded” loyalty from Harris so that he could protect his legacy, journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes wrote in their book, Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.
Biden “would say publicly that Harris should do what she must to win,” a book excerpt reads. “But privately, including in conversations with her, he repeated an admonition: let there be no daylight between us.”
Read the full article here
