Former Obama adviser David Axelrod argued that Vice President Kamala Harris is positioning herself as the change candidate in the race to win over voters who are “weary” of another Donald Trump presidency.
Axelrod and CNN anchor John Berman were discussing each campaign’s efforts to reach voters in the tight race during a Tuesday morning segment on the network. Axelrod said that Harris is trying to reintroduce herself while painting her opponent, former President Trump, as “more of the incumbent” in this race.
“Yeah, I think this has been the dynamic from the moment she emerged as a candidate, John, she is the turn-the-page candidate in this race, at least that‘s the way it’s been so far,” he argued.
“There is a weariness with Trump and Trumpism and frankly a desire to turn the page on this whole era, and she has offered herself as the way to do that, as the vehicle to do that,” he continued.
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA – AUGUST 29: Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at the Enmarket Arena August 29, 2024 in Savannah, Georgia. Harris has campaigned in southeast Georgia for the past two days. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“I think that‘s been a powerful driver behind her surge that has put her in the race,” he said.
The vice president has managed to close the enthusiasm gap plaguing Democrats when President Biden was at the top of the ticket, according to a new poll.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll found Harris leads Trump 48% to 43% among likely voters, which is within the poll’s margin of error.
A recent Fox News poll also found voters in the Sun Belt put Harris on par with Trump as “bringing needed change” (49% Harris, 48% Trump).
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden arrive at a campaign event at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh, on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“I think that Trump was change in a race against Biden. Suddenly Trump is not change,” Axelrod argued on CNN.
“And when people start chanting, ‘we‘re not going back,’ they’re talking about Trump. So this is a problem for them,” he said of the Trump campaign.
Harris reiterated this message during her first sit-down interview with CNN’s Dana Bash last week. Harris said she wanted to “turn the page on the last decade of what I believe has been contrary to where the spirit of our country really lies.”
After Bash pointed out Harris had been vice president for three-and-a-half of those years, Harris countered she meant moving on from this “era,” seemingly referring to the political rise of Donald Trump that began in 2015.
LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 29: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump greets supporters following a town hall campaign event on August 29, 2024 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Trump is campaigning in key battleground states ahead of the November presidential election. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Axelrod argued that Harris had effectively rebuffed the Trump campaign’s efforts to tie her to Biden.
“They‘ve tried to link her to Biden. I think that was a reasonable strategy to try and make her a stand-in for Biden but she has established her own identity in this race and that’s a problem for the Trump campaign,” he said on CNN.
Trump 2024 national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN last week that it is their campaign’s goal to ensure voters see Harris’ role in the Biden administration’s failures.
“It is our goal over the next several weeks ahead of Election Day to ensure that voters understand Kamala Harris is not the candidate of change, nor is she the candidate of the future,” the Trump 2024 national press secretary told CNN’s Berman. “Kamala Harris is the Vice President of the United States right now. And she is wholly responsible for the failures over the past four years.”
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The campaign has also argued that Trump has a history of outperforming public opinion surveys.
“At this point in the race in 2016, Donald Trump was down to Hillary Clinton by an average of 5.9 points. At this point in the race in 2020, it was 6.9 to Joe Biden,” senior adviser Corey Lewandowski noted this weekend in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Brian Flood and David Rutz contributed to this report.
