Kamala HarrisThe first few weeks of what has been a godsend for Democrats in 2024 have been entertaining, but calls for seriousness are growing louder. The New York Times: “Trump’s tax plan could increase the national debt by trillions. Harris’ plan is a mystery.” The New Yorker: “Harris’ campaign website doesn’t even have a policy section or a statement of her beliefs.” The Washington Post: “If she wants to prevail, Ms Harris must present her ideas.”
As it happens, a perfect opportunity to meet those demands for details is just around the corner, at an event where Harris will have the stage to herself and tens of millions of people will be listening to her every word. She is, of course, the star and closing speaker of the Democratic National Convention, and can use the spotlight to explain all the policy details she would pursue if elected President of the United States…
No.
On Friday, before the convention, Harris will outline some economic policy issues in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina. But she is unlikely to use the podium in Chicago next week to make proposals for changes to marginal tax rates or for an end to the carnage in Gaza. She will want to appear serious, but she does not want to blow the balloon of joy that has excited the Democratic masses and catapulted her up in the polls.
Harris’ main goals for next Thursday night will be to introduce herself to the broad cross-section of Americans who are not obsessed politicians but are just beginning to pay attention to the White House race, and to sell herself to anyone who isn’t sure of her ability to lead the country. She will cite facts and examples from her career in public service to illustrate her accomplishments. But Harris will likely lean most heavily on general themes and vision as she tries to build a personal connection with voters by talking about her own impressive rise from humble beginnings: the child who grew up in a working-class Berkeley neighborhood, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, to become California state attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president. “Telling her story as part of the larger American story and as an example of what is possible in this country will be inspiring,” she says. Jon Favreau, the former top speechwriter for Barack Obama who later co-founded Crooked Media and was co-host Pod, save America. “It will also help her to arm herself against Trump’s darker accusations and JD Vance that she is different, that she is not like us.”
It was not always easy for Harris to sell her biography for political purposes. “Men have no problem talking about how great they are,” says Ashley Etienne, who was a senior adviser to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Harris. “Women want to talk about You. She had to get used to talking about herself. It’s very different from Barack Obama. He did a whole tour of talking about himself for two years before he ran for president.” A former Obama speechwriter, Adam Frankelis leading the preparation of Harris’ speech at the Democratic Party Convention as the presidential candidate. Frankel had already written a speech for Harris as the vice presidential candidate. “He is very good at getting people excited,” says Favreau, who hired Frankel for Obama’s 2008 campaign. “He was a close friend of Ted Sorensen for a long time, so Adam has a lot of JFK and RFK in him.” Another Obama veteran, Megan Rooneythe president was Joe Bidenwho is part of the White House team, was recently hired as the director of speechwriting for the Harris campaign. “Megan is, in my opinion, the best in the business when it comes to expressing the humanity of a person in a speech,” says Dan Schwerin, the head of the speech department at Hillary Clinton‘s candidacy in 2016, with Rooney as his running mate. “And after voting for Hillary and for Michelle Obama, She knows as well as anyone how to write for a strong female leader.”
A difficult decision for Harris will be how far she will go after the highly ridiculous Donald Trump. Most of the attacks on the Republican candidate will likely come from the convention’s opening groups, including the vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, Creator of the Democrats’ “big nutcase” strategy. But Harris cannot completely avoid drawing a sharp contrast. “You never want to give the impression that you are afraid to take on your opponent,” says Cody Keenan, Obama’s speech director from 2013 to 2017. “And with someone like Trump, who is abnormal, basically a larger-than-life bully, the most important thing you can do is attack him directly.”
Another challenge is to cover a lot of material without putting everyone to sleep. It is no coincidence that the most memorable speeches at Democratic conventions are usually given by someone other than the presidential candidate. Ted Kennedy’s “The Dream Will Never Die” in 1980, Mario Cuomo’s “A Tale of Two Cities” in 1984, Jim Hightower‘s “born on third base” in 1988 and Obama’s career-defining stem-winder in 2004 were all part of the opening act because the lesser figures can stick to a narrower narrative.
