As the presidential election comes to a close, the contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s campaigns is sharper and revealing.
In the final days before Election Day this Tuesday (November 5), the presidential campaigns for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making their cases to go to the White House – but the styles and messages couldn’t be more sharply contrasted. For Trump, his campaign has become one that is playing to the grievances and reactions of his base in a loose manner.
One key example was seen at a rally outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania over the weekend where he referenced the attempt on his life there over the summer while observing the bulletproof glass at the podium. “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news,” he said. “And I don’t mind that so much.” His campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, would defend the remark as Trump’s concern for the media, “looking out for their welfare, far more than his own!”
For Vice President Harris, her message has been cautious and steady but tinged with joy and inclusiveness. A highlight of her whirlwind ground game was her appearance on Saturday Night Live in the show’s opening segment with Emmy Award-winning actress Maya Rudolph, who’s been portraying her on the show.
While the segment got rave reviews, it is also a brief detour from her strict schedule thus far with key appearances in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. “We’re doing everything we need to do,” one Harris staffer said to the press. “We’re doing literally everything we can possibly do to reach voters.”
Observers have noted the difference between the two. “I never heard her say nothing on TV that seems crazy,” Philadelphia native Deshaun Hall said in an interview with NBC News. “But the side effect to that is you don’t feel like you know who she is.”
As for Trump, strategists have noted that his style of being more aggressive in campaigning might’ve backfired, particularly with the controversial rally held at Madison Square Garden a week ago.
That and other comments have offended many, which Republican strategist Rob Godfrey says benefits Harris: “Those things are a less-disciplined opponent, who has reminded people of some of what they remember less fondly about him, and an all-star lineup of surrogates who carry her message better, in some cases, than she does.”
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Photo: Getty
