How The Biden Campaign Is Becoming The Kamala Harris Campaign

WASHINGTON In one of the most stunning weeks in American politics, President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. The change leaves Harris with less than four months to prove to voters that shes the best person to lead the country and to defeat Donald Trump.

Democrats have raced to publicly unite behind Harris, and their efforts are already reenergizing a base of supporters sapped of enthusiasm for Biden, who was plummeting in the polls after a disastrous debate performance last month in Atlanta.

But theres another side to a massive transition like this namely, the mechanics of it all thats being hashed out behind the scenes and has raised questions. How can you just swap in Harris for Biden, after voters across the country picked Biden to be the Democratic nominee? How is Bidens campaign going to suddenly revamp its entire operation for a different candidate?

The short answer is that this is a lot easier to do because Harris was already on the presidential ticket with Biden. The long answer is that its not just about mechanics, but messaging.

Federal Election Committee rules allow Harris to use the tens of millions of dollars in existing Biden-Harris campaign funds, the campaigns tens of thousands of employees, and its crucial voter data lists (though Trump has already filed a complaint challenging her ability to do this).

A major partys presumptive nominee stepping down months before Election Day is not an ordinary event, but it is also not a crisis, Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center , said in a statement. There are Democratic Party rules in place to govern the process of selecting a new nominee. There are also rules established by the Federal Election Commission that apply to the funds currently held by the Biden-Harris campaign.

The Harris campaigns messaging will obviously have to change, at least somewhat. Harris is already facing ugly attacks from Republicans over her race and gender, which is not something that Biden, a white man, had to contend with. At 59, Harris is also not nearly as old as Biden, 81, or Trump, 78, so shes not going to deal with the same scrutiny about age.

Harris also has a different record than Biden as a former prosecutor and a former California attorney general, never mind her time as a senator and vice president, offices that Biden also held.

Some messaging shifts are happening in plain view. Brian Fallon, who is part of the Harris campaign and was Harris spokesperson when she was Bidens 2020 running mate, on Thursday laid bare some of the sharpest contrasts between Harris and Trump.

Prosecutor vs. the felon, Future vs the past, Repro repro repro, Fallon wrote on social media.

Prosecutor vs. the felon
Future vs the past
Repro repro repro

Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 25, 2024","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Brian Fallon","author_url":"https://twitter.com/brianefallon","cache_age":86400,"description":"Prosecutor vs. the felonFuture vs the past Repro repro repro Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 25, 2024\n\n\n","options":{"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Brian Fallon on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/brianefallon/status/1816613193290060240","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66a1718fe4b0ac6125bd1533","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/joe-biden-kamala-harris-campaign-transition_n_66a1718fe4b0ac6125bd1533","entryTagsList":"joe-biden,democratic-party,2024-election,kamala-harris,@asian_voices,@black_voices,@us_politics,@voices","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"black-voices,women,asian-voices","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/478cf471-0035-4425-8953-0ac3d34ac4ea/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":28},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66a1718fe4b0ac6125bd1533","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Joe Biden ","slug":"joe-biden","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/joe-biden","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/joe-biden","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/joe-biden"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Joe Biden","slug":"joe-biden","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/joe-biden"},{"name":"Democratic Party","slug":"democratic-party","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/democratic-party","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/democratic-party","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/democratic-party"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Democratic Party","slug":"democratic-party","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/democratic-party"},{"name":"2024 election","slug":"2024-election","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/2024-election","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-election","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-election"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"2024 Elections","slug":"2024-elections","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/2024-elections"},{"name":"kamala harris","slug":"kamala-harris","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/kamala-harris","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/kamala-harris","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/kamala-harris"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Kamala Harris","slug":"kamala-harris","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/kamala-harris"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Prosecutor vs. the felon
Future vs the past
Repro repro repro
Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 25, 2024

The campaign also appears ready to have a little fun. Messaging on social media is leaning into viral hits, reposting singer Charli XCXs tweet that kamala IS brat and stylizing posts in the aesthetic or maybe in the context? of the singers hit album. On Thursday, a campaign press release referred to Trump as old and quite weird, a reference to Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) saying as much in an MSNBC interview earlier in the week, which spurred the use of the word weird to describe Trump and his associates. Another release wished a Happy World IVF Day To Everyone Except JD Vance a dig at the Republican vice-presidential nominees stances on reproductive rights, and the GOPs quandary on how to reconcile their abortion policies with access to in vitro fertilization.

Harris has made some staff changes, too. The campaign announced Tuesday that she has tapped Kamau Marshall, formerly a senior adviser and spokesperson for the Biden-Harris ticket, as a senior adviser for her new presidential campaign.

Harris unveiled her first campaign ad on Thursday , titled Freedom, with a little help from Beyonc. And within 48 hours of Biden bowing out of the race, Harris was in Milwaukee the largest city in a key battleground state and, perhaps in a dig at Trump, the site of last weeks Republican National Committee convention.

Campaign officials declined to comment to HuffPost on their new messaging strategy for Harris. Instead, they pointed to a memo released this week by Harris campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon. The memo, titled The Path to Victory for Kamala Harris, breaks down how Harris has well-documented support from 2020 voters, why she is well-positioned to expand that support in 2024, and why she can win over more persuadable voters in todays highly polarized electoral environment.

The thrust of Harris message is that this election is a choice between two very different visions, OMalley Dillon said in the memo. She is fighting for a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead. Donald Trump is a convicted criminal running to enact his extreme and dangerous Project 2025 agenda that would roll back Americans rights and freedoms, hurt the middle class, and threaten our democracy.

Hours after Bidens decision on Sunday to drop his reelection bid, OMalley Dillon was on an all-hands call with campaign staff emphasizing that their operation was built to beat Trump and that is precisely how they will move forward, except with Harris at the top of the ticket.

All of you, all of us, wherever we come from, are here for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and to defeat Donald Trump, she told staff, per a source familiar with the call.

While today is a big day of transition, nothing changes with why you got here and what were all here to do. But the path forward is a path that is for all of us to do this together, OMalley Dillon said. So let me tell you what I know to be certain, which is that every single person here whatever your job, whatever youre doing you have a job. You have a home. You are us. We are a team. We are in this together.

The campaign also appears to be leaning into Bidens call for unity as they proceed, framing their work ahead as an effort to build on his successes.

He built a whole vote 81 million people a coalition that was bigger and more broad and more diverse than anyone before him. And that coalition is there for Kamala Harris, and that coalition is what we are building today, OMalley Dillon told staff on the Sunday call. So when you are going off this call and you go back to your job tomorrow morning, for the work that we have in front of us, use him as your example for how we move forward.