Democrats are already putting Michelle Obama’s 2016 campaign slogan—”when they go low, we go high”—behind them in a mound of memes, insults, and sarcasm.
Their recent cable appearances have included derogatory terms for Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, such as “creepy” and “weird.” Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, made fun of a fake internet meme claiming Vance had sexual relations with a couch in his inaugural address as a vice presidential contender. The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has adopted a tone that is more online provocateur than Oval Office in its public communications.
“Donald Trump To Ramble Incoherently and Spread Dangerous Lies in Public, but at Different Home.” That was the “advisory” warning provided by her team on Thursday, just before Trump’s news conference in New Jersey.
The attacks target a former president who has shown remarkably little restraint in launching his own scathing criticisms against Harris. Trump has used derogatory terms, such as “dumb” and “low IQ,” to cast doubt on her intelligence and racial identity.
Democrats had taken this stance before; they started becoming more aggressive following Trump’s 2016 victory, when they realized that “we go high” wasn’t going to cut it. The ancient standards of political decorum have been completely disregarded, though, in the three months leading up to the election.
When we allowed them to define us, we witnessed the results. “Now, we define their messaging about us,” stated Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist. When things were going well, we would rise to the occasion. Now, we just ride the wave of success. That is the current situation.
On the other hand, as the seasoned Democratic strategist James Carville put it: “No one is talking about going high after eight years of Trump.”
“That’s a luxury we might have in the future, but right now, it’s definitely not in our budget,” he stated.
Harris has hardly given Trump a direct response, even when Trump follows his usual campaign strategy by attacking the vice president’s gender and race and calling her names. During a news conference last week, Trump leveled a slew of criticisms against Harris, who responded by saying, “I was too busy talking to voters, I didn’t hear them.”
The problem is that her campaign and its proxies are getting physical.
“I feel like one of my roles in this now is to be the anti-Tommy Tuberville, to show that football coaches are not the dumbest people,” Walz said at a fundraiser in Massachusetts earlier this week, criticizing Republican senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
“Donald Trump took a break from taking a break to put on some pants and host a press conference public meltdown,” said the press release sent out by the Harris campaign when Trump gave a news conference last week at Mar-a-Lago. I The subject line of the fundraising email read, “The two worst people you know are live this evening,” which coincided with Trump’s conversation with tech magnate Elon Musk on Monday.
Earlier this month, at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s speech in Philadelphia, chants of “he’s a weirdo” (referring to the Trump-Vance ticket) arose. The Harris campaign captured this scene on its X account. Last week in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Walz attacked Trump and Vance, calling them “creepy and weird as hell,” after stating, “I know bullies, and I’m not a name caller.”
“Harris and Walz are not intimidated by Trump or Vance, and they have both taken a strong stance to confront the schoolyard bully,” remarked Mark Longabaugh, an experienced Democratic strategist. “Harris has pulled it off by not entirely falling for the trap, while Waldz does it with a fantastic sense of humor.”
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson withdrew from the Republican presidential primary, and Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign tried to adopt a sassier tone before Hutchinson did the same, drawing criticism from the Democratic National Committee’s then-national press secretary Sarafina Chitika.
On the other hand, Chitika is now a senior spokeswoman for Harris-Walz, and the tone might be more appropriate for their ticket than Biden’s, because of what Longabaugh referred to as a contrast in “generational style.”
It’s a benefit of having a younger team, Longabaugh stated. “Not even Vance or Donald Trump were part of Biden’s political experience generation.”
Contrarily, Harris was elected to the Senate in the same year that Trump won the presidency. Four years later, she ran as Biden’s running mate on the ticket that defeated him. “If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” Harris urged Trump during a campaign address in Atlanta late last month, to the cheers of the crowd.
A request for comment was not responded to by the Trump campaign. No statement was made by Harris’s campaign.
However, according to Seawright, Democrats think that people “who felt disconnected or disaffected from the political ecosystem” could be swayed by their more aggressive language.
He expressed his belief that Democrats are not recognized for their fighting spirit or ability to project strength, but he remained hopeful that Harris and Walz could “project strength and style and substance.”
The impact on the general public’s perception of the race is uncertain, even though the methods employed by the Democrats seem to be having an effect in their own rallies and on social media. New York Times/Siena College polls shows that Harris’ favorability rating is now 50%. There has been a dramatic change from the previous three years, when a far bigger percentage of voters had an unfavorable impression of her.
However, Republicans are just now beginning to target Harris directly, through Trump’s personal assaults and the airways. “I believe I’m entitled to personal attacks,” he told reporters on Thursday. She doesn’t have much respect from me.
His comments gave the impression that he has no plans to back down soon. Apparently, Democrats will not either. The former president has widened the political “strike zone,” according to Carville, and Democrats are merely playing along, he said.
“Take a look at everything Trump has said regarding Harris,” Carville remarked. Check that out if you’re interested in seeing some low blows. We are contextual beings.
