Kamala Harris took the Democrats backwards in every critical swing state and significant demographic in yesterday’s US election. How she campaigned to achieve that outcome says a lot about the way professional communicators contribute to public discourse.
Harris came into the two-horse race that stops the world late after her boss – a president clearly in cognitive decline – stubbornly hung around too long. She had little time to establish her own narrative – and doubled down by being too slow to do so.
Harris was inexorably tied to perceptions that the Biden administration had failed to control the cost of living and manage its own borders. That real wages in the US had been stable for the last four years didn’t matter. Politics is about perceptions.
Harris avoided set-piece mainstream media interviews and channelled her messages through social media like TikTok. Her message was that she wouldn’t change anything that had been done over the past four years. That translates to “more of the same” and all the talk about unbridled joy wasn’t going to sugarcoat that.
Trump hates mainstream media and only did interviews with friendlies. He was constantly negative and showed his customary lack of discipline. Voters had seen it all before and are largely immunised against his insults, exaggerations and barefaced lies.
Trump’s strategy – when he used one – was to focus on the hip pocket and border security and to tell a simple story, over and over. He appealed to the rusted-on, the disenfranchised and the undecided.
He isolated some voters – for example, Hispanics – but it’s a mistake to regard racial groups as homogenous voting blocs, especially in countries where attendance at a polling place is optional.
Harris knew Trump always presents as the anti-politician (and that’s always going to be relatable if you’re up against a political professional) but seemed to have a strategy to counter that. That’s where she lost.
There are two take-outs for communicators. Firstly, voting decisions are based on a mix of analysis and emotion. They don’t vote solely on “a vibe” or a feeling of “joy”.
Secondly, if someone tells you that social media is a silver bullet, push back. Self-selecting what you want to see or hear is baked into social media, and most consumers will have their own biases reinforced, most of the time.
Craig Regan, Senior Account Director, Primary Communication