Kamala Harris puts new spin on Joe Biden democracy focus

Image via AP.

Before dropping his bid for reelection, President Joe Biden framed voters’ choice in November in dark and ominous terms, painting Republican nominee Donald Trump as a menace to American democracy and questioning whether the country could survive if he won.

The Democratic Party’s new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, isn’t exactly shrinking from that message, warning in her Thursday night acceptance speech of “extremely serious” consequences of Trump returning to the White House.

But Harris is putting her own spin on what has been a central messaging strategy for Democrats. Rather than focusing on the existential threat a second Trump term could pose to the country’s foundational institutions and traditions, she is expanding Democrats’ definition of what’s at stake in this election: It’s about preserving personal freedoms.

The fresh frame was on full display this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where attendees wrote their own definitions of freedom on handmade posters and Beyoncé’s anthem “Freedom” boomed through the loudspeakers. The convention dedicated a day’s theme to “fighting for our freedoms,” with special guest Oprah Winfrey suggesting those working to preserve reproductive rights are “the new freedom fighters.”

Harris drove the point home over and over as she summarized her promises to American voters.

“The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship,” Harris said Thursday. “The freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. The freedom to breathe clean air, and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis. And the freedom that unlocks all the others: the freedom to vote.”

Even as newly energized Democrats lean into personal freedom as a pillar of their campaign, the Trump camp isn’t willing to cede the messaging ground on that word, liberty or any other patriotic themes.

“It’s always good to see Americans express a love of our nation,” Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes said. “But a party that has opened our borders to drugs and crime, diminished our standing as a force for global peace and made it difficult for fellow Americans to afford the basics of life seems the exact opposite of patriotic.”

To be sure, the Democrats’ national gathering did not represent a full pivot from their warning that American democracy is on the line in November. Several speakers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, pointed to the need to guard American and distinctly democratic institutions. They also issued stark reminders of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, attacked police officers and sought to halt the certification of the 2020 election.

The bustling convention hall shared a rare quiet moment as video showing footage of the attack played onscreen.

Still, mentions of freedom outstripped those of threats to democracy, and “Freedom” signs often filled the area where the thousand of delegates were gathered. Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, never used the word “democracy” in his speech to the delegates on Wednesday while using “freedom” eight times.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.