Kamala Harris is taking a big risk by playing it safe

Since the week of the Democratic National Convention in mid-August, Kamala Harris has been running an exceptionally cautious presidential campaign. Before the DNC, the month the Democratic Party rallied around his candidacy, Harris presented himself as a break from the past, adopting new slogans (“We’re not going back!”) and speaking much more forcefully than Joe Biden. on abortion rights, and the surprise election of Minnesota governor Tim Walz (whose own rhetorical style, including his willingness to call Republicans “weird,” was also refreshingly unconventional).

By the time the DNC happened, Harris was on board small but persistent leads the polls. While that’s a huge improvement over Joe Biden (who was on track to lose big to Donald Trump), it also had the backlash of Harris dialing back the boldness of his campaign. The Harris campaign apparently followed a “do no harm” strategy — based on the belief that the best course of action is not to upset constituents with new promises, but to improve their standing with moderate Republicans by emphasizing Trump’s instability.

This new strategy can be seen in everything from Liz Cheney’s height as his surrogate (Harris recently met Cheney in the Republican Party’s birthplace of Wisconsin) in Tim Walz’s brilliant, non-combative engagement with JD Vance during the VP debate. Another example of cautious campaigning is the fact that Harris specifically refused to criticize or break with Biden, even over his unpopular Middle East policies.

The problem with the “let the dog sleep” strategy is that you cannot control external events. October of the presidential year is known as the month of surprises. last week, dock workers’ strike threatened to collapse the economy – a threat that was only averted when the union agreed to postpone the strike until January. The situation in the Middle East offers an even greater opportunity for events to spiral out of control. Israel’s assault on Gaza has already expanded into a larger regional conflict that includes the still-expanding war in Lebanon and the missile exchange with Iran.

Biden himself is aware that Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government is pursuing policies that threaten Democrats. last wednesday Politico was reported“Biden told confidantes that he did not believe his Israeli counterpart would seek a cease-fire, arguing that Netanyahu was trying to maintain the conflict to save his political future and help Trump in the November election.” The risk here is not only Netanyahu’s actions, but also Biden’s clumsiness. Even though Biden recognizes that Netanyahu is perpetuating the conflict to help Trump, he refuses to use his presidential power in any way to rein in Netanyahu. By refraining from distancing himself from Biden, Harris commits to a policy that already unpopular with Democrats voters and could become an anchor if the United States becomes militarily involved in another Middle East war.

The “play-it-safe” strategy also means that we organize fewer events and less media. on saturday Politico published an extensive report documenting growing opposition to this policy among Democrats. According to Politico:

Democratic officials, including some of Kamala Harris’s own staff, have grown increasingly concerned about her relatively light campaign schedule, which has seen her hold fewer events than Donald Trump and almost completely avoid unscripted interactions with voters and the press.

In interviews with POLITICO, nearly two dozen Democrats described Harris, a no-nonsense risk-averse in the race, is feared to hinder him as the campaign enters its final 30 days.

Harris and Walz were both highly visible before the DNC, but have kept a lower profile since then. As Politico notes, “Walz, who won the nomination in part because he was strong because he did high-profile interviews — but … has largely stopped doing interviews since joining a campaign led by a team determined to minimize risk.” Over the past month, Harris’ avoidance of the public spotlight has drawn comparisons to Hillary Clinton’s losing effort in 2016 to the more forceful campaign style that brought Barack Obama to victory in 2008.

To be safe, and chasing the Never Trump Republicans, it would make sense if Harris had a healthy leadership and the Democratic base was firmly on board and energized. But unfortunately, this is far from the case.

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton describes the race as “frighteningly close,” even with a new candidate. He wants Harris to talk much more and in detail about his economic and immigration policies. A Democratic operative said Politico“You have to get to Michigan. You must live in Pennsylvania [because] the challenge is still black voters in Philadelphia, black voters in Detroit.” In a private call with donors, Rep. Elissa Slotnik he said“Right now, I don’t feel the best about where we are with Kamala Harrison at a place like Michigan.” It is possible that Slotnik is trying to raise money from donors by scaring them, but caution suggests that with the polls close, his warning should be heeded.

Harris is still not where he needs to be Black voters, Latino voters, young votersor working class voters. These are the groups the Harris campaign should focus on. Given this, the pursuit of Never Trump Republicans by praising Dick Cheney is foolish, as Dave Zirin recently noted. The Nation. Ever Trump’s Republicans are very few – Liz Cheney’s 2022 defeat could have been the the incumbent’s biggest primary loss this century—and fulfilling their agenda risks alienating Democratic constituencies.