One Lesson From Obama’s Campaign Could Win Harris the White House | Opinion

In 2008, Barack Obama ran an incredibly exciting presidential campaign that galvanized young people and the Democratic base. Yet, in the spring of that year, leading into the Democratic convention and at times during the rest of the campaign, Obama and John McCain remained engaged in a relatively close race.
When I approached my friends on the Obama communications team, I emphasized the importance of reassuring a specific cohort of voters about Obama’s suitability for the job. While Obama was an exciting and attractive candidate, people needed to get comfortable with the idea of him as the chief executive of the United States. It had been a long time since the nation elected a relatively young candidate, Bill Clinton, but he was white, and also had been a governor. There had simply never been someone like Obama as a nominee, and this cohort of voters needed to be reassured. It didn’t matter if their hesitancy was due to underlying racist assumptions, or something else. These people had to be convinced.
I urged the campaign, and they agreed, to put Obama in more presidential settings. They started to have him chair economic advisor meetings that were set up to look like cabinet meetings. They had him deliver his party nomination acceptance speech in front of a backdrop meant to mimic the White House colonnade. They closed the campaign with a 30-minute ad in which he “addressed the nation” in a setting that looked like an Oval Office address. They once went a bit too far in creating a mock “presidential seal” that was panned. But the point is that they started to create the image of him as the man in charge, and the man with a plan.
With Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, now advising Vice President Kamala Harris, I reflect on that campaign and wonder why those lessons aren’t being applied to Harris.
The polling continues to show a tight race, in which a small but potentially decisive number of undecided voters remain unconvinced that she’s ready to be president, or that they know what she would do. It’s crucial that we influence these undecided voters, as they hold the power to sway the election.
For better or worse, former President Donald Trump carefully and fraudulently built himself a reputation as a strong executive with a record of success. From his name appearing ubiquitously since the 1980s to his helicopter and plane to his “you’re fired” catchphrase on “The Apprentice,” he has built up the idea that he can control a room and act decisively.
Harris, while far more likable than Trump, and more likeable than any candidate has been in a long time, has not projected the same image of a strong executive—yet. The excitement around her is reminiscent of Obama’s campaign in 2008, but in an election that will be decided by a handful of votes in a few states, she needs to do more than argue Trump would be a disaster. She needs to present herself as a chief executive right now, with a clear, decisive plan for what to do. This will reassure voters and instill confidence in her leadership.
The first step is to start to saturate areas with easy-to-grasp policy points in microdoses, as I argued in this piece. It’s relatively cheap but effective, and it keeps hitting people with billboards and six-second preroll ads that lay out solid—and decisive—policy plans.
Secondly, the campaign must put her in everyday presidential settings, as the Obama campaign did in 2008.
Chair meetings and take control of the room. Sign pledges, like one to go after price gougers, and set it up to look like a triumphant bill signing. Call in leaders from key constituencies to meet and discuss the needs of various areas of the country, and call a press gaggle in before the meeting, like a president does in the Oval Office.
Imagine her calling in a union chief to discuss manufacturing jobs or Mark Cuban to talk about the innovation economy and having them sitting approvingly next to Harris as she gives a brief statement to the press pool on what they will discuss. It puts her in the power position and sends a message that she’s ready to control the room.
This campaign has precious little time left, and there is no time to waste. But with swift movement and strong images, there is no doubt that the vice president can portray herself as a strong leader and ready to be chief executive—because she is.
Eric Schmeltzer is a Los Angeles-based political consultant who served as press secretary to Rep. Jerry Nadler and former-Gov. Howard Dean.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.