Republicans for Biden will formally rebrand as Republicans for Harris on Sunday, and campaign staff for the reorganized Democratic party are crossing their fingers that a new candidate can fulfill a promise that Joe Biden made during his campaign.
The launch will consist of themed events, targeted advertisements, and outreach from Republicans to Republicans, all with the goal of persuading voters that Kamala Harris is not a “San Francisco radical” and that Trump and others have evolved. Once again, the race is tight, and the Harris team is clinging to the idea that moderate independents and Republicans turned off by Trump might swing swing states in the vice president’s favor.
Republicans who view Trump as anathema or an existential danger to democracy, and who had accepted Biden as a suitable substitute, are the primary targets of the most recent attempt.
The outreach to these Republicans has grown more challenging as confidence in Biden plummeted following his terrible performance in the debates, according to aides who had been switching from @joebiden.com to @kamalaharris.com. One source said that on a conference call with Trump’s former GOP primary opponent Nikki Haley’s supporters after the debate, numerous individuals voiced their lack of faith in Biden, which further highlighted the severity of the president’s issues.
According to insiders, however, the Democratic enthusiasm surrounding Harris’s nomination is finally paying off.
A former chief of staff to Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger, Austin Weatherford stated, “There’s a lot of excitement, because I think people were feeling unsure of where things were going, and now they are all on board.” One example of this is the case with Kinzinger. The contest took a turn in June, just as Weatherford had begun to mobilize the Republicans behind Biden’s campaign.
While Biden was “providing the alternative” on the topic of protecting democracy, Weatherford told HEADLINESFOREVER that “now people just see it more clearly.” It hits them harder.
According to sources who spoke with HEADLINESFOREVER, the new group will begin its activities on Monday with gatherings in North Carolina, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. Among those who have already pledged their support are Bill Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts who ran against Trump in the 2020 Republican primary; Christine Todd Whitman, a former governor of New Jersey; Kinzinger, a former congressman from Virginia; Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois; and Stephanie Grisham, a former press secretary for Trump. Weld was the Libertarian nominee for vice president in 2016.
Claudine Schneider, a former Republican congresswoman from Rhode Island who now resides in Colorado and has been spearheading a movement to unite other GOP lawmakers, sent an email to HEADLINESFOREVER expressing her belief that Harris is “the PERFECT candidate to oppose Trump,” describing her as “intelligent, honest, hard working,” and someone who “genuinely cares about every citizen, and about justice.”
Schneider expressed her desire to shift the political discourse back toward compromise and mentioned that she and others she has spoken with are deeply concerned by the character disparities between Harris and Trump.
Aides to Harris have swiftly stated that she is shifting away from several of her more liberal views. Among these, she has previously backed the Green New Deal’s government employment guarantee, a prohibition on fracking, and cuts to police funding. Now that her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination has crumbled shortly after Thanksgiving 2019, her advisers are arguing that she is running a unique race and are hoping voters will react differently this fall.
“That task has been handled by Harris. Currently, she is working at a breakneck pace on that task,” Weatherford quipped. Her time to make her case is limited, but she is using it well. The more we witness her addressing the concerns of the general voter, the more people will be swayed.
Schneider expressed his frustration with the current usage of the labels “liberal” and “conservative,” particularly in relation to the suggestion that tackling climate change is “liberal” and other conservative usages, in response to concerns that Harris leans too far to the left.
From 1981 to 1991, Schneider was a member of the House for ten years. He made the comment that some Republicans “are working toward a decisive trifecta for the Democrats” in the upcoming election, meaning that the Democrats would be able to keep the presidency and the Senate, while the Republicans will try to flip the House. Schneider explained that their rationale was to “provide us time to revive a Republican Party that reflects the values of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan” and “so that 1) we can actually move our country forward.”
According to campaign officials, Republicans who had previously supported Biden are now rallying behind Harris. Last week, HEADLINESFOREVER contributor and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan endorsed Harris in an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Duncan stated, “though my support for Harris didn’t come easily, it did come naturally” and referred to her as “the best vehicle toward preventing another stained Trump presidency.” Duncan had previously stated his intention to vote for Biden.
At last month’s Republican convention in Milwaukee, Trump’s feuds with prior Republican leaders were on full display. Notably absent from the event were any living former GOP presidential or vice presidential nominees, including George W. Bush.
Those former party leaders have all voiced their disapproval of Trump, either openly or privately; but, none of them were backing Biden, and none of them are still on the side of Harris.
The only thing that has come close so far is a social media post made by Mike Pence, who is now an ardent critic of Trump and who, two weeks ago, lauded Joe Biden for deciding not to run for president.
“Leaders in both parties must now communicate a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike,” Pence said, referring to the recent events of President Biden’s decision to halt his campaign and the assassination attempt on President Trump.
However, Pence has since added multiple posts that criticize Harris’ views on taxation and employment growth.
Despite the lack of effort by Trump and his campaign to win over Democrats, Harris aides like Weatherford will be relying on testimony from former Trump administration officials describing how unfit he is for office, as well as testimony from current and former Republican lawmakers stating that the party no longer stands for traditional GOP principles and values due to the MAGA takeover, and testimonials from rank-and-file Republican women explaining why they are rejecting Trump.
According to Weatherford, “we think that’s the best way to make it work” when Republicans communicate with each other.