As Vice President Harris and Governor Walz head to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, Democrats find themselves outperforming expectations and moving ahead in critical polls. While some of this is attributable to the newness of the Harris / Walz ticket, Democrats will try to leverage their convention to increase visibility and support in what has been a very condensed timeline for them (President Biden announced he was stepping aside less than one month ago). Here are five objectives Democrats will be seeking this week:
President Biden's Support and Handoff: While President Biden immediately endorsed Vice President Harris, this will be the first primetime speech where President Biden uses his platform to push Democrats towards the Harris / Walz campaign. He will use his speech on Monday to highlight the role Vice President Harris played in the core successes of his Administration over the last four years and to remind voters that she is advancing many of the policies from the Biden Administration.
Re-Engage At-Risk Voters: Just like any party (including the Republicans), one of the biggest risks for Democrats is internal party division. Messaging at the convention will be targeted at Democratic voters that were not fully aligned with President Biden in an effort to bring them on board and reduce the number of non-voters among traditional Democrats.
Define the Trump / Vance Ticket: The convention will not only be a venue to highlight why Democrats should support their candidates, but also to provide an opportunity to define what a Trump / Vance Administration would look like. In doing so, they will look to the policies of the last Administration and those that former President Trump has outlined to date, as well as issues where there is a clear differentiation among the parties (i.e., abortion).
Highlight Party Unity: President Biden won the last election because of how unified Democrats were during the election and Vice President Harris needs to find a way to make sure that level of excitement and voter intensity continues until the election. This includes having a focus on the issues that traditionally unite Democrats and doing so in a manner that highlights the opportunity costs of not having a Democrat in the White House.
Do No Harm: Conventions should be an easy way to score political points. There is little to no coverage of the other party the entire week and messaging is entirely at the discretion of the party leaders. The convention going smoothly (where viewers can focus on core messaging) should be easy to accomplish, but also critical to achieving the objectives of the convention.
With less than 80 days before the election (and much less when considering early voting), both parties view this time period as critical for solidifying their voters and building messages that can broadly attract undecided voters. While party conventions are as much theatre as anything else, they do provide opportunities to advance a message and do so unchallenged.
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