Isabella Carter
Kamala Harris, the 49th vice president of the United States, launched her 2024 presidential campaign on July 21, 2024. Harris's campaign team included chief of staff Lorraine Voles, campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon, and senior adviser David Plouffe. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was selected as her running mate. Harris's campaign focused on issues such as reproductive healthcare, criminal justice, and civil rights, as well as national abortion protections, LGBT+ rights, stricter gun control, and addressing climate change. Despite her efforts, Harris ultimately lost the election to Donald Trump.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Running Mate | Minnesota Governor Tim Walz |
| Campaign Chief of Staff | Lorraine Voles |
| Campaign Chair | Jen O'Malley Dillon |
| Senior Adviser | David Plouffe |
| Social Media | @KamalaHQ on X and Instagram with 1.3 million followers on X as of September 2024 |
| Campaign Ad | "Kamala is for they/them" |
| Campaign Song | Initially Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" but later changed to John Mellencamp's "Small Town" |
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What You'll Learn
Kamala Harris's campaign staff
Kamala Harris, the 49th vice president of the United States, announced her presidential campaign for 2024 on July 21, 2024. Harris's campaign staff played a crucial role in her bid for the presidency, and she bolstered her team with talented individuals from various backgrounds.
One notable member of Harris's campaign staff was her chief of staff, Lorraine Voles. Voles played a strategic role, planning for contingencies and navigating the complex political landscape. She had been preparing for a potential presidential run since November 19, 2021, when President Biden temporarily transferred his powers to Harris during a medical procedure. Another key figure was Jen O'Malley Dillon, who served as the campaign chair and managed the campaign nerve center, utilizing data analytics to inform Harris and her inner circle.
Harris's campaign also benefited from the experience of Obama veterans, showcasing her ability to attract top talent. She faced a challenging task of differentiating herself from President Biden, with whom she served as vice president. This dynamic influenced her campaign strategy and messaging.
The Harris campaign actively utilized social media platforms like X (now known as Twitter) and Instagram to reach younger voters. The campaign's X account, @KamalaHQ, had 1.3 million followers as of September 2024. The social media team employed various tactics, including reposting memes and creating deceptively edited videos of opponents, sparking the creation of an entire X account dedicated to fact-checking their content.
Additionally, the Harris campaign strategically leveraged music and celebrity endorsements. They used songs like Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" and John Mellencamp's "Small Town" at rallies. They also received support from prominent figures like Beyoncé, with her song "Freedom" featured in a digital ad, and Oprah, who appeared alongside Harris.
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Her running mate, Tim Walz
Kamala Harris, the 49th vice president of the United States, announced her 2024 presidential campaign on July 21, 2024. The very next day, she selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
Walz's debut as Harris's running mate was at a packed rally in Philadelphia on August 6, 2024. The two made an appearance at a campaign rally, with Walz's walk-on music being John Mellencamp's "Small Town". This was after initially using Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run".
Walz's advocacy for in vitro fertilisation and child tax credits, a policy he implemented in Minnesota, were key issues that resonated with Harris. Another key moment was when Walz went on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and took a dig at Trump and Vance, saying, "These guys are just weird." This moment went viral and highlighted the shared values between Walz and Harris.
Harris's campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon, played a significant role in the campaign, along with chief of staff Voles, who had been preparing for such a contingency since November 19, 2021. Harris's campaign had a strong presence on social media, with 1.3 million followers on X as of September 2024 and a significant Instagram following. Despite these efforts, Harris's campaign ultimately lost to Donald Trump, with some attributing the loss to her failure to differentiate herself from President Biden and her excessive focus on attacking Trump rather than promoting her own ideas.
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Her campaign's social media presence
Kamala Harris's campaign has been characterised by a strong social media presence, with the team leveraging viral memes and taunts of the opposition, particularly former President Trump. The campaign has been successful in attracting younger voters, with the official Harris campaign account, Kamala HQ, adopting strategies to appeal to this demographic. This includes changing its banner to imitate the cover art of singer Charli XCX's album "Brat", as well as embracing coconut tree memes and adopting the trends of "brat summer" and "femininomenon". The campaign has also been endorsed by celebrities such as Beyoncé, whose song "Freedom" was featured in a digital ad.
The campaign's TikTok account, @KamalaHarris, gained 2 million followers within the first 24 hours of her becoming the presidential nominee and has since accumulated over 4.8 million followers, with videos garnering more than 462 million views since their launch. The campaign has also been active on other platforms, including X (formerly known as Twitter), where Kamala HQ had 1.3 million followers as of September 2024.
The campaign's social media strategy has been described as "saucier" and "more ruthless" than the previous Biden for President campaign, with a focus on embracing viral trends and memes to promote Harris's platform and connect with voters. This strategy has been led by a team of Gen Zers, or "mobilization team," who have capitalised on talked-about moments from the campaign trail and reacted with humour, creating content that directly mocks Trump.
The campaign has also been active in engaging with content creators, with more than 200 creators given credentials for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. These creators played a critical role in amplifying the convention's message and encouraging their followers to engage with the political process, particularly among younger voters.
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Her campaign's music choices
Music has always played a significant role in political campaigns, with candidates carefully selecting songs to amp up their supporters and convey their campaign message. The music choices of Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign reflected a strategy aimed at attracting younger voters and positioning herself as a fresh, new alternative to her opponent, former President Donald Trump.
In her campaign music choices, Harris notably embraced the neon-green Brat theme, adopting the aesthetic of British artist Charli XCX. A "fancam" featuring Harris' most memeable moments set to Charli XCX's "Von Dutch" went viral, helping to reshape public perception of the politician, especially among left-leaning Gen Z voters. The Harris campaign's social media accounts also leaned into this aesthetic, using Charli XCX's "Femininomenon" and embracing the Brat album cover art to appeal to younger voters.
Another prominent artist featured in Harris' campaign was Beyoncé. Her song "Freedom" was used in Harris' first campaign video, and it became a staple at campaign rallies. Additionally, an ad featuring Beyoncé's song "Freedom" debuted on July 25, 2024. The Harris campaign also used John Mellencamp's "Small Town" as walk-on music for her running mate, Tim Walz, at rallies.
While Harris' music choices reflected a contemporary pop sensibility, they also drew comparisons to traditional campaign anthems. For instance, Walz's reference to his fandom of Bruce Springsteen during his introductory rally evoked the affinity that many Democrats feel for the artist.
The Harris campaign's music strategy demonstrated an understanding of the role of pop music in reflecting the general mood of the population and its potential to shape public perception and engage younger voters.
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Her campaign's advertising strategy
Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign advertising strategy has been described as "genius" by some commentators. Her campaign has focused on capturing the attention of younger voters, with the aim of attracting a new voter base: Gen Z.
Harris' campaign has used social media and internet trends to make politics more accessible to younger voters. For example, her campaign used memes and changed its banner to imitate the cover art of Charli XCX's album "Brat" to market Harris to younger voters as a "cool girl". This strategy was so successful that Harris became synonymous with "brat summer", successfully combining politics with the interests of younger voters. Harris' campaign also used TikTok to its advantage, with videos promoting her campaign adopting the neon green and Arial font combination from the album cover.
The campaign also used music to appeal to voters. Initially, Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" was used as walk-on music for rallies, but this was later changed to John Mellencamp's "Small Town". The campaign also used Beyoncé's song "Freedom" in a digital ad, debuting in July 2024.
Harris' campaign also used social media to spread deceptively edited videos of Donald Trump, her opponent. This strategy spawned an entire social media account dedicated to fact-checking the campaign, which had 268,000 followers as of September 2024.
In addition to these strategies, Harris' campaign also released ads in English and Spanish, targeting Latino voters in battleground states. One such ad, titled "Tougher", focused on the southern border and called Harris a "border-state prosecutor".
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Frequently asked questions
Kamala Harris is the 49th vice president of the United States.
Kamala Harris' campaign staff includes chief of staff Lorraine Voles, campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon, and senior adviser David Plouffe. Harris also had top talent from the Obama operation.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was Kamala Harris' running mate.
Harris framed her campaign as "a choice between freedom and chaos" and based it on the ideals of "freedom" and "the future". Harris also used social media platforms like Instagram and X to reach younger voters.
Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump.
