The White House is preparing for the huge role Kamala Harris will need to play in the 2024 campaign.
Harris received considerable knocks as Vice President, as her political standing collapsed in the face of criticism on several fronts.
Despite this, she remains a central player in Biden’s world, and even more so because of the reelection campaign where Biden, the oldest President at 80 years old, will have his age become a critical issue for voters.
The White House will focus on building Harris to prepare for a likely rematch with former Donald President Trump next year.
A former Democratic campaign official, who spoke to The Hill, described an effort to “re-launch” Harris, saying that the Vice President becomes “more important” because of Biden’s age.
The ex-Democratic campaign official noted that the efforts weren’t necessarily to improve Harris but to give her a higher profile.
Speaking of the Biden team’s previous work to lower Harris’s profile, the Democrat added they didn’t believe there were “any regrets.”
In Biden’s launch video on April 25, Harris was featured extensively, she and second husband, Doug Emhoff, appear 15 seconds into the three-minute clip — a sign that the campaign is not running away from using Harris as an asset that can connect with key constituencies.
White House officials believe Harris has made progress as the administration’s leading voice in opposition to GOP efforts to restrict access to abortion. Hours after Biden’s campaign launch, Harris appeared at a political event focused on reproductive rights, where the Vice President was greeted with chants of “four more years.”
But while Harris’ allies are eager to tout her as a campaign booster, Republicans seem just as eager to mold her as the standard-bearer, especially given Biden’s age.
