5 findings in DNC's post-election autopsy report: Harris' 'messaging misalignment'
5. Harris inadequately prepared to lead the Democratic ticket
The replacement of President Joe Biden with Harris, installed as the Democratic presidential nominee three-and-a-half months before the 2024 election, was a factor that loomed large throughout the report. The document provided multiple examples of what it characterized as the Biden administration's failure to adequately prepare Harris for such a development.
“Prior to the [2022] midterm election, the White House directed the DNC to conduct polling to identify how [First Lady Jill] Biden could support her husband as president,” the report explained. “The research explored the settings, the issues, and the messages needed to create an effective framework. No similar research was conducted to support the vice president — to identify the issues she should talk about, the ways in which she should talk about them, the audiences with which she could perhaps resonate and support the president’s agenda.”
It continued, “The White House did not position or prepare the vice president. Had the White House explored and evaluated ways to leverage Kamala Harris earlier in the administration, perhaps it would have improved the president’s standing, and it certainly could have helped prepare her to lead the ticket.”
While acknowledging that the White House delegated the immigration issue to Harris, the report expressed concern that the administration failed to adequately contradict the negative portrayal of Harris by Republicans as the “border czar.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
