Kamala Harris/ Trump voter base/ 2024 election/ working-class voters/ campaign strategy/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ With a close race forecast, Kamala Harris is making moves to win votes from Trump’s base, especially white, non-college-educated voters. Harris’ campaign is strategically placing ads on sports betting sites, gaming platforms, and during football games to connect with this demographic, focusing on middle-class tax cuts and economic relief.
Harris Targets Trump’s Base for Crucial Votes: Quick Looks
- Campaign Strategy: Harris is focusing on ads targeted at Trump’s base, especially white working-class voters.
- Key Messages: Ads emphasize Harris’ middle-class tax cuts, housing assistance, and economic relief measures.
- Sports and Gaming Ads: Harris and running mate Tim Walz appear in ads on DraftKings, Yahoo Sports, and IGN.
- Union Support: Labor unions are actively supporting Harris, aiming to appeal to working-class voters.
Kamala Harris Targets Donald Trump’s Key Voter Demographic for 2024
Deep Look
In a race that may come down to the slimmest margins, Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up efforts to win over an unexpected demographic: white, working-class voters without college degrees—a group that has traditionally leaned toward Donald Trump. Harris’ campaign has focused on reaching out to these voters through targeted advertising, events, and union alliances in hopes of swaying even a small percentage of Trump’s base in key battleground states.
Harris campaign officials, including Dan Kanninen, battleground states director, believe that while this voter segment is challenging to sway, any shift could be pivotal in the tight race. “Showing up is how you peel away the votes that you need to win,” Kanninen explained, pointing to potential movement in public polls. Although the shift in support can be difficult to measure precisely due to polling variability among subgroups, Harris’ team sees an opportunity to resonate with these voters on economic issues.
To reach this demographic, Harris has rolled out ads in spaces where Trump’s supporters are likely to engage. For instance, on sports betting site DraftKings, Harris is promoted as part of a “strongest line up” with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, appealing to a sports-minded audience. Yahoo Sports features similar ads spotlighting Harris’ promises of tax cuts for middle-class families and $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers—targeted benefits for working-class voters.
Other Harris ads have taken an inventive approach, like one on the gaming site IGN. Styled like a video game character selection, Harris’ ad showcases “high charisma and intelligence” while ranking low in categories like “deception,” urging viewers to “select this president.” Meanwhile, the campaign has also invested in advertising slots during football games and on sports talk radio, furthering its outreach to traditionally Republican spaces. Walz, a former high school football coach, has also been attending sporting events to promote the campaign and connect with potential voters.
Beyond digital advertising, Harris is depending on the support of labor unions to communicate her platform’s economic benefits to working-class voters. She has emphasized economic issues like price gouging, which resonate with families struggling with inflation. According to Kanninen, “People want somebody who is going to be on their side,” and Harris’ focus on middle-class relief is designed to appeal to those concerns.
Republican pollster Whit Ayres, however, expressed skepticism about Harris’ potential to sway white working-class voters, attributing the campaign’s outreach more to its ample funding than to realistic expectations. “When you’re awash in money, you go after anything that’s remotely possible,” Ayres said, but he noted that in a close race, “any voters you can squeeze from anywhere could be significant.”
Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, dismissed Harris’ approach, claiming that she is “losing ground with long-time Democratic constituencies, like Black men.” Nonetheless, Harris’ campaign remains confident, with Kanninen stating that the campaign isn’t shying away from “tough conversations” with skeptical voters, believing that even minor shifts in support could be decisive.
With Harris and Trump each vying for every available vote, both campaigns are willing to extend their efforts into unexpected demographics. Harris’ push to attract Trump’s core supporters underlines the critical importance of even slight shifts in a closely contested election.
