Vice President Kamala Harris is running for reelection alongside Joe Biden. However, with only a 36.2% approval rate, Harris can use all the help she can get. Now, powerful Democrat-aligned political action committee (PAC) EMILY’s List is stepping up to the plate, promising more than $10 million to boost Harris’ 2024 bid.
Will EMILY’s List be able to turn the tide and put Biden-Harris back in the Oval Office or is the money going towards a lost cause?
Where Exactly Is This Money Going for Kamala Harris?
EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler has been fairly vague about where the pro-choice PAC’s money will be going, but has said that it will be focused at outreach on social media platforms like TikTok and countering “disinformation” about Kamala Harris and her record as VP.
It’s worth noting that EMILY’s List backed Harris in her 2020 run, funding her to the tune of around $10 million and running a pro-Harris Twitter account touting her record.
As EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler said, “we’re going to tell the story about who she is, what she’s done, support her at every turn and really push back against the massive misinformation and disinformation that’s been directed towards her since she’s been elected.”
Becoming ‘Less Scripted’
This kind of money going towards a sitting VP is a first in U.S. political history and reflects a clear effort to counter the kind of dismal approval ratings that have plagued Harris since she took office.
Prior to selecting a running mate, Biden made it clear he would “prefer” a woman or person of color, achieving both in his choice of Harris.
It created the perception from early on that Harris had been chosen for her skin tone and gender rather than for her accomplishments in her former roles as the Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017 and as a U.S. senator from 2017 to 2021.
Frequent media gaffes, foreign policy embarrassments, frequent staff turnover and inefficacy in her Biden-appointed role as “border czar,” gave the Republicans more ammunition in taking apart Harris’ record, portraying her as an out-of-touch and ineffective imposter who doesn’t belong in the VP role.
Staff are reportedly working to get Harris to be “less scripted,” an attempt to save her from future gaffes similar to her infamous “passage of time” slip-up and other times when she got lost in the verbiage of dry scripts. Her March remarks in Ghana, pro-abortion speech at Howard University and defense of the “Tennessee Three” have earned Harris points among allies like Butler who says she has been “missing” that strong “fighter” side of the VP.
Will This Funding Boost Work?
Whether this funding boost will work depends largely on Harris and how she performs on the trail, as well as the Biden campaign as a whole.
Kamala Harris has handled the majority of fundraising for the reelection effort and is slated to do five in June, doing the heavy lifting to get key donors and voting blocs onboard for 2024.
What’s clear with the funding entrance of EMILY’s List is that Harris’ gender advocacy and pro-choice credentials are going to be a focus for her 2024 branding. While Harris’ overall approval rating may be low, it’s worth remembering that she has significant support among the Democratic base as seen by her highly successful campaigning on behalf of victorious 2022 candidates across the country.
Paul Brian is an author and freelance journalist who has reported for Reuters, BBC, and Foreign Policy, and contributed to the Spectator, the Federalist and the American Conservative. He has covered global events from Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East to South America.
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