With the exception of “60 Minutes,” most of the interviews on Kamala Harris’ media tour this week, a multiplatform circuit that stretches from daytime TV to late night to satellite to podcasts, have been non-adversarial. Ta. Howard Stern supported her. Whoopi Goldberg introduced her as “the next president of the United States.” Stephen Colbert’s audience greeted her with chants of “Car!” Maa! La! ”
However, a friendly interview does not automatically make you safer. Politicians can make the worst mistakes when they feel safe. Consider Barack Obama, who appeared on “The Tonight Show” early in his presidency and had to apologize for belittling his bowling skills as “like the Special Olympics.”
Friendly doesn’t mean bland either. Sympathetic interviews tend to delve into contradictions like a straight news journalist would, and include lines like “Critics say you’re…” and “But how do you pay for it?” It may not be included. question.
But it can still be enlightening, both about who the candidate is and the persona they want to present. Harris is the first Democratic candidate to challenge Trump as a political protagonist since Donald J. Trump took the escalator in 2015. Being the star of an election is an asset, not to mention a way to annoy the naysayers who want to be the center of every photo and be the bride at every wedding.
But that is not a natural role for the vice president. (“I feel like that’s disrespectful,” she told Mr. Stern.) Kamala Harris, who was all over screens and speakers this week, is a cautious politician and a guest on a wide range of talk shows. Although she is vague about policy details, she sometimes vividly tells individual stories. She was the kind of candidate who would have a beer with you – literally as she did with Mr. Colbert – but was cautious when it came to spilling the tea.
The reality of today’s elections is that politicians, like celebrities in the entertainment industry, have more media options and influence. With traditional news organizations no longer owning the gateway to the general public, politicians have more freedom to choose their own platforms and audiences. Trump has also largely limited his campaign exposure to interviews with conservative media outlets and influential figures, with “60 Minutes” reporting that he has withdrawn his agreement to appear on the show.
Harris sees the spotlight differently than her opponents. While Mr. Trump views live television appearances as a vortex of chaos in which he can bend reality to his will, she seems to see it as a series of traps to be avoided by walking a narrow path. is.
This week, Ms. Harris set her course for a select audience. Call Her Daddy, the wildly popular podcast hosted by Alex Cooper, appeals to Gen Z and Millennial women. The all-female panel of “The View,” which serves as the daytime talk audience. On Howard Stern’s “Sirius “60 Minutes” and Mr. Colbert’s “Late Show” reached traditional broadcast television audiences.
If you’ve completed a full marathon, you’re likely to hear a lot of repeating points and anecdotes. But it also gave us a more complete picture of who Harris is as a speaker and public figure, and her own strengths and weaknesses as a publicist.
She was able to switch between passionate, introspective, reserved, and playful modes during and during interviews. (When Colbert asked her what she was thinking during her debate with Trump, she laughed and said, “It starts with a W, and there’s a letter in between, and the last letter is an F.”)
She can be verbose and vague when talking about abstract concepts and policies, like the avalanche of answers about Israel policy she gave to Bill Whitaker on “60 Minutes.” She is much more passionate and persuasive when she approaches issues through specific stories, both real-world and hypothetical.
For example, Ms. Harris spoke to Mr. Cooper about the effects of the abortion ban and drew an illustration of a mother who was forced to leave her state to receive care. “She’s going to have to go to the airport, stand in line at TSA, and sit next to a stranger on a plane to go to a city she’s never been to before,” she said. “She has kids, so she’s probably going to have to fly back soon. Her best friend probably won’t be with her because that friend is taking care of the kids. ”
There was some news on the media tour. On “The View,” Harris announced plans to have Medicare cover home health care (a responsibility often placed on women of the “sandwich generation,” many of whom are likely to be viewers of the show). . There was also news that candidates did not want to report.
Harris said on both “The View” and “The Late Show” that she would do anything different from Biden as president, saying Trump had taken control of it and that was criticized for refusing. (Of course, breaking with the president would likely have started its own news cycle.)
However, there were also mines that were avoided. Stern and Joy Behar of “The View” invited her to theorize about why voters still support Trump. Perhaps conscious of the possibility that Hillary Clinton would become a “basketball of deplorables,” she passed.
Beyond the weightier debates, Ms. Harris laughed, shared, and cracked open the Miller High Life, fulfilling the ultimate duty of a talk show guest. It made me feel glad that I was there. Part of the modern campaign, and the modern presidency, is to send the message that you don’t just love people, you like them, and that you’re serious about life.
As president, Obama shared, and sometimes criticized, the NCAA’s standings. Ms. Harris joked with Mr. Stern about a time when she loved Prince’s music. (She likes “1999” and he’s obsessed with the “Batman” soundtrack.)
Serious people don’t need to worry about the president’s “favorability”, but it is an asset when it comes to governance. It can get you through a rough patch and make voters want you to succeed. In a new New York Times/Siena College poll, respondents considered Harris the more “fun” candidate, which may seem frivolous, but it’s not irrelevant. Mr. Trump’s appeal to his supporters has always been as an entertainer.
With less than a month left until Election Day, will Ms. Harris continue this media strategy? There may be advantages to making oneself the protagonist of an election. Sometimes it backfires, and sometimes it can be advantageous to cede the spotlight if you think you’re treating the other person indifferently.
This week, Harris adopted the first strategy, but left room for the second. On “60 Minutes,” when Whitaker asked for comment about Trump canceling an interview on the show, she urged viewers to “watch his rallies.”
