In small towns and Red States under the radar…
It can’t be as impressive as a Presiddntial visit….
But?
The arrival of an escorted motorcade, with cops and Secret Service agents in your town IS SOMETHING…And it gets small town media attention….
Asiden the Republican anti-Washington news?
A visit from the Vice President of the United States, a Black woman, who sits down and listens to you?
That’s gotta work both ways, eh?
For the listeners who actually see and hear their government at work….
And the woman, who just could be the next Presidential nominee 2 1/2 years from now….
The electoral benefits of going to remote communities in non-swing states seem decidedly limited for those in the Beltway, especially at a time when the White House is trying to turn around its polling nosedive and gain praise for the state of the jobs market. But administration officials contend that the symbolism of a vice presidential trip matters, and that when it’s tied with some larger announcement, it has a clear downstream upside.
For much of last year, Harris’ strategy played out largely behind closed doors in conversations that often occurred in the VP’s ceremonial offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. But as Covid restrictions have rolled back, she has pushed her team to hit the road more, adding those unconventional swings alongside high profile travel to places like Poland and Philadelphia.
“We’re obviously as a team working through what places she has not been to, what places are we going to go to highlight?” said Harris’ Domestic Policy Adviser and one of her longest-serving aides, Rohini Kosoglu. “But some of our recent stops have been because she has said, we need to get to the South.”
Administration officials say Harris is known to come back from trips with stories or ideas that she believes could influence White House policy. Landrieu, for one, said his staff has been fed material from Harris’ team that it then takes “to the Cabinet secretaries meetings and then we start over again and we keep going.”
For Harris, the trips have the added benefit of as she finds her footing in the second year of her vice presidency. Despite being Biden’s No. 2, she remains a bit of an unknown to voters around the country after her swift rise to the vice presidency. She consistently polls in the 40s and 30s and there has been chatter among Democrats that she isn’t currently well positioned to succeed the president should he choose not to run again in 2024….
Note….
Harris visit to Rhode Island images.…