Washington.- As she abruptly dropped from second to first place on the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris had to make a decision: How to portray President Biden in her campaign?
Given that Democrats pressured Biden to drop out of the race over concerns about his age, mental health and ability to defeat former President Donald J. Trump, would it be best to distance himself from the 81-year-old president he served for nearly four years and focus on establishing his own political identity?
Or should he continue to support Biden and his most popular policies?
And on a practical level: Where should Biden accompany her on the campaign trail? How often? And what should he say?
Their answers are beginning to emerge.
Harris and the people in charge of her campaign plan use the president — but carefully and on certain occasions.
The president and vice president will campaign together, but not too much.
Biden will travel mostly to key swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, where he continues to appeal to white working-class voters and union members.
“He has a lot of credibility in those Democratic states because he was also a working-class man,” said Cedric Richmond, a former administration official who is now advising Harris’ campaign.
“People are underestimating the Democratic Party’s love for Joe Biden. That highlights how many different messages he can give and the different places he can go.”
That strategy will show itself almost immediately.
On Monday, the president will join Harris at a Labor Day campaign event focused on unions in Pittsburgh.
On Thursday, Biden will be in Wisconsin on his own to promote his administration’s investment communities there.
On Friday he will travel to Michigan with the same message.
Harris’s campaign advisers and Biden’s White House advisers — who carefully coordinate decision-making — have decided that there is no real advantage for the vice president to publicly break with the president or his policies.
White House communications director Ben LaBolt said Biden is “very interested” in Harris being elected.
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