Harris distances herself further from Biden as she continually intervenes in his election efforts
She continually finds herself drawn back to his side at the White House for official business, and he persistently crashes their discussions.
Harris' team is contemplating introducing fresh initiatives and commitments as president, primarily to emphasize significant distinctions, such as her more straightforward views on abortion rights and tackling border issues in the south.
According to an advisor to the vice president, the challenge in such a short time frame with so few days left in the race is, "When you're reaching out to undecided low-intensity voters, how do you effectively communicate a difference with Biden?"
Running alongside the president isn't a powerful stance, Harris' team acknowledges, but establishing her own identity is.
Neither the Harris campaign nor the Biden White House have committed to any more joint campaign events before the election.
Harris aims to preserve some distance, her top advisors claim, but not too much. She desires loyalty, yet she also aims to win. She intends to continue leaning on Biden, who is heading to Milwaukee on Tuesday for a gathering celebrating more projects made feasible by administration efforts, to encourage union members or to establish himself in battleground Pennsylvania for political engagements in the final weeks. However, there is no dissatisfaction on the vice president's team about Biden traveling overseas for a week in October for a diplomatic trip to Germany and Angola, which is non-pressing. Some even wish he'd stay away longer.
The main focus of leading Democrats is interpreting Biden as an albatross, symbolizing the discomforting feeling that has been spreading among Democrats that the vice president isn't, or at least not yet, where he needs to be to secure victory in just over four weeks. Still haunted by the 2016 election, they're disillusioned and despairing that even now, no amount of Donald Trump's inflammatory remarks, untruths, lack of strategies or legal issues can lessen his support.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz encapsulated this sentiment with the phrase, "I'll go to my grave not understanding why, but I know it's a fact that this is going to be a margin-of-error race."
The former president and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, are trying to portray Harris as the incumbent, talking as if she's been the one issuing executive orders for the last three years. Balancing this situation is challenging for a vice president sandwiched between exasperated voters yearning for change, Republicans scrutinizing every new proposition with the question, "Why hasn't she implemented them already?" and an incumbent president whose approval ratings have been rising with some of her crucial constituencies.
Biden and Harris' separate evaluations of Hurricane Helene damage on Wednesday is a preview of what's to come: "singing from the same song sheet," as Biden described it on Friday — but rarely appearing side by side.
This was a source of tension: Biden's choice to go to North Carolina earlier in the week forced Harris to delay her own visit to a state she's fighting fiercely to win.
No issue for Harris is more problematic than the escalating violence in the Middle East, approaching the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks: With hundreds of thousands of votes at stake in battleground Michigan alone, a variety of leaders are urging her to explicitly distance herself from Biden, people familiar with the conversations have informed CNN. However, her advisors understand that there can be no daylight between her and the president when she's sitting beside him in the Situation Room.
However, the economy remains the most aggravating for them, with voters still griping about a recovery that's stronger than nearly any expert predicted. Biden desires credit, while Harris wants to discuss the suffering and how much more needs to be done without being undermined for the pain that has occurred on this administration's watch.
This came to a head in September, when Harris responded to the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut with a statement about the need for further action. Then her advisors had to spend hours negotiating with their White House counterparts to scale back a victory lap speech Biden planned to give the next day, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Asked about the role she'd like Biden to have in the final stretch of Harris' campaign, given the ongoing issues in Israel and economic frustrations echoing through her home state, Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell stated, "That's a complicated question."
Dingell, a longtime supporter of Biden who is once again sounding the alarm in her "blue wall" state, declined to elaborate.
"'I am not Joe Biden'" vs. "a major player in everything we've done"
Internal Harris campaign research on the September presidential debate identified that one of the most popular moments for the vice president was when she said, "Clearly, I am not Joe Biden."
On Friday, after weeks of complaints from some junior White House aides about having to run policy statements and ideas past the campaign, Biden took a different approach. "She was a major player in everything we've done, including the passage of legislation which we were told we could never pass," Biden said. "She's been, and her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we're doing."
Harris' associates weren't thrilled with her appearance. It was reminiscent of their feelings on Thursday when Biden inserted himself into the spotlight by commending former Rep. Liz Cheney's speech supporting Harris.
The Trump campaign and prominent Republicans swiftly seized on the opportunity, asserting that Biden had effectively overshadowed Harris during his White House briefing room appearance, emerging two minutes after she had begun speaking at a campaign event in Detroit.
In mid-September, the Democratic research and polling initiative Blueprint carried out a national survey to evaluate a multitude of potential statements Harris could make regarding herself and Biden. The most successful ones, according to the polling, were those that demonstrated a clear distinction between Harris and Biden, while the least effective ones were those that suggested that a Harris administration would build upon the achievements of the Biden era.
Mentioning Biden, the poll revealed, reduced support, even if the stance claimed by Harris was identical.
These findings have been circulated among Harris' aides.
"She's not hesitant to express her differences from him. He has no issues with that," observed Mitch Landrieu, a former Biden White House infrastructure coordinator who acted as a co-chair for Biden's campaign and currently holds the same position for Harris. "They've attempted to tarnish Joe Biden's image and connect it to Harris negatively, but such attempts have not been successful since she is not him – she is noticeably younger and female."
Positioning Trump as 'the exhausted past,' Harris as 'the future'
Separating from Trump is less complicated than separating from Biden, and Harris supporters in battleground states acknowledged to CNN that it might be the sole way out of what one described as "the ultimate tightrope act."
"There's a clear contrast with Trump, and the more that distinction becomes evident, the better it is for Harris," said Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. "Every day that people are contrasting the chaos of Donald Trump to Harris's views and values is a victory for Harris."
"Joe Biden has delivered a great deal for Pennsylvania, particularly when it comes to infrastructure and energy jobs. Remember: Under Biden and Harris, more people found employment than under Trump," added Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle, a longtime close Biden ally representing a Philadelphia-area district.
Boyle urged focusing on the future, recommending that emphasis on the following: "Trump has been ubiquitous on our screens for the last decade, and if reelected, he would be the oldest president in history. She can credibly argue that Trump represents the burden of the past while she represents the future."
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly concurred, noting that the distinction worked well during his recent trip with Harris to the US-Mexican border, where she met with local officials and delivered a speech that differed substantially in terms of setting and tone from anything Biden has done.
"I believe Arizonans are interested in hearing more about this issue, but in the end, it must be about making sound decisions that impact the community," Kelly said. "I don't think that the president and the vice president will always share the same viewpoint on every issue. I believe she has a smart strategy and she's articulated it effectively there."
Kelly emphasized that Harris's discussion of her past experience as a former border state attorney general centered on pursuing a bipartisan agreement, which he thought was successful.
So while "I'm not focusing on comparing her to the president," Kelly said, "there's a significant distinction between her and Trump on this issue."
Biden seeks credit and insists he's not being petty
Biden, as is typically the case with him, approaches the final stretch with a mix of politics and psychology.
The President remains generally content with his decision to withdraw from the competition during the summer – well aware that if Trump wins, the future of American democracy could be in jeopardy, and that his legacy as the person who selected and subsequently stepped aside for Harris is on the line.
Just a few weeks ago, Biden told Harris' campaign leadership that he supports her doing whatever is necessary to secure victory, according to a source familiar with the conversation.
Discontent persists, however. Some circles within the West Wing and beyond contend that Trump's limited schedule, rambling speeches, and occasional errors are not interpreted as signs of disqualifying incompetence, as they were for Biden during the spring.
Even within recent days, close Biden advisers have told CNN that they have heard complaints that Biden would be in a stronger position if he had remained in the race.
Leading Democratic operatives and officials chuckled when informed by CNN about such sentiments, with one veteran consultant proclaiming, "That's utterly absurd."
A Biden senior adviser told CNN that such sentiments are not widespread within the White House.
The President is not touchy or overly protective about any distance Harris maintains, the advisor explained, arguing that he also continues to emphasize the need for further progress.
"The president is completely committed to assisting the vice president in her campaign efforts," the senior advisor declared. "He has and will continue to travel to battleground states on her behalf to speak about his experiences working alongside Harris as a partner in governance."
The vice president's team recognizes that aligning with the president might not be a strong political stance, but establishing her own identity is crucial for Harris. This is in contrast to some advisors wishing for Biden to stay away from diplomatic trips, as they believe his overseas journey could further overshadow Harris in the final weeks of the campaign.
In the contest between Harris and the former president, differentiating herself from Trump is seen as a clear advantage. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly believes that Harris has effectively conveyed her distinct views on various issues, such as border control, making a significant contrast with Trump.
