Running for president is a challenge for any potential candidate.
It’s a challenge that’s at least doubled when you come into the race three months before the election, as Vice President Kamala Harris has recently done.
In the short time between President Biden announcing his dropping out of the election and Harris’ bid for presidency, Harris and her marketing team have risen to the challenge of an expedited campaign as the November 5 election nears.
Well before the public was asking if Biden would drop out, Harris had the eyes of young voters on her. TikTok videos of the vice president laughing and singing took over the “For You Page”. In an opinion piece, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, noted one of her viral clips in which she shares a piece of wisdom her mom used to say: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of everything which came before you.”
It was Harris’ delivery of the quote that garnered attention, leading to multitudes of voters to label themselves as “coconut-pilled.”
Pop sensation Charli xcx tweeted on July 21, “kamala IS brat,” an endorsement of Harris and reference to the singer’s hit album released earlier this year that took the internet by storm. Kamala HQ’s X account, the “official rapid response page” of Harris’ campaign, was quickly updated with a banner matching the aesthetic of the “Brat” album cover.
Fans of Chappell Roan, a singer who quickly rose to fame while opening for Olivia Rodrigo in 2022 and 2024, have been editing clips of Harris to her songs. Notably, TikTok users are editing Harris to Roan’s song “Femininomenon,” captioning it as a “Kamalanominon.”
Last Tuesday, Megan Thee Stallion performed at a Harris rally in Atlanta. Before Harris took the stage, the rap star announced, “We about to make history with the first female president – the first Black female president. Let’s get this done, hotties. Hotties for Harris.”
While Harris’ marketing and use of female pop culture icons has drawn a crowd of young voters to her, it’s a double-edged sword.
Political Science Liaison President Helena Saldivar-Mieres believes Harris’ marketing is effective, if unorthodox. “This is almost tapping into what the Republicans have been doing… kind of almost skirting around policy issues entirely and going more so through the cult of personality. I think that is what she benefits from,” Saldivar-Mieres, a senior, explained.
“For the current state of politics, it might just work. But I feel like that signals the fact that there’s something wrong with politics as we know it.”
Outside of Harris’ nifty use of pop-culture, internet culture has seemingly turned tide against the GOP. In a simple, yet excruciatingly effective backlash against the state of the Republican party, social media users have harnessed a stingingly brutal insult: calling the GOP “weird.”
Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota and running mate of Harris, described former president Donald Trump as a “weird, strange dude” during an online fundraiser event. Politicians and voters have latched onto the insult.
While the strength of Harris’ campaign is undeniable, no one can be sure of the election results until after election day. Until then, all eyes are sure to remain on Harris and her opposition.
