US Vice President Kamala Harris is back on the campaign trail and isn’t afraid to show it.

In recent weeks, Harris has visited several US states in the lead-up to a new election campaign for President Joe Biden.

And although she’s recently taken a more solitary role in government, Harris is now showing she’s up for the challenge. She’s also not afraid to annoy her Republican competitors.

She attacked Florida Governor and Trump rival Ron DeSantis for supporting a “revisionist history” of slavery and urged Iowa health care workers to rebel against restrictive health laws. the State on abortion. She also urged Chicago’s Latino voters to fight what she calls “extremist” Republicans.

Biden Strategy

On Saturday, Harris opened the civil rights group NAACP’s annual conference in Boston, an important political event for Black Americans that will help set the agenda Democrats will focus on in the 2024 presidential election.

Harris herself is the first woman, the first of Indian descent and the first of African-American descent to serve as vice president of the United States.

But the fact that Harris is giving several high-profile speeches today is no coincidence. According to senior Democrats, this is part of Joe Biden’s election campaign strategy.

Harris needs to raise her profile with her loyal supporters, refresh her image with independent voters and reach out to Democrats who have yet to hear the Biden administration’s message. It was about time, many say.

Historically low satisfaction

– We have constantly told the White House that they need to send more because we need a voting base, including black voters, says civil rights veteran Al Sharpton.

Biden credits Black voters for winning the 2020 election. According to Election Day polls, he received 87% of the Black vote. But if new opinion polls and low turnout in the byelection are anything to go by, Biden should not take that support for granted.

Harris’ US tour is also an attempt by the White House to improve its image. Polls show historically low satisfaction with the vice president. According to a recent NBC News poll, 49 percent of registered voters have a negative impression of Harris, compared to just 32 percent who have a favorable impression.

Follows Harris as president

President Biden’s advancing age also means Harris is increasingly in the crosshairs of Republican criticism. Some Republicans have already suggested she could end up leading the country if Biden wins in 2024.

– We are going to the election campaign against Kamala Harris. There is no doubt that it is Harris who will become president of the United States if Joe Biden wins this election, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said on Fox News in June.

Now DeSantis is also throwing himself into the boxing ring. On Friday, he accused U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who is the highest-profile black Republican presidential candidate, of accepting the vice president’s “lie” about Florida’s new pro-slavery plan for teachers.

He went so far as to accuse Scott, who was critical of the curriculum change — which states, among other things, that slaves derived certain benefits from slavery — of being a Harris supporter.

Ready for the return

However, Harris, who was more popular than Biden among women, young voters and even some Republicans when she became vice president, has seen her popularity decline. This is due, among other things, to harsh criticism from conservative media and political conflicts around, among other things, the seemingly intractable issue of immigration to the United States.

Some Democrats say she hasn’t done enough as vice president, and several say she hasn’t done much to ease the president’s duties. But after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion, Harris slowly found her voice.

– She does best when she talks about topics she is comfortable with. Given the challenges she faced in her early days as vice president, putting her in front of a friendly audience so she can regain their trust is a shrewd strategy on the part of Democrats, a senior aide told Reuters. Democratic National Committee.

Longtime Harris supporters also notice a difference in her commitment.

– I receive a lot more emails and am constantly informed about what she is doing. There’s been nothing for a while, so it’s great to see she’s on the ground more, said perennial Harris supporter Bruce Thompson.