How Harris Is Creating an Alternative Media Reality

Since Kamala Harris was selected as Joe Biden’s successor, she has avoided traditional media. Instead, she is systematically allowing influencers to advertise for her. There have been no critical inquiries about her policy. A strategy that could hurt her in the end.

With a thin brush, influencer Nadya Okamoto dabs makeup on her cheeks and looks into her phone’s selfie camera. “Get ready with me for the DNC,” she says and presents her outfit to her 4.1 million TikTok followers.

It is the first of a total of 12 videos that Okamoto will publish for the Democratic National Convention. They will be viewed hundreds of thousands of times. “One step closer to electing our first ever woman president,” reads the description of one video, in which she dances in the United Center arena to a song from Charlie XCX’s album “Brat,” which has provided Harris considerable social media hype.

In normal times Okamoto is largely nonpolitical. In videos, she gives away tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and presents tips such as how you can sleep better on an airplane.

For the first time, Democrats invited an entire army of influencers to their convention. Two hundred seats, usually available to journalists, were reserved for them. A stroke of genius by the party’s strategists because the “content creators,” as they are called in the United States, created a great deal of content. There are thousands of posts under relevant hashtags that their followers can see.

Harris has found a way to reach those who don’t consume any traditional media with feel-good videos from her convention. This pertains to the most contested voter group in this election: young people.

“We’re giving creators a front row seat to history,” Democratic spokesman Matt Hill told news agency Reuters. Indeed, it is likely the party’s strategists calculated this coldly. Since Biden relinquished the field for the presidential candidacy to Harris, Democrats have aimed to create a feel-good atmosphere in which everyone looks hopefully toward the future.

Influencers are the perfect tool to make sure that succeeds. That’s because they’re not journalists. On their accounts, they present themselves as a brand and take their community along through their lives. Political topics play less of a role. Viewers want approachable tips and inspiration from influencers for their own everyday lives. What’s the harm in sprinkling a little “election inspiration” in between?

“I don’t consider myself a journalist, but my audience definitely does,” 25-year-old influencer Carlos Espina told Welt partner publication Business Insider. This is exactly what the Harris campaign is taking advantage of. Two party insiders confirmed to the portal that her team is helping to arrange interviews between influencers and Democratic politicians.

Exclusive Harris Interview with Shallow Questions

This is how influencer Vidya Gopalan was given the opportunity to interview Harris personally. An opportunity that the highest-profile and most critical journalists of every American television network and newspaper are currently striving for in vain. Since being named a candidate, Harris has not given a thorough interview with any large media organization and, aside from smaller rounds of questions on the side of public appearances, she has not held any longer press conferences*.

There would be much to discuss. Other than good vibes and optimism, American voters still don’t know exactly what Harris stands for. According to a CBS poll, the problems of the economy, inflation and immigration are the most important issues for voters.

Harris still has not presented truly concrete plans in any area. One might think influencer Gopalan would use the rare chance to try to elicit something concrete from Harris. However, the opposite occurred. In the lead-in, she notes that Harris’ mother also had the Indian last name Gopalan and asks her to what extent her ancestry has characterized her life.

In questions two and three as well, Harris did not have to parry the question of financing her vaguely announced tax relief program, for instance, but rather got to answer what her favorite food in Chicago is and what she is most looking forward to at the convention. The two laugh with each other and shake hands. “We’re here for you,” Gopalan says in closing. The short conversation was viewed a total of almost 3 million times.

The interview with Gopalan was the perfect opportunity for Harris to create an alternative media reality. Closeness to the people and normality is what the vice president’s campaign wants to convey. If voters get the feeling that a politician is “one of them,” it is without question that they would stand up for them.

But if a politician advertises concrete policy, it is clear that one voter group will benefit — and not others. The latter could then turn away. The traditional media has seen through this and of course also watch the influencer spectacle with envy.

The Wall Street Journal also ripped into Harris last week. “She has largely avoided making concrete proposals that include price controls and would expose her to criticism,” the newspaper criticized. It claims this was undoubtedly intentional because Harris is leading “a campaign about feelings.”**

So far, this strategy has paid off for Harris. Harris could make gains in polls with young people in particular. According to one analysis by Politico, she could extend her lead over Donald Trump by an entire 17 percentage points in comparison to Biden’s numbers. One pillar of Barack Obama’s election success, as well as Biden’s in 2020, was their overwhelming approval among young voters.

Risky Strategy for Harris

In the end, however, Harris is taking a huge risk with this approach. Unlike other presidential candidates, Harris did not go through the primary election process. This is not only strenuous, it is also a test. Candidates must prove that they can perform suitably in any situation — whether during a visit to a diner in a small town in Iowa, in an interview with a regional newspaper in New Hampshire or during a televised debate with 10 other unknown but highly nervous candidates who are all striving simultaneously for that one viral moment. Many a hope bearer has become disenchanted in the process.

Harris’ candidacy practically fell into her lap without any of this when Biden was forced to give up on his own due to his vulnerability because of his age. This could come back to haunt her because Trump will be waiting for her on Sept. 10 in the first of three televised debates. Every critical interview with piercing questions from America’s top journalists, which she is currently avoiding, is missed practice.

*Editor’s Note: Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walsh gave an exclusive interview to Dana Bash of CNN on Aug. 29, 2024.

**Editor’s Note: This quote, though accurately translated, could not be independently verified.