Harris 'authentic, relatable': VP has 'money, momentum', must show she understands everyday concerns

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00:00Well let's get some more analysis on the Democratic National Convention now and cross over to

00:04speak to Morris Reid, a former official for Bill Clinton, the former US President.

00:10And Morris Reid is also a political strategist from Chicago.

00:13Morris, it's great to have you on the program.

00:16Thanks so much for joining us.

00:18It's of course a big night for Vice President Kamala Harris.

00:21She's set to give the biggest speech of her political career as she ceremonially accepts

00:25her party's nomination.

00:28What message will she need to get across to voters with the elections being just three

00:31months away?

00:32First and foremost, she needs to be her authentic self.

00:37What you've seen under Kamala Harris in these last 30 days is her true self, unlike when

00:42she ran for president in 2019, where she was more of a politician, she wasn't as successful,

00:48being authentic and relatable are the critical things.

00:52But most importantly, as those two are, she must speak to the American people's fears,

00:57dreams and aspirations.

00:58She needs to talk in terms, just like her vice president for election, the governor,

01:03talk in terms that Americans understand, they care about inflation, they care about gas

01:09prices, they care about rent.

01:10She needs to talk to them in a way that's relatable, it's understandable, but they feel

01:15that their presidential candidate understands their issues.

01:19Morris, the Democratic National Convention over the past few days has resembled somewhat

01:24of a big political party.

01:26There's been a lot of focus on joy and contrasting that message with Trump's agenda.

01:32But some critics say there hasn't been enough emphasis on policy.

01:35Give us your thoughts on that.

01:36Well, I think that there's some truth in that.

01:40And you can say that about the Republican Convention as well.

01:44One of the things that they need to do right now is to really build the enthusiasm gap.

01:48As you know, Democrats were not in a great place 30 days ago.

01:52They've now built that enthusiasm gap.

01:54They now need to turn that enthusiasm to actual messaging, voter identification, and motivate

02:00people to get to the polls.

02:01So that criticism is fair.

02:03And I think that Harris has to do this today, beginning today, paint that narrative, continue

02:08to push the narrative through the debate and start to speak to the American people on issues

02:12that really matter to them, policy driven issues, but pocketbook issues really more

02:16than anything else.

02:17And I think we can all agree that there's been quite a bit of electricity coming out

02:21of Chicago over the past few days from this convention.

02:25How do you think the Trump camp is feeling right now after seeing all of this sort of

02:30partying and revelry going on in Chicago?

02:33Well, this is always one thing about politics.

02:36It's never as good as you think or never as bad as you think.

02:39It looks pretty good for the Democrats right now, particularly as it looked 30 days ago.

02:44It looks challenging for Republicans, again, from 30 days ago.

02:48We're in the beginning of the real race, post-convention, into the debate, mid-October.

02:55That's really what will decide the vote, the vote and who's going to win this election.

02:59So it seems great for the Democrats right now.

03:01It's important that they have enthusiasm to connect with their base.

03:04But the race really starts post the convention, the debate, and then getting into the real

03:10issues in October.

03:13Maybe it is too early to speak on the polls, but have we seen the Democratic National Convention

03:18have any sort of impacts on the polls right now?

03:21Sure.

03:22Anytime you have, look at the same thing with Trump hat.

03:26Anytime you select your vice president, anytime you go to your convention, you always get

03:30a bump.

03:31I expect that the Harris campaign will get a five to 10 point bump come out of this convention.

03:37Will that be sustainable?

03:38I'm not for sure.

03:39But if you don't get the bump coming out of your convention, it certainly makes it

03:43more challenging for you to win the election.

03:45So she has money.

03:46She has momentum.

03:47Let's see how it goes around September 10th when the first debate happens and then mid-October

03:52when we really start to have people focus on the issues that matter to them when they

03:57go to vote in November.

03:59Maurice Reed there.

04:00Thank you so much for your analysis here on France 24.

04:03That's Maurice Reed, a former official for Bill Clinton, the former US president and

04:08a political strategist from Chicago.

04:10Thanks so much for joining us on the program.

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