Kamala Harris’s winning message was there throughout

The event venue, the Javits Convention Center, was rigorously and strategically chosen for each its large glass ceiling and capability. It can be beautifully symbolic, because the campaign posited, if Hillary Clinton, our newly elected first female president, gave an acceptance speech under a glass dome, celebrating that now we have finally broken the best and hardest glass ceiling for ladies in America.

Of course it didn’t look that way. This is one in every of the the reason why Kamala Harris deliberately avoids advocating for her own “historic” candidacy. Some People I do not like being reminded that a vote for Harris can be a vote for the primary black and Indian woman president; perhaps they would like to say that they’re pulling the lever due to its economic policy or something less related to it. But as we enter the ultimate days of the campaign, Harris must lean on her identity to extend support and turnout from her base.

She, Peoplein cooperation with 2040 Strategy Groupconducted questionnaire – one in every of the few polls focused on women of color this election cycle – that provided a deep understanding of how women of color view Harris and where they vote on the last minute. The trend line is positive, with Black women over the age of 40 achieving historically high levels of support. But many ladies of color — especially Asian Americans and Latinas — still do not know Harris well enough to examine her name on the ballot.

To shore up their support, the poll found, Harris must explicitly discuss her identity, a transparent shift in strategy. Telling respondents that she was a black woman increased support by greater than 10 net percentage points. Even reminding voters that Harris will turn out to be the primary female president of the United States makes a splash. Lesson? Identity work news — and you may really want it with Election Day just a number of weeks away.

Harris can expand her voter base even further by talking to women of color about their key issues. Latina women (11% undecided) prefer to speak in regards to the economy, gun violence and immigration. Asian American women, the group almost definitely to stay undecided (23%), also want Harris to debate gun violence and immigration, but in addition abortion. The poll showed a 20% increase in support from undecided voters with a transparent message supporting abortion rights.

Beginning to reveal her identity can be a key change for Harris, and may very well be seen as a dangerous strategy for some Democrats who fear a repeat of 2016. Clinton’s loss caused the course correction we at the moment are seeing within the Harris campaign. But perhaps we overdid our lesson. Applying 2016 logic to the 2024 race means Harris, satirically, is probably not maximizing the bottom base he must win.

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Women of color have never let fear rule their pursuit of progress. That’s why Harris and Democrats cannot let fear rule now.

For years, women of color have been the unacknowledged base of the Democratic Party, its most reliable supporters who influenced their families and communities to vote blue. But in 2020, the party and media finally acknowledged the critical role women of color have long played in Democratic politics, acknowledging that we delivered White House for Biden. And now, in 2024, now we have brought that very same energy to deliver it to Kamala Harris. We have the facility to multiply strength; this was shown in our survey, which found that constructing connections amongst women—that’s, what’s good for me is nice for everybody—can increase support for ladies in color-led politics overall and for Harris as a candidate. That’s why women of color cannot only offer us support, but in addition urge our grandmothers, children, sisters and friends to get out and vote too.

Victory is close by; we feel it at our fingertips; this broken glass ceiling is even closer to breaking. But support for ladies of color will not be a given; you might have to work for it. To win that support, Harris must revert to her identity in the ultimate stretch before Election Day.

There remains to be time for Harris to cross the finish line, but time is running out. By highlighting what can have been feared up to now, we are going to ensure progress in the longer term.