Kamala Harris has released her first TV ad of her 2024 Presidential campaign and it’s excellent.
Harris is deploying a classic incumbent campaign narrative in that she highlights the threat posed by change and sells the benefits of continuity.
The threat she highlights is a return to the chaos and division that the USA experienced during the Trump Presidency.
Harris then summarises the offer at the heart of her candidacy as individual freedom – the most fundamental American value.
We are shown pictures of the LGBT movement and ethnic minorities and are told that Harris is committed to “the freedom not just to get by, but to get ahead”. We’re also shown a Harris sitting in front of a “reproductive freedom” banner as she explains that she will encourage “the freedom to make decisions about your own body”.
A vote for the Trump Vance ticket is tacitly positioned as threatening people’s right to vote, to have an abortion, and to marry whoever they choose.
The ad is set to a brilliant and relevant song – ‘Freedom’ by Beyoncé – which gives the spot a dusting of cultural glitter.
Personal liberty is a value that the Republicans have sought to monopolise; Harris’s adoption of it as the cornerstone of her campaign narrative is an exceptional piece of strategic judo. Fitting so many wedge issues under the single umbrella of “freedom” is very clever indeed.
Harris is likely to have a significantly larger campaign war chest than Trump and will be able to achieve very high levels of reach with her advertising.
If the creative quality and the clarity of messaging remain as high as this, that will make a huge difference in what will be a very tight election.
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