After Biden’s abysmal debate, Vice President Kamala Harris showed poise and inspired talk of what she’d be like as a potential replacement candidate.
Mark Yonkman is the founder of the newly created Super PAC Reclaim the Rural Vote and a rural vote messaging expert. Mark’s background straddles not only the rural and urban worlds but the black/white, gay/straight, and farm/professional worlds as well.
Vice President Harris’ performance on the national stage has been phenomenal following Biden’s abysmal one at the debate.
Harris has exuded strength and presidential demeanor while unafraid of giving a relatively blunt assessment of Biden's performance.
She hasn’t flinched under tough questioning and it’s been nice seeing who she could be if given the chance.
As the acting vice president campaigning to keep her job, Harris needs to maintain this show of strength while pivoting to defense and national security talking points as well.
She must consistently show that she has one hand on the reins of power and is ready to step into her role as Commander-in-Chief at a moment’s notice, whether or not President Biden steps down. This is the issue I hear over and over about her among rural voters.
Rural voters are concerned about national defense and security
I have often pointed out to my daughter that in our cemetery, we have around 25 relatives buried there who were veterans.
Each tombstone has a bronze plaque on the back that the military sends to each veteran’s family after death. Most of my urban friends are completely unaware of this.
As my father did, many continue to refer to the President as the commander-in-chief. My father’s view as an Air Force veteran was that the only purpose of the vice president was to be the backup commander-in-chief. Anything else was fluff. Veterans have seen the walls of reality and are aware that it could happen here.
At a party a couple of weeks ago, a fairly staunch Republican who is going to vote for Trump despite his belief that the former president is a terrible person had this to say of Biden: “I actually think Biden has done some pretty good things. But I just can’t see Kamala Harris jumping into the role of commander-in-chief.”
What is interesting about this comment is that there is an assumption that everyone is on the same page that President Biden will not make it to the age of 86 and that Kamala Harris will eventually be president.
It isn’t that the vice president isn’t good at speaking about defense; it’s just that she never does. I hear consistently that the vice president only wants to talk about abortion and other social issues.
Say what you will about former President Trump, but he does project strength. It is one of the reasons he admires strongmen. Strength sells. As President Clinton pointed out, strong and wrong always beats right and weak.
Vice President Harris can change this narrative
As a former prosecutor, she has the right background to change this narrative. It can be little things. Rural voters are concerned that we immediately ran into an ammunition shortage due to the war in Ukraine, which is not even our war.
A year ago, the U.S. was producing 15,000 rounds of artillery shells per month at a time when the Ukrainian army was going through 240,000 rounds per month.
We have increased that production to 50,000 rounds per month and expect to be at 100,000 rounds per month by year-end. The vice president should be announcing this to show that she’s paying attention to these matters.
Trump’s mention of World War III during the debate was intentional. He knows that the Electoral College voters who matter are concerned about the next war and whether or not we are prepared. His genius is that he identifies these issues and then signals to his base that he is on top of it.
And indeed I keep a list of every item regarding defense that I hear and casual conversation. Vice President Harris needs to ensure that she is on top of all these issues.
Other stories by Mark Yonkman: How Midwestern rural voters are processing the Trump verdict ahead of the election
