Some campaigns have slogans, but former Hillary Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said that Kamala Harris has created a "battle cry" for 2024.
Writer and commentator Molly Jong-Fast wrote on MSNBC that she's spoken to several political experts about the campaign's unique messaging in the wake of a packed Atlanta rally by the vice president last week.
Among those experts was veteran campaign manager Stuart Stevens, whom Jong-Fast recalled saying, “Campaigns are about the future" — a contrast, she said, to Trump who has heavily focused on retribution and relitigating his record from his previous term in office.
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Harris, by contrast, has fashioned a phrase some TikTok Taylor Swift fans have compared to the singer's lyrics, "We are never, ever, getting back together." The song describes a toxic relationship with a man who "picks fights" and belittles her, yet he desperately wants to get back together.
“The best campaigns — the ones that really capture and inspire voters — don’t have slogans, they have battle cries that catch on organically. That’s what ‘We will not go back’ is. A sentiment the vice president expressed, that she represents and the crowd chanted back to her. Those are the slogans that get you in the gut," Palmieri said.
Delaware Senate candidate Lisa Blunt Rochester wrote to Jong-Fast, “The word WE stands out. WE — the women, communities of color, families, seniors, LGBTQ+ folks, the people of this country — have come so far. Our victories were hard-won and well-deserved. From protecting the Affordable Care Act to investing in our climate to creating good jobs and so much more.
"We have come so far, yet there is so much more we can do together, including fighting for our reproductive freedoms and right to vote. Our progress won’t be stopped — and WE will make sure of that when we cast our ballots for Kamala Harris in November.”
It's akin to Barack Obama's adaptation of “Si, se puede!” which came out of the farmworkers movement with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. "Yes, we can" became a rallying cry that was chanted at rallies and even resulted in a hit song.
In line with Rochester, Jong-Fast said that the slogan relates to several Trump policies, from Roe being overturned to fears about LGBTQ+ rights, same-sex marriage healthcare, wages, and more.
"Backward is the very core of this Republican Party right now: backward-facing, uninterested or unwilling to move on from a candidate who is very much stuck in the past," Jong-Fast closed.
