CNN’s, NYT’s Herndon: Harris Is Trying to Be ‘Change Candidate’ Without ‘Policy Separation’ from Biden

On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” New York Times National Politics Reporter and CNN Political Analyst Astead Herndon said that 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is “very clearly trying to position her as a change candidate,” even though, “I don’t think there is a policy separation that they’ve created with Biden.”

Herndon said, “For me, one of the lines that stuck out was, this is a new — I think people are ready for a new way forward, she said that a couple times. It goes to David’s point, I don’t think there is a policy separation that they’ve created with Biden. Obviously, she gave a kind of personal defense of him, but they’re also very clearly trying to position her as a change candidate, in the same way that Donald Trump is positioning himself as a change candidate. In some ways, it feels as if that’s going to be the crux of what this comes down to in November, is whether that is bought by the electorate or not –.”

Host Abby Phillip then cut in to say that some polls indicate that the mantle of being a change candidate is up for grabs.

Herndon responded that it seems the election may hinge on that issue and “it’s really interesting, because, for someone who doesn’t want to talk about race and gender, who doesn’t want to kind of put that identity forward, it is allowing her to make the case of change without kind of saying those words. And so, I thought that was really in the air of this speech. But to the point about normal versus weird, the future versus past dichotomy that they’re trying to create, I think they landed that tonight. I think they want to present them as a package that is relatable to people and that is someone you feel familiar [with], whose story is familiar, whose message is familiar and relatable. And I think that’s something that she’s grown in and we saw that this evening.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett