The Memo: Harris’s media blitz won’t silence critics

Vice President Harris this week is finally undertaking a media blitz — but it seems unlikely to quiet the criticism she has received from conservatives and some journalists.

Harris will appear on ABC’s “The View,” CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show during a visit to New York on Tuesday.

Those appearances come on top of prerecorded appearances on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which is set to be broadcast Monday evening, and on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, released Sunday.

Meanwhile, Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), was also interviewed on “60 Minutes” and was separately set to appear on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night.

The blizzard of appearances could be seen as a rebuttal of the argument that Harris has been reticent about submitting to media scrutiny. 

President Biden abandoned his reelection bid on July 21, and Harris’s first major TV interview did not come until Aug. 29, when she sat down with Walz for a rather mild exchange with CNN’s Dana Bash.

The “60 Minutes” interview this week appeared to be more challenging, at least to judge from early excerpts. 

One clip released by the network showed Harris evading a question from Bill Whitaker on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be considered a “close ally” of the United States. 

Another showed a somewhat halting answer from the Democratic nominee about how she proposes to pay for the new tax credits that are a central part of her economic plan.

The chances of her facing tough questions during her other appearances seem slim, not least because they are entertainment shows rather than news programs.

On top of that, the panel on “The View” usually leans liberal; Colbert moderated a Democratic fundraising event back in March featuring Biden, former President Obama and former President Clinton; and Stern said of former President Trump last month, “I don’t think he should be anywhere near the White House.”

During her appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, known for its popularity among young women, Harris defended abortion rights, advocated for female empowerment and swiped back at Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), who recently suggested that Harris’s lack of biological children means she “doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”

“I don’t think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble,” Harris said. 

She added, in relation to her own blended family and her role as stepmother to her husband Doug Emhoff’s children from a previous marriage, “Family comes in many forms and I think that, increasingly, all of us understand that this is not the 1950s anymore.”

Such moments seem potentially powerful in driving turnout among demographics that are favorably disposed to Harris — a task that will be vital in an election that seems breathtakingly close.

Independent observers expect similar moves as she appears on the mostly liberal-leaning shows Tuesday.

“It’s fine for Harris to try to reach her base, and it’s a goal for the campaign to make sure that the base turns out,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a Boston University professor emeritus who specializes in political communications. “If you are looking at it in terms of that strategy, it’s fine because her base is going to be watching ‘The View,’ it will be watching ‘Colbert.’”

Berkovitz was more skeptical about the capacity of such interviews to connect with undecided voters, however.

Meanwhile, some Republicans look askance at Harris’s decision to do so many interviews now, having largely avoided them in the earliest phases of her campaign.

GOP strategist Ron Bonjean argued that Harris was belatedly trying to deal with a challenge that has shown up in several polls — a significant swath of voters who say they need to find out more about the vice president and her plans.

“The voters that they’re seeking out don’t really know her, so they have to flood the market now with media interviews,” Bonjean argued. “They should have been doing this since the beginning of her campaign — getting her out there, talking to the press, getting her comfortable and confident.”

On one hand, shows like “Colbert” and “The View” could provide Harris with an opportunity to show a more personal side. And even if late-night talk shows in general no longer command the kind of audiences they did in the era of Jay Leno and David Letterman, there is the possibility of effective moments going viral.

“The big lift from those shows now is all through viral dissemination,” Democratic strategist Mark Longabaugh said. “I never see any of those shows live.” 

Longabaugh argued that “the entertainment shows” provided significant opportunity for Harris or any candidate who can connect with the public in a broader, pop-culture sense.

“These are moments that can connect with the culture and the zeitgeist of the country,” he said. “These aren’t big, heavy political lifts.”

Still, even gentle moments with broadly supportive hosts can go awry. Back in 2009, a recently-inaugurated Obama had to apologize after he joked that his poor performance at the White House’s bowling alley was “like the Special Olympics or something.”

Harris, at a minimum, has to avoid any moments like that.

At best, this week’s media blitz could put some more wind in her political sails during a crucial stretch of the campaign.

But any missteps could carry a heavy cost.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.