Strategy….
-The month since Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign has been a largely unprecedented spell in American politics: never has a modern general election campaign gone from a standstill to a full sprint so quickly.
-“This election, I do strongly believe, is about two very different visions for the future,” Ms Harris said at a rally in North Carolina last week.
“Ours focused on the future, and the other focused on the past.”
-For the most part, Ms Harris has shied away from describing in detail what her presidency would look like.
There’s talk of unity and a way beyond America’s divisive partisanship; a focus on strengthening the economy and reducing consumer prices; and a heavy emphasis on reproductive rights and abortion – an area of particular strength for Democrats.
But it is vague. And this vagueness may suit the Harris campaign just fine.
By largely being an empty policy vessel, Ms Harris has allowed various constituencies within the Democratic Party to project their hopes and priorities onto her.
If she can keep all those pieces together for the next few months, she might just win.
-In other words, the vice-president’s policy vagueness has allowed her to cast as broad an appeal as possible in what is shaping up to be an election where every undecided voter counts.
It has been labelled by some as a
"vibe" campaign - based at least in part on feeling and general impressions.
-“We need to hear some actual policy things,” said Lewanna Tucker, chair of the Democratic Party in Fulton County, Georgia. “She needs to be letting us a little bit more behind the curtain and talk about structural things that are going to be done.”
Perhaps more concrete policy details aren't necessary. At a time when American politics is viewed by much of the American public as divisive and toxic, there may be benefit to building a political campaign not around policy specifics, but rather one that appeals to emotion.
In 2008, Barack Obama successfully campaigned on hope and change – which is not exactly the makings of a four-point plan.
“It's a return to a level of hope that I don't think that we have collectively experienced since 2008,” said Yasmin Radjy, who runs the liberal grassroots organising group Swing Left.
-The wattage of star power this week – with appearances by Pink, Stevie Wonder and Lil Jon, among others – and the campaign’s heavy reliance on pop culture connections, like Charlie XCX, suggest it is trying to position itself as a cultural movement rather than a political one.
It remains to be seen whether this will be an effective strategy.
But at least for now, it has pulled the Democratic Party out of the doldrums and despair of early July and into a dead heat with Trump and the Republicans heading into the crucial final months of this campaign.
The campaign is light on policy, writes Anthony Zurcher - so can energy alone beat Donald Trump?
www.bbc.com