The voters Kamala Harris wants to reach with her media blitz: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, senior White House reporter Peter Nicholas looks at where Kamala Harris’ campaign thinks it can pick up support with the vice president’s media blitz this week. Plus, senior political editor Mark Murray breaks down how Harris and Trump voters think “change” means very different things this election.

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The voters Harris is trying to reach with her media blitz

By Peter Nicholas

Vice President Kamala Harris has shed some of the caution she’s shown since entering the race and sat for a series of interviews this week — albeit on her own terms with mostly friendly hosts — as she looks to gain ground with crucial voting blocs. 

Her campaign believes the appearances — ranging from ABC’s “The View” to Howard Stern’s radio show to Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” on CBS — will help introduce her to Americans who never thought much about Harris before she became the presumptive Democratic nominee in July and now want to learn more about her.

“We’ve seen in polling that people want to get to know her better. They want to see her more, and we’re engaging with that and want to continue to do that,” a Harris campaign aide said.

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There’s nothing random about the places she’s been showing up. Mindful that “The View” is especially popular among women, the campaign used Harris’ visit on Tuesday to roll out a new policy proposal meant to help “sandwich generation” households who are caring for both elderly parents and dependent children.

Stern’s audience skews male, providing Harris with a chance to cut into a core part of former President Donald Trump’s base. NBC News polling this year showed that only 25% of men aged 18 to 49 held a positive view of Harris, compared to 55% with a negative view.

And Harris clinked cans of Miller High Life with Colbert, an image her campaign hopes will have a long shelf life online.

Harris has seemed cloistered compared to the sheer ubiquity of her opponent. But less than four weeks out from Election Day, she’s now looking for ways to leapfrog into what the campaign aide called “the front of the conversation.”

Harris dialed into the Weather Channel and then spoke by phone to CNN on Wednesday afternoon, urging Floridians to heed warnings and get out of the path of Hurricane Milton.

She gave an interview to CBS’s “60 Minutes” for an election special that aired Monday. Trump declined the show’s interview request.

And on Thursday night, Harris is scheduled to take part in a televised town hall event in Las Vegas, hosted by Univision. Taking questions from audience members, Harris will try to make inroads with Hispanic male voters. In two important battleground states, Nevada and Arizona, majorities of Hispanic men under the age of 50 favor Trump over Harris, according to USA Today/Suffolk University polling. 

Read more from Peter → 

📈 Staffing surge: Jonathan Allen, Natasha Korecki and Carol E. Lee report that Harris’ campaign dispatched a handful of seasoned political operatives to swing states in recent weeks, according to six people familiar with the surge, amid Democratic concerns the race remains deadlocked. 

The group of senior advisers includes Paulette Aniskoff, a former director of the White House Office of Public Engagement under then-President Barack Obama who was sent into Pennsylvania two weeks ago to shore up what officials thought was a lackluster state operation. One of the sources described the Keystone State as a “problem spot” for the Harris campaign. Read more →

Harris and Trump voters see their candidates representing ‘change’ — but in very different ways

By Mark Murray and Faith Wardwell

The word “change” has become a crucial storyline in a presidential contest featuring a disgruntled electorate and two candidates who can make credible claims to that mantle — while also facing credible attacks about being part of the past.

Our September NBC News poll found Kamala Harris with a 9-percentage-point advantage over Donald Trump when registered voters were asked which candidate better represents change, with 47% picking Harris and 38% selecting Trump. 

Yet on a separate “change” question, voters were split about whether they were more concerned that Harris would continue the approach of President Joe Biden (40% of voters in the poll said that), compared with those who were more concerned that Trump would continue the approach from his first term as president (39%). Another 18% of voters said neither was a concern.

And the poll asked a third, open-ended “change” question: When it comes to representing change and getting the country headed in the right direction, what are you looking for from the candidates running for president?

Harris voters responded in their own words with answers focused in particular on personal characteristics, like “competency,” “less division” and “normalcy” — as well as a desire to remove Trump from the political stage. Women’s rights earned mentions, as well.

Trump voters, on the other hand, responded more heavily with answers pertaining to policy on inflation and the border when they were asked what kind of change they’re looking for.

Read more →

That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at [email protected]

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