Harris leans on the trappings of her office — and Trump’s own playbook — in quest to win the White House

Vice President Kamala Harris is capitalizing on the trappings of office – and the power of strong imagery – to sustain the momentum surrounding her candidacy in hopes of building a cultural movement for the Democratic ticket in ways that long eluded President Joe Biden.

Vice President Kamala Harris is capitalizing on the trappings of office — and the power of strong imagery — to sustain the momentum surrounding her candidacy in hopes of building a cultural movement for the Democratic ticket in ways that long eluded President Joe Biden. In her quest to defeat Donald Trump, she’s also taking a page out of the former president’s own playbook — and drawing his ire in the process. She didn’t just walk onto the stage for one of her biggest rallies of the year last week outside Detroit. Instead, her team allowed anticipation to grow as Air Force Two slowly taxied into view of a crowded airport hanger, with strains of Beyoncé’s “Run the World” pulsing through the air. The choreography matched closely the types of events Trump held as president, his walk-out song “God Bless the USA” now replaced by another Beyoncé song, “Freedom,” as Harris stepped from her plane. Yet for Democrats, it was a level of enthusiasm – and stagecraft – not seen for years. “We’ve got a hot ticket,” said Danielle Tucker, a loyal Democrat, taking in the scene as she and her friends waited for Harris and running mate Tim Walz to make their entrance at the Detroit-area rally. “We’ve got a ticket that brings us joy – before it was just a lot of darkness going on.”