Greta S. Tew Professor Cissel RWS 200 26 September 2024. Analyzing Kamala Harris’s Rhetorical Devices Used in Her Presidential Campaign. On July 21, 2024, Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign exploded in popularity practically overnight. Harris and her campaign team used rhetorical strategies that have been used for centuries, but added a modern twist. Her campaign focused on harnessing the power of social media and the network of community it provides. She and her team tapped into surging social media trends such as “Brat Summer,” various viral TikTok dances, and popular sounds. Using social media, Harris was able to create and release content that appealed to younger voters. It didn’t stop there; these campaign messages reached rising …show more content…
Kamala Harris appeals to a very diverse audience through her progressive marketing. While many of Harris’s supporters do identify as part of the Democratic Party, Harris also connects with audiences who may feel underrepresented as citizens of the United States. With Harris being the daughter of two immigrants and identifying as multi-racial (Hunnicutt, Trevor), she reaches voters who don’t align with the typical picturesque American family that is portrayed on many platforms. Because much of her campaign is both on and being followed by social media, Harris reaches younger audiences that want to join the fight for bodily autonomy, social justice, and other progressive movements. Teen Vogue backs up this claim, writing, “a flood of new data on younger voters has just come out and it shows their enthusiastic reaction to Vice President Kamala Harris taking over as the Democratic nominee for president” (Janfaza, Rachel). The magazine also credits various social media trends that Harris used to grow her platform. Harris also reaches a highly educated demographic of people; mainly college …show more content…
She does not impose her personal or religious views on her political party and instead wants everyone to have the right to make their own decision. This empowers her progressive and forward moving audience to enact change on a national level. We saw a rise in Harris’s popularity among younger demographics after Charli XCX tweeted, “‘kamala IS a brat” (Demopoulos, Alaina). After Charli’s endorsement, Harris’s team was quick to seize the opportunity. An article published by The Guardian states, “Soon after receiving Charli’s apparent approval, the Harris campaign’s official Twitter page (@kamalahq) changed its backdrop to brat green” (Demopoulos, Alaina). The importance of this marketing decision is to highlight the fact that Harris is in tune with her younger audiences and is ready to listen to new ideas. Many younger people, myself included, think that the time has come to pass the torch off to younger generations. This was evident prior to Harris’s campaign, when the race was between Biden and Trump. Young people