“She has certain themes—she has certain topics and certain phrases that she has practiced, because she has not been very good extemporaneously speaking,” co-host Steve Doocy declared.
But the supposed misstep for which the conservative network is criticizing Harris has long been a hallmark of successful public relations campaigns, particularly political campaigns.
The repetition of easy-to-understand ideas and concepts is meant to keep elements of Harris’ policy and ideology—that she worked as a prosecutor, that she has been a longtime supporter of reproductive freedom—top of mind for voters.
Successful leaders in both political parties have relied on message discipline.
In his 1984 reelection campaign, Ronald Reagan branded the economic uptick under his presidency as “Morning in America,” while President Barack Obama frequently referred to the notion of “change” and the phrase “yes we can” in his 2008 campaign. Reagan won in a landslide, while Obama resoundingly defeated his opponent, Sen. John McCain.
Fox’s attempt to cast a Harris strength as a weakness stands in contrast to Donald Trump’s inability to stay on message.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has meandered from topic to topic, whether that is discussing his hatred of Taylor Swift after she endorsed Harris, or his decision to promote a racist hoax about Haitian immigrants eating pets.
If message discipline is truly the problem for Harris that Fox has made it out to be, that doesn’t appear to have resonated with voters. Since she took over as the Democratic nominee from President Joe Biden, Harris has led Trump nationally in aggregates of opinion polling.
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