Kamala’s Campaign Lays Out Messaging Strategy: Light on Details, Heavy on Vibes

‘She’s making history as the first black woman, daughter of immigrants, like, she fills many of the buckets,’ aide says at DNC briefing

CHICAGO—Kamala Harris’s campaign aides dodged policy questions from volunteers and reporters at a strategy briefing on Tuesday, laying out a messaging strategy that was heavy on vibes but light on details.

Harris spokeswoman Brooke Goren and Hispanic media director Maca Casado avoided specifics when campaign volunteers asked them to clarify Harris’s foreign policy accomplishments and immigration plan, as well as to provide more policy-focused campaign materials during a strategy briefing on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Instead, the Harris aides highlighted the “diverse campaign” and their efforts to target Latinos and black voters through ads on Hulu, Tubi, and radio shows like the Breakfast Club and the Steve Harvey Morning Show.

“So I want to start sharing a bit about, like, the core messages that we implement to talk to these groups. Like, Vice President Harris’s history is American history,” Casado said. “She’s making history as the first black woman, daughter of immigrants, like, she fills many of the buckets.”

Goren and Casado also declined to say if Harris plans to add a policy section to her website as is typical of presidential candidates.

“You can expect more to come from the campaign in terms of her talking about her specific plans,” said Goren when a reporter asked about the lack of policy details on the website. “But like I said, she’s been active. She’s been talking about it, and it’s going to continue to be an important piece of her messaging. You can expect more to come on that.”

Casado emphasized the “diverse campaign” that “reflects our party and our country,” noting that Harris has engagement directors for Latinos, youth, the LGBTQ community, and women and an “amazing senior adviser for reproductive rights.”

The briefing underscored the Harris campaign’s reliance on press buzz and social media memes while avoiding policy specifics that could alienate voters. She has yet to provide clear positions on foreign policy—including the Israel-Gaza war that has divided her party—or roll out detailed proposals on immigration, the environment, or health care. Indeed, one attendee could be overheard pressing a campaign aide on the “war in Gaza” on the way out of the briefing but did not receive a substantive response.

When asked to expand on her foreign policy platform during the Tuesday briefing, Harris’s communications team noted that she traveled to “400 countries” and met with “dozens of world leaders”—but declined to mention specific accomplishments.

Casado also danced around questions regarding Harris’s immigration achievements, a major part of her portfolio as vice president. She said Harris would position herself as strong on border security and friendly to immigrants—a “contrast” to Republican candidate Donald Trump’s tough-on-immigration rhetoric.

Harris has the “the perfect skill” to “do both things, and at the same time,” Casado said.