When you’re Kamala Harris, you don’t just walk onto the political stage—you strut. And why wouldn’t you? She’s now leading in national polls against none other than Donald Trump, the master of media manipulation himself. But here’s the kicker: she’s doing it while sidestepping the very press corps that helped send Biden’s campaign into an early retirement. If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to win a presidential race without subjecting yourself to a media feeding frenzy, Harris is here to tell you: Absolutely.
Make no mistake—Kamala Harris knows exactly how things work behind the scenes. She was right there as Biden’s administration accomplished a laundry list of feats that should have earned him a ticker-tape parade. Pulling the country out of a pandemic? Check. Dodging a recession? Double check. Taming inflation and creating jobs like a wizard conjuring rabbits? Triple check. But what did the media focus on? His age. Instead of the heroic statesman narrative, Biden became the old guy trying to find his car keys.
Harris saw the writing on the wall and made a choice: why hand the press a pen when you can write your own story? She’s taken the reins, ensuring that her campaign is more about substance and less about who’s sitting behind the reporter’s desk, itching to ask the next "gotcha" question.
This isn’t just about giving the press the silent treatment. It’s a calculated move. Harris is freezing out the very people who made a game out of Biden’s age and turned the 2024 election into a “who has the best vibes” contest. Chris Cillizza and his ilk are up in arms, claiming that Harris is doing the unthinkable: ignoring the Fourth Estate. But let’s be real—when the press is more interested in the optics than the issues, maybe it’s time to bypass the gatekeepers altogether.
Cillizza argues that a candidate should be subjected to regular media scrutiny. Sure, that makes sense—in theory. But in practice? Harris knows better. She understands that the current press corps is less “hard-hitting journalists” and more “social media influencers with press badges.” Instead of grilling candidates on policy, they’re more likely to ask who you think you’d play in a movie. And Harris? She’s just not interested in playing that game.
This approach has certainly caused some friction. Journalists are used to having candidates at their beck and call, ready to answer whatever question pops into their heads. But Harris’s campaign is more disciplined than that. Her team knows that in the age of social media, where a single misstep can become a viral sensation, control is key. By limiting access, Kamala Harris is making sure the story that gets told is the one she wants out there—not the one the press decides is the flavor of the week.
And let’s face it, this strategy is paying off. Despite the grumbles from the press corps, Harris’s campaign is thriving. She’s pulling in millions of dollars, mobilizing thousands of volunteers, and gathering momentum faster than a snowball rolling down Everest. Every time the press moans about being left out in the cold, it only proves her point: she doesn’t need them to get her message out.
The 2024 election has been a crash course in how not to run a campaign, and Biden was the unfortunate case study. Despite his numerous accomplishments, his candidacy was brought down by a press corps obsessed with his age. It’s as if the media collectively decided that nothing else mattered—not the economy, not healthcare, not the environment. Just the vibes.
Harris, on the other hand, is playing a different game entirely. She’s not letting the press dictate what’s important or reduce her campaign to a series of soundbites and superficial narratives. She’s focusing on the issues, mobilizing her base, and, crucially, controlling the narrative. By sidestepping the media circus, she’s making sure her campaign is about what matters, not what’s trending.
Kamala Harris isn’t just running for president—she’s redefining what it means to run for president in the 21st century. By minimizing her engagement with a press corps more interested in drama than discourse, she’s ensuring that her campaign remains focused on the issues that matter. It’s a bold strategy, and it’s paying off.
If Harris wins, it won’t just be a victory for her—it’ll be a victory for a new kind of politics. One where the candidate controls the narrative, the issues take center stage, and the media doesn’t get to write the first draft of history.
