First Harris Ad Is the Best Possible Opening Salvo

For those wondering whether Kamala Harris is going to contest the race on economic issues, appeal directly to working-class voters, or strike a populist tone in the campaign ahead, you can stop wondering. The opening ad hits a home run:

Here are the things the ad does in just one minute of air time:

It reminds voters that not only was she a prosecutor, but that she prosecuted Wall Street bankers who caused the 2008 financial meltdown, which our Factory Towns polling shows is an important way to show voters that Harris is their kind of candidate. 
The ad takes on Big Pharma, and reminds voters of the administration’s success at lowering insulin and other drug prices, a major issue for working-class voters.
The Harris quote “this campaign is about who we fight for” is the perfect summary sentence of a progressive populist campaign. The ultimate question in this campaign is who Harris and the Democrats are fighting for vs who Trump, Vance, and the MAGA weirdos want to fight for -- the millionaires, billionaires, and greedy corporations who don’t want to pay any taxes.
Speaking of taxing the wealthy, another highly popular issue, the ad zeroes in on that great populist issue. Our polling shows that voters believe raises taxes on wealthy people and corporations is a very high priority.
The ad touches on seniors and retirement issues, which in our polling is absolutely critical to appealing to working-class voters, some of whom are older themselves, and many of whom are taking care of elderly parents and/or grandparents. 
The ad quotes Harris saying that she is focused on families not just getting by, but getting ahead. This language resonates with working-class voters who are tired of barely making it and aspire to something more.

We know that Trump will turn out his MAGA and evangelical base, and that Democrats will get a high percentage of votes in the big cities and do well with suburban women with college degrees. This election, as I have written before, is going to come down to answering two big questions in the affirmative:

Can the Democrats turn out big numbers of people of color, youth, and women who tend to vote Democratic in most elections?

Can the Democrats compete effectively with swing voters in the working-class towns and counties outside of the big metro areas? 

The great thing about this ad is that it will help us on both questions. Democratic base voters and working-class swing voters who live outside of big cities share a deep seated enmity for Wall Street, Big Pharma, and tax cuts for the wealthy. Both groups love Social Security and Medicare. And they both want politicians who will take on the CEOs and top 1% to fight for them and their families. 

Ads alone will not win this election. We have to reach voters through their friends and through organizations they respect like labor unions, community organizations, and seniors groups. We have to build trusted connections and sources of information via social media. We have to deliver on the nuts and bolts of registering voters, making calls, knocking on doors, writing postcards, and getting out the vote. 

Having said all that, Democrats who open their campaign with a powerful populist ad like this one show the voters and activists where they are heading and who they intend to be fighting for over the course of the election. This ad kicks ass.