The Democratic Party is “losing its grip on culture” as more and more Americans look to podcasts, Rob Flaherty, deputy campaign manager for Vice President Kamala Harris, said during an interview.
“Campaigns, in many ways, are last-mile marketers who are on a terrain defined by culture, and the institutions through which Democrats have historically had the ability to influence culture are losing relevance,” he said during an interview. With semaphore. “You can't have an 8-point national shift to the right without losing control of the culture.”
Harris and President-elect Donald Trump have made an effort to speak to podcasts and non-traditional media outlets ahead of the 2024 election. Flaherty told Semaphore during the interview that they had difficulty booking Harris on sports podcasts.
“Sports and culture have kind of merged together, and as sports and culture have become more public and kind of associated with Trump's conservative set of values, it's become more complicated for athletes to come out for us,” Flaherty said. “It became more complicated for sports figures to have us on their shows because they didn't want to do politics.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris looks on as an event observer from backstage, before taking to the stage at her final campaign rally, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
Flaherty argued that sports culture was associated with, and created by, right-wing culture Tough to drive them To reach people.
“That doesn't mean that Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, LeBron (James) and everything they came out with wasn't impactful or important,” Flaherty said. “It's been more impactful because it's become more difficult. But certainly the culture that was associated with intense sports viewing has become associated with right-wing culture in a way that makes it harder for us to reach people.”
Harris campaign aides who have spoken out about their failed bid for the presidency have spoken out He complained about the mediaplacing some of the blame for their questions on Harris.
“Real people heard, somehow, that we weren't going to do interviews, which is not true and also goes against any kind of standard that has been placed on Trump, and I think that was a problem,” Jane O said. Mali Dillon said during a discussion about the “Pod Save America” program.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) at the Swissotel in Chicago, on June 24, 2022. (Camille Krzyczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
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She also said that when Harris conducted an interview, the questions were “small and practical,” and did not “inform” the voter.
Flaherty also spoke about Harris' avoidance of traditional media, although Harris gave several interviews to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News before the election.
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“There's no value — as far as my colleagues in mainstream journalism are concerned — in the general election, to talk to the New York Times or talk to the Washington Post, because those (readers) are already with us,” Flaherty said.
