As Barack Obama locked up the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, John McCain launched an attack ad that tried to demean his younger opponent as a political lightweight by calling him “a celebrity,” on par with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
But Obama’s celebrity status didn’t prevent him from being elected, and political experts say Kamala Harris, suddenly becoming “the coolest thing in pop culture,” could gain an edge in the Nov. 5 election over Donald Trump, who has his own complicated history with celebrity.
Going into next week’s Democratic National Convention, the Oakland-reared former prosecutor is “a rock star” on social media with all the coconut-themed TikTok memes and so much else, said Robert M. Shrum, a longtime strategist for Democratic candidates and a USC political science professor. She’s also packing in crowds at rallies with her amiable everyman running mate Tim Walz and has become “an aspirational figure” for women and young people who are exhilarated about the possibility of electing the first female president, said Democratic strategist Chai Komanduri.
“I was really excited to see her,” said Spencer Hall, a San Jose State University sophomore who flew to Las Vegas for the day to join an estimated 15,000 others at her rally. He stood in line for about 10 hours, with a diverse crowd chanting, “We’re not going back.” He said, “Everyone was in good spirits.”
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives onstage during a campaign event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on August 9, 2024. (Photo by Julia Nikhinson / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JULIA NIKHINSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
During a recent Swing Left Young People for Harris virtual rally, participants hailed her as Queen Brat, referencing dance-pop queen Charli XCX’s endorsement. They also affectionately referred to her by her first name – a sure sign of celebrity, said Jack Pitney, a politics professor at Claremont McKenna College.
But no one can say whether the “Kamalanomenon” excitement will last through the election and sway undecided voters, older white men or others who may not care about her social media stardom. Thus far, though, she’s winning over millennials and Gen-Zers, beating Trump, 53% to 36% in a new NextGen America survey of voters under 35. She’s also taken a small lead in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and raked in $310 million in donations at the end of July.
Since Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic presidential candidate on July 21, a buoyant and confident Harris has dominated the news cycles, as well as the celebrity-entertainment media, and not just because her candidacy stops a retread of 2020’s election between two older white men. The relatively youthful 59-year-old Harris also is a Black and South Asian woman who has long been underestimated, even by her own party, fueling an underdog narrative that America loves, journalist Matthew Yglesias said.
Moreover, with her smile, delivery and sometimes goofy humor, she radiates “authenticity” – that “holy grail” in both electoral politics and celebrity, as sociologist Tressie McMillan Cotton wrote in the New York Times.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – AUGUST 9: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz take a selfie in front of a sign that reads “Kamala and The Coach” during stop at a campaign office on August 9, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. Kamala Harris and her newly selected running mate Tim Walz are campaigning across the country this week. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
People who’ve watched Harris’ rise from San Francisco D.A. to California attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president say the star power was always there. Precious Green, director of community engagement at Manny’s community hub in San Francisco, disputes the idea that she’s an “overnight celebrity.” Once Biden recommended she replace him, Green imagines Harris saying, “You just discovered me? I’ve been at this year for years. I’m ready for day one.”
Since Harris’ first day as presidential candidate, her team has unleashed a social media campaign aimed to convert organic excitement about her candidacy into viral posts that tell her story. The team also has seized on her celebrity endorsements, especially from stars with Gen-Z appeal. Beyonce immediately let the candidate use her song “Freedom” to push her messages on abortion, gun violence, health care and Trump’s felony convictions, while Megan Thee Stallion delivered a “Hotties for Harris” performance at her first presidential campaign rally in Atlanta. Thus far, Taylor Swift has yet to offer a repeat of her endorsement of the 2020 Biden-Harris, but there’s a Swifites for Harris social media movement.
Trump has publicly and privately fumed over the attention Harris has received, with the former reality TV star trying to break into news cycles by doing interviews with friendly inoculators like Elon Musk or by accusing Harris of faking her crowd sizes. He’s long touted his celebrity affiliations, resulting in what Komanduri calls a “pop culture gender war” between the two campaigns. Trump’s endorsements from Hulk Hogan and UFC’s Dana White ostensibly appeal to men, Komanduri said. However, some of Trump’s past-their-prime celebrity supporters and affinity for “Macho Man” and Frank Sinatra could make him come across as “the cool older uncle to younger men,” or, worse, like a backward-looking candidate, Komanduri said.
The fact that both candidates are wrapping themselves in the aura of celebrity follows decades of conflicting ideas about its role in presidential politics. While critics of Obama and of movie-star-turned-politician Ronald Reagan accused both of lacking substance or experience, Americans also have expected their presidents to be great unifiers and comforters-in-chief — larger-than-life roles suited to charismatic individuals with experience in communicating narratives about themselves to mass audiences.
To a certain extent, the presidency is “a show, it’s a pageant,” said Evan Norman, a Florida-based P.R. expert. In this realm, Trump could sell himself to voters in 2016 as the towering, all-knowing business leader he presented in “The Apprentice.”
Some of the most well-regarded presidents of the 20th century attained a veneer of celebrity because they “mastered the media of the day, whether that was the fireside chat of Franklin Roosevelt, the televised debates of John F. Kennedy or the late-night TV appearances of Bill Clinton,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego.
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In her new identity as a celebrity candidate, Harris draws comparison to Obama, and not just because she’s a person of color who’s risen to such political heights. But Harris as superstar may surprise many who only know her as Biden’s low-key vice president or for her underwhelming 2019 presidential campaign. Republicans have accused her of being the “DEI hire” who advanced her career because of her race, gender or social connections, while Trump used a racist trope to challenge her presentation of authenticity by saying she only “turned Black” for political expediency.
With the help of her entertainment lawyer husband Doug Emhoff, Harris has befriended powerful people in show business, which would make her the most “Hollywood-connected” president since Reagan, The Ankler newsletter said. Notably though, the gossip site TMZ said her campaign is limiting celebrity presence at the DNC so it won’t be painted as a “liberal Hollywood elite event.”
As in Hollywood, becoming a political star often depends on timing and circumstance, Harris’ supporters concede. In addition to being Biden’s vice president when he decided to drop out of the race, she’s better able to shine in contrast to a polarizing opponent. “It she were up against a more normal Republican, it’d be a different kind of race,” Pitney said.
That said, Harris has gotten “four years of on the job training as vice president,” said Walnut Creek activist Ogie Strogatz. Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, who has met Harris on multiple occasions, said the vice president possesses a quality often attributed to both charismatic leaders and to movie stars: the ability to make the person they’re talking to feel like the only person in the room. “When you meet her, even briefly, you get direct eye contact, a warm smile,” Ellenberg said.
“I think she has grown tremendously in the last four years, her messaging is more sophisticated and you can feel a greater sense of confidence and purpose,” Ellenberg said. “She knows why she’s in this position, she’s ready to lead and she’s ready to deliver.”
