How Kamala Harris’ campaign team are embracing memes, online trends and pop culture to connect with younger voters

With less than 100 days to be formally endorsed AND campaign, the only way to get cut through in arguably the most significant election in the world is by being new and different.

Well, it’s nice to finally hear a 59 year-old woman being referred to as “young,” but in light of the current American situation, she is indeed young.

There are a few ways to work a campaign with such an emotive and fraught background. How do you get cut through after a month that’s seen an attempted assassination and a sitting president spend months on the campaign hustings, only to withdraw at literally the last minute? In a political involvement where you need to be campaigning since birth – the only way I believe cut-through can happen is to lean in.

Perhaps the only way to get cut through as a democrat who wants to be POTUS is, as my friend Michel Hogan believes, to be a cult buster, because this is everything and nothing to do with politics and all about personality. Or is it to lean into everything your opposition hates about you? Is it time to lean into the big topics that divide America? Guns, abortion, take your pick.

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Lean into making politics about what you are not as far as you can, and lean into what you are as far as you can the other way.

Republicans have campaigned for months on whether Biden was too old, out of touch, or incompetent with age. Well, with their elected candidate Trump at 78, the oldest ever presidential candidate – the Harris team has a lot to lean into.

In week one of Harris’ unofficial campaign, we’re witnessing a political outreach that’s as audacious as it is unconventional. Her team is diving headfirst into the meme-infested waters of internet culture, and surprisingly, she’s not drowning – she’s surfing. We can’t be naïve and suggest a team wasn’t waiting in the wings to launch this campaign. They were ready to go, and this wasn’t by accident.

The genius here is that it isn’t Harris who has launched the majority of this campaign – so when the naysayers complain about funny memes, they’re not coming from her official camp – but Harris is so far negotiating to play a game of digital hopscotch, skipping from one pop culture reference to another with the agility of a teenager and the savvy of a seasoned politician. The coconut emoji? That’s not just a tropical fruit anymore; it’s a battle cry for Harris supporters. And when Charli XCX tweeted “kamala IS brat,” Harris didn’t just nod along – she redecorated her entire social media presence faster than you can say “viral tweet”.

But don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a youth-oriented circus. Harris is playing 4D chess while her opponents are still arranging the checkers in this space. Her Venn diagram memes aren’t just for the TikTok crowd – they’re giving PowerPoint enthusiasts and data lovers a reason to sit up and take notice.

And let’s talk about the Swifties. We know their power and influence. Could they be just as powerful as a voting bloc? If the eight different Swifties4Kalmala Instagram accounts are anything to go by, they could well be. They’re a political force that could make or break a campaign, and Harris is courting them like a seasoned diplomat.

The “I understand the assignment” catchphrase isn’t just cute internet slang – it’s a rallying cry that’s bridging generations faster than you can say “OK, Boomer.”  It is a powerful reinterpretation of LeBron, and almost everyone who is not MAGA can find an “assignment”. Watching the statements come in has been powerful (even as a campaign cynic) and moving. “I’ve voted Republican all my life, but I am a Mom of four daughters and I understand the assignment.” “I’m a middle aged man with a daughter who lives with disability, I understand the assignment”.

This isn’t your grandpa’s political campaign – unless your grandpa is a TikTok influencer. The Harris team is making memes of policy discussions and hoping that viral trends morph into voter registrations. The team isn’t just speaking the language of the internet; it is trying to write a political dictionary in emojis and hashtags.

In a world where attention spans are shorter than a tweet, Harris is creating a campaign that’s as binge-worthy. The Harris team isn’t just asking for your vote; she’s sliding into your DMs, your FYP, and your group chats.

So, is this the future of political campaigns? Only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure – in a race where every second counts, Harris isn’t just running; she’s sprinting, leaping, and meme-ing her way towards the finish line. And whether you’re a boomer, a zoomer, or somewhere in between, you can’t help but watch this political spectacle unfold, one viral moment at a time.

For me, I’d lean in hard. It is the one and only chance Team Kalama will have for POTUS, so why not throw caution to the wind, give it everything you believe in, pick the most conservative VP you can and lean the hell in?

It’s fabulous and fascinating to watch from afar. But the reality is that the American political system is one of the most complex and traditional, where faceless party people control the cash and the campaigning. When it comes down to the serious stuff, will we see Team Kalama reigned in?