The Power of Positivity in Political Campaigning

The Washington Roundtable: Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos discuss the fiery advertising war between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. They are joined by Jennifer Lawless, the chair of the politics department at the University of Virginia and the author of “Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era.” Plus, how memes and social media have boosted the Harris campaign. “The Harris campaign will have a couple of uplifting, very positive ads, especially when they announce who the V.P. will be,” Professor Jennifer Lawless says. “But my bet is that this will be a race to the bottom in terms of negativity.” 

This week’s reading:

• “Trump’s Racist Attack on Kamala Harris Was No Accident,” by Susan B. Glasser
• “The Politics of ‘Weird’,” by Jay Caspian Kang
• “Does Kamala Harris Need a Latino Campaign?,” by Geraldo Cadava

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