Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the upcoming election has forced a change in strategy for Republicans, who are now focusing on Kamala Harris’ liberal record as opposed to the president’s advanced age. But there’s a tension on the Right between the desire to focus solely on her policies and the impulse to pursue personal attacks.

A new attack ad running in Pennsylvania provides a window into the next leg of the campaign. The ad, which ties Harris to a down-ballot Democrat in Pennsylvania, shows footage of her expressing support for a ban on fracking and offshore drilling, abolishing the federal immigration enforcement agency and reducing policing, alongside audio of her laughter.

Harris has historically taken a softer position on crime and policing than Biden, providing an opportunity to the GOP in a post-2020 political landscape in which crime is a salient issue for voters. She famously declined to seek the death penalty for a man who had murdered a police officer, has expressed openness to allowing incarcerated felons to vote and raised money for a bail fund that helped release convicts who were later charged with murder.

One report in the Atlantic claimed the Trump campaign was going to attack Harris for being too tough on crime, given her background as a prosecutor, though the Trump campaign has been publicly attempting to discredit the reporter behind this story. By all appearances, Republicans are all-in on painting Harris as soft on crime.

Immigration has been a key talking point of the Trump campaign, and that rhetoric has only heated up since Biden stepped down from the race. Biden’s decision to delegate immigration issues to Harris in 2021 has only added fuel to the fire, and Trump has already blamed Harris for “millions and millions of illegal aliens [invading] our country”.

The new Pennsylvania ad closely follows guidelines released by Senate Republicans earlier this week urging members to criticise the Vice President along the lines of immigration, energy and crime. But the guide also features a section titled “Weird,” mocking Harris’ laugh and some of her odd public comments, such as her love of Venn diagrams.

While the policy attacks on Harris will generally mirror those levied at Biden, the personal attacks will be entirely different. Republicans previously drew attention to Biden’s advanced age and his son’s addiction and criminal history, but personal criticisms of Harris tend to revolve around her personality, suggestions she was hired on the basis of race and gender rather than merit, and her romantic history. But Republican leaders have urged their peers to avoid personal attacks on the Vice President, particularly those related to her race and gender, and stick to policy instead.

Trump, meanwhile, is undeterred. He recently referenced Harris’ relationship with Willie Brown, referring to him as her “mentor”. The two were in a romantic relationship in the 1990s while Brown, then-speaker of the California Assembly, was separated from his wife. Brown appointed Harris to high paying jobs in the state government, a point critics have seized on to suggest Harris didn’t earn her career. Trump has also been testing out various nicknames for his likely opponent, such as “lyin’ Kamala Harris” and “laughing Kamala”.

Trump has already campaigned against Harris as a vice presidential pick, though unsuccessfully. As in 2020, he’s now projecting an air of confidence about his race against her. “I think she’d be a fine choice, Kamala Harris,” he said in 2020. “She’d be a fine choice.”

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is UnHerd’s US correspondent.

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