Today, as Kamala Harris rolls out her economic platform, it will reflect
economic messaging that we’ve communicated to top Harris aides for weeks –
and Biden aides for months!

Below is a private memo to the Harris campaign we made public today. Our
economic polling with Data for Progress informed our #1 recommendation:
“Groceries, groceries, groceries.” We were therefore delighted by this
headline, showing they are listening.

POLITICO: Grocery price gouging to feature prominently in Harris economic
plan

You can read our full memo below.

If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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MEMO

6 recommendations for VP Harris’s Friday economic speech

We expect the Vice President’s speech to show continuity with the bold,
popular Biden-Harris economic agenda – with her own unique vibe and points
of emphasis.

Below are a few recommendations on language we’ve discussed with you,
based on our weekly polling with Data For Progress. We have also included
a recommendation on where to differentiate the Vice President’s voice
while building upon the storytelling around the Biden-Harris agenda.

In summary, our recommendations are:

 1. Groceries, groceries, groceries! It’s the number one pain point to
acknowledge. Republicans talked groceries [ [link removed] ]repeatedly at their
convention to blur the lines after. Democrats spent the last four
years [ [link removed] ]working to lower grocery prices.
 2. Vibes, vibes, vibes. Voters are looking for a feeling, not wonky macro
numbers. Every policy goal is a supporting detail in the "Whose side
are you on?" contrast.
 3. Tie together examples of corporate price gouging under one big roof:
"Democrats are cracking down on corporations that price gouge families
on everything from groceries to gas to credit card fees to
prescription drugs."
 4. Continue Biden’s message merging Social Security and taxes as one:
"Republicans want to cut Social Security in order to give tax cuts to
billionaires. Democrats will protect and strengthen Social Security by
making billionaires pay their fair share."
 5. Best poll-tested message on the care economy: "We need to make caring
for our families more affordable…We must fight to ensure families
aren’t crunched on both sides with the high costs of raising a child
and caring for an aging parent at the same time."
 6. Ways to bring out Harris’s unique voice while building on the
Biden-Harris agenda:

 a. Harris is a prosecutor who will crack down on illegal price
gouging in order to help families and small businesses.
 b. As a leader on the care economy, Harris is uniquely suited to
merge care and price gouging into one message: "Our
administration will make caring for our families more affordable.
We’ll stop corporations that price gouge families on everything
from groceries to gas to prescriptions -- and we’ll ensure
families aren’t crunched on both sides with the high costs of
raising a child and caring for an aging parent at the same time."

That’s the TL;DR. Below are backup details:

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If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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Recommendation 1: Groceries, groceries, groceries

Here is video of Republicans hitting groceries over and over at their
convention, clearly seeing similar data to ours with Data For Progress:

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

When given 25 potential pain points in their lives, grocery prices are by
far the top concern for American families. Voters will be eager to hear
Harris acknowledge their concern as part of her economic diagnosis:

[ [link removed] ]Top Thing People Look At To Judge Economy: Prices For Families,
Especially Groceries

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If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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Recommendation 2: Strong siding-with-family vibes, not boring macro weeds.

[ [link removed] ]Macroeconomics Does Not Compel Voters

Here’s the full list of what voters actually care about. Pain points in
family budgets are consistently top of the list:

[ [link removed] ]Top Economic Concerns of Voters

One way to avoid the trap of going wonky with this week’s low inflation
rates is to point out that "Even with new indicators of slowing inflation,
some corporations are still price gouging consumers on everything from
groceries to gas to credit card fees to prescription prices."

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If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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Recommendation 3: One umbrella narrative on corporate price gouging

"Democrats are cracking down on corporations that price gouge families on
everything from groceries to gas to credit card fees to prescription
drugs. Republican politicians are fighting for corporations that jack up
prices and hurt workers – and they will give tax cuts to billionaires."

This simple narrative, tying together many issues, moves the horserace 8
points towards Kamala Harris. This message also moves the congressional
horse race 8 points towards a generic Democrat:

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

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If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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Recommendation 4: Merge Social Security and taxes as one issue.

Vice President Harris should continue President Biden’s innovation of
connecting Social Security and taxes as one issue. Republicans have made
inroads on public opinion by lying about their plans to cut Social
Security. But they are unwilling to come out in favor of taxing
billionaires, making this framing a stronger contrast.

[ [link removed] ]Biden in Goffstown, NH (3/11/24): "Republicans will cut Social
Security and Medicare to give us more tax cuts for the wealthy… Instead of
cutting Medicare and giving tax breaks to the wealthy, I will protect and
strengthen Social Security and Medicare and make the wealthy begin to pay
their fair share."

[ [link removed] ]Biden in Milwaukee, WI (3/13/24): "Instead of cutting Social Security
and Medicare to give tax breaks to the super wealthy, I’m going to protect
and strengthen Social Security and Medicare to make the wealthy begin pay
their fair share."

[ [link removed] ]Biden in Scranton, PA (4/16/24): "But, folks, how does Trump pay for
these billionaire tax cuts? Well, Trump recently said Social Security and
Medicare, quote — here’s his quote: “There’s a lot you can do in terms of
cutting,” end of quote....Let’s protect Social Security and Medicare and
make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share — (applause) — in high
taxes.”

Bonus -- the new [ [link removed] ]DNC platform says: "We’ll strengthen the program and
expand benefits by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair
share."

This message can also be integrated into our contrast with Project 2025:
"Donald Trump's Project 2025 is part of a plan to weaken the middle class
by cutting Social Security in order to give tax breaks to billionaires —
while Kamala Harris wants to build up the middle class, protect and
strengthen Social Security, and make billionaires pay their fair share."

If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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Recommendation 5: Winning language on care economy

After many rounds of testing, the top winning language when describing the
goal of the care agenda is: "We need to make caring for our families more
affordable."

When elaborating, this message wins: "We must fight to ensure families
aren’t crunched on both sides with the high costs of raising a child and
caring for an aging parent at the same time." This beats child care and
elder care in isolation, and paints a more cohesive vision.

We did a 3-way test on the cost of raising a child vs. elder care vs.
sandwich generation crunched by both. Here are the "strongly
agree"numbers:

Crunch: Topline: 52%, Ind: 48%, 30-44: 55%, 45+: 51%
Elder care: Topline: 49%, Ind: 36%, 30-44: 48%, 45+: 50%
Raising a child: Topline: 40%, Ind: 38%, 30-44: 43%, 45+: 41%

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

We tested many broad topline ways of describing the care agenda. The top
two were offered by Ai-jen Poo and the Domestic Workers. Data here:

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

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If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

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Recommendation 6: Harris’s unique voice

In numerous recent speeches, Vice President Harris said, “I will take on
big corporations that engage in illegal price gouging.” Harris has a
unique opportunity to merge her prosecutorial background with a corporate
accountability theme in a way that reflects her background and experience.

It is well known that Harris believes deeply in the care economy. Pulling
together some of the above points, she is uniquely suited to merge care
and price gouging: “Our administration will make caring for our families
more affordable by stopping corporations from price gouging families on
everything from groceries to gas to prescriptions -- and by ensuring
families aren’t crunched on both sides with the high costs of raising a
child and caring for an aging parent at the same time.”

We are excited to see Friday’s speech. Thanks for all your hard work.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you agree Democrats need a strong economic message, and if you want us
to keep polling and giving the Harris campaign cutting-edge advice (that
they take!), can you make a weekly donation to our work to WIN BIG in
2024?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I’ll donate weekly through the election.

[ [link removed] ]No, but I'll donate once now.

Thanks for being a bold progressive, and thanks for supporting this
important work.

-- The PCCC Team

 

 

 


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