By Lizzie Ramirez
Young democrats across the nation have come together to make Kamala Harris the first “bratty” presidential candidate of the country — and the official campaign is embracing the title.
Pop singer Charli XCX tweeted, “kamala IS brat” which led younger progressives to start editing videos of Harris with songs from the Brat album by Charli XCX. Since this trend, @KamalaHQ, the official campaign account, has leaned into using this as a legitimate campaigning strategy.
However, despite the internet running with this trend and forcing Harris to become an acceptable nominee against Donald Trump, local young voters are unsure about this campaign strategy.
“I think it’s cool for her to get the younger voters. But in terms of her becoming the future president is being able to be taken seriously as a woman,” Karen Dominguez, a University of Nevada, Reno, student, expressed. “I’m just concerned that’s going to block other swing voters from considering her because she’s a butt of the joke.”
Despite Dominguez having fears of Harris being taken seriously, she admitted this could help influence the younger generation into voting.
“An old white man isn’t going to cut it anymore. You need someone that can reach out to different audiences and be able to have a common platform,” Dominguez said.
Before President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the race, 58% of young voters stated they were unsure if they would vote in November. However, after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, young voters have been mobilizing more to support Harris.
Adam Czajkowski, a local political consultant, said he believes that Harris embracing “brat” will help her chances.
“Vice President Harris’ strategy to reach out to younger voters certainly looks promising in the earliest days of the campaign,” he said. “There is an excitement about [her] candidacy among younger voters that everyone can feel, and it is reflected in her TikTok virality the last week.”
Since the brat trend, Harris’ campaign team has also embraced other trends, such as “what we really need is a Femininomenon,” a song by another rising pop singer, Chappell Roan.
The term “Femininomenon” is a mix of “feminine” and “phenomenon” and ultimately strives to empower women to celebrate their strength, as per Roan’s song.
With this trend alone, the KamalaHQ TikTok account garnered 54.9 million views with 7.2 million likes. “My For You Page, like yours, has been inundated with ‘Femininomenon’ edits. I think it’s a smart political strategy for the campaign to embrace it,” Czajkowski said.
However, there’s no doubt that trends rapidly cycle through the internet. Though brat has been trending the whole summer, who’s to say it won’t die down in the fall — and the same with “what we really need is a Femininomenon.”
Czajkowski recommended the Harris campaign continue to look for more “Femininomenon” opportunities in the future while “also talking to other groups of voters about the issues important to them” because “the two strategies aren’t mutually exclusive.”
The campaign team has been looking for more trendy opportunities. Harris also had rapper Megan Thee Stallion perform at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30, where she influenced votes for Harris by saying, “hotties for Harris.”
Where does this leave undecided voters, though? Could they be influenced to give their vote to Harris? Dominguez said she can “for sure” see herself being influenced by these trends.
“TikTok influences everything. I feel this is the first time where now TikTok is so huge during a presidential election,” Dominguez said.
