Harris allies look to bring former Obama adviser David Plouffe onto campaign
As Vice President Harris takes over President Biden’s campaign, some of her allies are looking to bring David Plouffe, a longtime adviser to former president Barack Obama, on board in a senior role, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
The exact details of his potential role are unclear, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
Neither Plouffe nor the Harris campaign responded to a request for comment.
Harris is traveling to Wilmington, Del. on Monday afternoon to visit her campaign headquarters, a day after she inherited Biden’s reelection campaign when he abandoned his bid for a second term and endorsed her.
The campaign will remain based in Biden’s hometown, and the staff were told Sunday that they are now devoted to electing the first female president. But Harris, as she moves closer to securing the Democratic nomination, will need to decide how, if at all, to shake up the campaign structure, message and strategy that Biden and his closest aides installed.
“We are the ones that are going to work with Vice President Harris to carry this forward,” campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff on a call Sunday, according to a transcript obtained by The Washington Post. “And we’re going to be excited for new people to come on board.’
Exactly who those new people are remain unclear. Harris has a small team of aides within the broader Biden re-election effort that are expected to take on larger roles as she ascends to the top of the ticket. Sheila Nix, a longtime aide to first lady Jill Biden, serves as Harris’s chief of staff, Brian Fallon serves as her communications director, Megan Jones is a senior political adviser and Sergio Gonzales is a senior adviser.
Some of Harris’s former aides were recently brought back into the fold ahead of her planned debate with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who was chosen last week to be former president Donald Trump’s running mate. Harris’s senior White House and campaign aides started the preparation process and brought in Karen Dunn, a Washington-based lawyer who helped prepare her in 2020 for her debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence; Sean Clegg, a California-based political strategist who has worked with Harris for years; and Rohini Kosoglu, a longtime Harris policy adviser who worked in her Senate and vice presidential offices.
“This campaign has go to big and has to be extremely bold,” said Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina state representative who was one of the chairs of Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign. “We don’t need any of the caution that somewhat stifled 2020 and so I think she’s going to do that.’
Sellers said Harris, who struggled with a message during the 2020 campaign, has a clear contrast to run against Trump.
“There’s prosecutor vs. felon,” he said. “Hero for reproductive rights vs. somebody who put three justices on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. Someone who represents the future of the country vs. the oldest candidate in American political history. My question is can someone who is 80 years old really do the job?”
On Sunday, Harris spent more than 10 hours on the phone in the vice president’s residence, working to shore up support among Democratic leaders for her bid. In the day since Biden exited the race, Harris has largely united elected officials and other key party leaders behind her bid, and most of the top Democrats who may have considered challenging her for the nomination have said they are backing her.
On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign committee officially changed its name with the Federal Election Commission from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President.” As of 6 a.m. Monday morning, the campaign said it raised nearly $50 million in online donations. A senior aide at Future Forward, the main super PAC that had been supporting Biden’s campaign, said the group secured commitments of $150 million from donors who were previously uncertain or uncommitted to their effort.
The Democratic National Committee will continue its fundraising relationships with the Harris Action Fund and Harris Victory Fund, which will raise money for both the party and Harris’s campaign, according to a recent FEC filing. The fundraising committees, which have $63 million in cash on hand, were previously named for Biden and raised money for his reelection effort.
Prior to Biden’s exit, Harris had a slew of campaign travel scheduled for this week. On Tuesday, she is slated to travel to Milwaukee for a political event and then on Wednesday, she is scheduled to address the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.’s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis. She is also expected to appear at a political fundraiser in the Berkshires on Saturday.
Michael Scherer and Clara Ence Morse contributed to this report.