The Weird Way the Harris-Walz Campaign Will Win

The memes surrounding the Democratic ticket are a gold mine of untapped potential for Kamala and Walz to leverage.

By: Daimler Koch, Online Editor

Photo illustration by Sydne Santiago and Jason Shells

In the days of the not-so-distant past, Democratic and moderate voters were in a pit of despair. Their choices for president did not seem appealing: a rather orange, rant-raving felon who was increasingly picking up steam among Republicans, or a geriatric old man who could barely seem to string a list of words together into a coherent sentence.

But then, in a strangely unpredictable turn of events, the latter dropped out of the race, and Vice President Kamala Harris swooped in to take his place. Thunderous applause and a wave of joy welcomed her, thanks in no small part to a uniquely Gen Z solution: memes. A solution so unique, in fact, that it may end up helping Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, push across the finish line first in November.

The intertwining of memes with politics is nothing new, per se, which range from the melancholic to the downright negative – which is why I was initially surprised by the emphatic waves of enthusiasm towards Harris in the forms of “brat summer” and “coconut-pilled.”

In other words, for those of you too out of the loop to understand: among Gen Z, Kamala Harris has been turned into a full-blown meme over social media. 

The history of this stretches back to June 7, 2024, when the artist Charli XCX dropped her album “brat,” the focus of which is on being genuine and true to yourself. The album quickly became an online sensation; people began having “brat summers” and changing profile pictures to the same shade of green on the album cover in order to celebrate this newly discovered euphoria.

Kamala didn’t become involved until a month and a half later, when Charli XCX posted on X that “kamala IS brat.” People leapt on the meme almost immediately. That’s what Kamala is, after all. The way she’s willing to laugh, talk and dance at a moment’s notice speaks volumes about her willingness to be genuine, making her a perfect candidate for “brat summer.” Oh, yeah, and her unforgettable lines, such as “I love Venn diagrams” and “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” have become instant one-liners, already beloved among her younger fanbase.

Walz hasn’t been left behind. He, too, exudes authenticity, with his folksy, Midwestern dad vibes and his fondness for calling Trump and JD Vance “weird” becoming fodder for, yes, more memes across social media platforms.

This trend is more significant than it may initially seem. Memes are especially popular among younger people, of course – and young voters have historically been a difficult portion of the population to capture at the polls. If the Harris-Walz campaign leans into the memes sprouting around them and make them an integral part of their campaign, they could claim a large portion of Gen Z for themselves, and keep them out of the Republicans’ hands.

So far, this strategy appears to be working. After the wave of memes that was “brat summer” for Harris and “weird” for Walz, the Democratic ticket has boosted in popularity among voters, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on August 18, 2024.

In addition, their combined genuinity is the perfect answer to the Republican ticket, whose track record of 34 criminal charges and needless hate on “childless cat ladies” makes it seem extremely insecure and less credible than the Democratic ticket.

If Harris continues to lead with the memes, she can maintain that lead over Donald Trump come election day and become the antidote to lies, corruption and dictatorship. And she’ll perform a miracle that few political candidates today across the country can perform: getting the younger generations to run to the polls.