How Anthony Albanese’s campaign blueprint could help Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump

An Australian strategist who helped plot Anthony Albanese’s win over Scott Morrison has swapped notes with the US team trying to get Kamala Harris elected. This is what he told them.

Values unite and policies divide. So said a Democratic operative recently, to explain why Kamala Harris was offering so few specifics about what she would do as the US president.

This is a feature of her campaign, not a bug. Rather than trying to sway voters with specific promises, she is focused on adjusting her left-leaning image to be a centrist candidate with a forward-looking vision who is a safe alternative to her unpopular conservative opponent.

Which, when you think about it, sounds a lot like how Anthony Albanese beat Scott Morrison.

And perhaps that is no coincidence. The Labor leader’s so-called “small-target” strategy – a label rejected by his team that nonetheless captured something important about his pathway to victory – was observed and then replicated by Keir Starmer in last month’s UK election.

Anthony Albanese celebrates his election victory in 2022 with Penny Wong, his partner Jodie Haydon and his son Nathan. Picture: James Morgan/Getty Images

At last week’s Democratic convention, an Australian strategist at the centre of both campaigns swapped notes with the operatives now trying to help the Vice President defeat Donald Trump this November.

David Nelson’s message to them was this: “You’ve got to be willing to try and win the argument that’s happening in the world, whatever that is.”

Speaking in Chicago, the co-founder of lobbying and campaign firm Anacta said there was a common interest in political parties across all three countries in how the divided media landscape meant they had to be “able to run and win on big broad arguments, rather than dot-point specifics” that could be “weapons of distractions”.

“You’ve actually got to … take things head-on rather than thinking you can tactic your way around things,” he said.

Anacta co-founder David Nelson. Picture: Supplied

In 2022, Mr Albanese did away with Bill Shorten’s complicated platform from 2019, instead pitching a more refined set of policies. This was appropriate for what Mr Nelson – Labor’s campaign advertising chief – said was ultimately “a big argument about leadership”.

So far, Ms Harris’s list of promises is even more limited, and her campaign website does not include a policy page. A Democratic lawmaker told Politico: “We’re actually just better off running on this real wave of enthusiasm … Why would we start talking about policy?”

Mr Nelson suggested this suited an election that was “a big argument that has to happen about what kind of country they want to be”.

Kamala Harris accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Chicago. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

“I would argue that’s a bigger target, but people want to call it small-target,” Mr Nelson said.

“I know there’s sort of always that commentary, but it comes almost exclusively from political people who think politically. Whereas the voters now recognise, which I actually think is true, that making the judgement about where you stand on the big stuff is the important bit.

“There’s a reason why people are structuring their campaigns like that.”

The Queenslander co-founded Anacta with ex-Labor state secretary Evan Moorhead. They worked on the 2020 victory of former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who later banned them from lobbying her government after an integrity inquiry into their so-called “dual-hatting” roles, although there was no evidence they broke any rules.

Labour leader Keir Starmer claims victory in last month’s UK election. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP

In the UK, Mr Nelson helped spearhead Labour’s return to power after 14 years of Conservative rule, with a party figure telling the Financial Times he was “a human dashboard” for the campaign.

The policy issue that mattered across all three elections was the cost of living, Mr Nelson said.

“Harris has brought energy and consolidation to the base, which has been really important, but she still has a job to do in the middle,” he said.

Of course, unlike her overseas counterparts, the Vice President has to overcome a major hurdle to pull off the same strategy: she is the second-most senior member of the current administration, not the leader of the opposition. It leaves far less room for error.