Vice President Kamala Harris will assume a prominent role in the Biden campaign’s strategy to highlight Republican divisions during the Republican National Convention, with a specific emphasis on appealing to female voters by addressing national security and reproductive rights issues.

On Wednesday, the same day that newly announced GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance is scheduled to address the GOP delegates in Milwaukee, Harris will engage in a moderated conversation with Republican women in Michigan. This event, organized by the Biden campaign, aims to directly appeal to Republican and independent female voters. Harris will be joined by Olivia Troye, a former Trump administration national security staffer, and Amanda Stratton, a former registered Republican who will share her personal story regarding reproductive health.

The following day, Harris will travel to North Carolina for the seventh time this year. North Carolina is a crucial state that former President Donald Trump narrowly carried in the 2020 election. Harris's visit will include a campaign rally in Fayetteville, demonstrating the campaign’s commitment to winning over voters in key battleground states.

The Biden campaign is quietly evaluating Harris's effectiveness in countering Trump. They believe there is an opportunity to attract Republican women, particularly those who supported former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the GOP primaries. Despite dropping out of the race, Haley recently released her delegates and urged them to support Trump, and she has been invited to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Harris's profile has risen since President Joe Biden's less-than-stellar debate performance, prompting some Democrats to call for new leadership within the party. However, Biden has maintained his intention to stay in the race and has praised Harris for her qualifications and her work, particularly on women’s health issues.

During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Harris rallied voters in support of Biden, emphasizing his resilience. “He is the first to say when you get knocked down, you get right back up,” she stated, warning that a second Trump term would result in a “full-on assault on reproductive freedom.”

Originally, Harris's itinerary for the week of the Republican National Convention included a visit to Palm Beach, Florida, Trump’s hometown. However, this stop was canceled following an assassination attempt on Trump the previous Saturday.

Harris’s planned events are designed to broaden the Democratic coalition during the Republican convention, contrasting with Biden’s focus on energizing the Democratic base this week. Biden arrived in Las Vegas on Monday night to speak at significant gatherings of Black and Latino voters, including the NAACP and UnidosUS national conventions, and an economic forum with Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford, D-Nev.

In addition, Biden will sit for an interview with BET, which will be broadcast in prime time on Wednesday. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee are also present in Milwaukee during the GOP convention, conducting daily news conferences with top surrogates and focusing their messaging on Project 2025, a conservative governing blueprint for a potential second Trump term created by his allies.

Following the announcement of Vance's selection as the GOP vice presidential candidate, Harris contacted him on Monday. Although no vice presidential debate has been scheduled yet, the Biden campaign has expressed confidence in Harris’s preparedness to confront Vance. "Vice President Harris has not only been making that case but doing so in an incredibly compelling way, and we expect that she will do the same if JD Vance is willing to debate her," spokesperson TJ Ducklo told reporters.

This comprehensive strategy underscores the Biden campaign’s efforts to leverage Harris’s strengths in appealing to a broad spectrum of voters, particularly women, and to counter the Republican narrative during a pivotal week in the election cycle.