Ben Davis, an art critic, analyzes the failure of Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign through the lens of its visual culture, particularly a MoveOn.org poster in Brooklyn that renders Harris's face entirely from emojis—smiley eyes, fist-bump skin, octopus lips, and coconut necklace. He argues this poster epitomizes the campaign's reliance on incoherent internet vibes and substance-free memes, contrasting it with Shepard Fairey's uninspired "FORWARD" poster and the self-parody of "Brat Summer" aesthetics. Davis blames Democratic Party consultants for wasting over $1 billion on a campaign that failed to connect with voters on economic anger, instead offering wonkish proposals and appeals to nonexistent Liz Cheney Republicans.
This matters because it highlights a broader crisis in political visual communication, where art and memes replace substantive messaging, alienating both artists and voters. Davis's critique underscores how the Harris campaign's aesthetic failures mirrored its strategic failures—lack of clear messaging, over-reliance on internet trends, and failure to address key issues like Gaza and the economy. The article serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of treating elections as branding exercises, where "politics of joy" masks deep public discontent, and where art becomes a symptom of political dysfunction rather than a tool for genuine engagement.