Vice President Kamala Harris' allies hope a new year, a new team and role traveling the country championing White House achievements in the run-up to the midterms will help her rebuild a public image battered during her first twelve months in office.
She has a new communications director and is expected soon to appoint a new speechwriter and chief spokesperson.
It comes after a torrid period, marked by the resignation of eight staffers in a matter of months and headlines about a difficult work environment.
Her supporters believe that her office, with a year of experience and some new faces, will operate more smoothly now.
Just don't call it a reboot.
'I wouldn't call it a reboot. I'd call it chapter two,' the Rev. Leah Daughtry, a Harris supporter and former chief of staff to the chair of the Democratic National Committee, told the Los Angeles Times.
A reset during the campaign lifted her poll numbers but only for a brief time.
Allies say it is not so much a 'reboot' as 'chapter two' for Vice President Kamala Harris as he rebuilds her office and changes strategy after a difficult first year in office
Last week Harris appeared with President Biden as he signed an executive order requiring project labor agreements - setting standards for wages and other conditions with a labor organization - on certain federal construction projects
Last week it emerged that the head of Harris' speechwriting team is leaving the vice president's office.
Kate Childs Graham is expected to leave at the end of the month, following higher profile departures including the vice president's chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders at the end of last year.
They began after Harris's widely criticized visit to Central America in June - when she was mocked for delivering a simple message of, 'Do not come,' in her role as point person for tackling the root causes of migration from the area.
Her poll numbers began to slide amid criticism that she was dismissive of questions about whether she would visit the U.S.-Mexico border, amid a surge in migrants arriving.
A rolling average of polls, maintained by Real Clear Politics, puts her approval number at 37.7 percent, with 52.2 percent disapproving of her performance.
The plan to turn it around includes new faces in her office - such as Jamal Simmons, a regular on cable TV to hone her message as communications director - and getting her on the road to sell the administration's achievements at home, and represent the White House overseas.
But it was also a case of simply getting used to being in the world's highest profile workplace, said Minyon Moore, who was President Clinton's political director and is an informal adviser to Harris
'It takes a minute to figure out as public servants how you can perform your duties at the highest level,' said Minyon Moore, who served as President Clinton's political director, said there's no workplace in the world like the White House.
A learning curve was part of the deal, she added.
'It's not like this casual "I'm just going to the White House,"' she added. 'You have to deal with staff secretaries.
'You have to deal with protocol, and in this instance, add COVID protocol to your circumstances.'
That is a more charitable interpretation than insiders who said that a difficult management style exposed during her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination had continued into office.
The tensions exploded into the open last year after the trip to Central America.
'People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,' a person with direct knowledge of how Harris’ office is run told Politico.
'It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s***.'
Last year, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Harris sidestepped questions about her management style.
'The person I’m toughest on is myself,' she said, adding that she had also been a mentor and nurturer.
In a sign of the shift, Harris has already taken a trip to California and Wisconsin. The two legs included visits to show how money from the administration's trillion-dollar infrastructure bill was being spent on tackling wildfires and removing lead from water supplies.
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