You might’ve seen the memes: online renditions and remixes of a Kamala Harris speech about context and coconut trees; and a post from pop singer Charli xcx declaring “kamala IS brat,” tying the vice president to the cultural moment surrounding the singer’s newest album.

The meme-ification of Harris took over the internet shortly after she announced her candidacy for the Oval Office, and her campaign has embraced it on social media.

Despite each like and repost, whether she can ride the viral aspect of her campaign all the way to the presidency is unknown.

“I think it remains to be seen how much all of this translates into action in November, all the TikTok memes and so forth,” said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. “She is a new face to a lot of young voters. I think she has the opportunity to build on this curiosity.”

Since President Joe Biden stepped aside on July 21, the transition to campaigning for Harris has energized Democratic voters, including in New Hampshire. The Harris campaign held a rally with the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, in Concord this week, met by a crowd of more than 300 people. It was the largest event yet in the state – for Biden or for Harris – in this election cycle, according to a campaign spokesperson.

Democrats aren’t the only ones with a renewed will to fight. Last weekend, a “Trump train” caravan of more than 500 supporters took to the roads in New Hampshire. More events of the like are planned for the coming weeks.

Chris Ager, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, told the Monitor that since Biden’s lackluster performance at the June 27 presidential debate sparked worries about his age and fitness for a campaign, he’s seen an increase in the number of volunteers and a boost of energy from Republican voters.

Scala said while this response could very well be a result of Harris, Biden or “shaking off the complacency” that Republicans might’ve gotten used to, it’s also typical for the non-incumbent party to get more turnout.

“Traditionally, when you’re a member of the ‘out’ party, so to speak, you’re not in power in the White House, you tend to have more motivation than if you’re a member of the party in power trying to keep it,” Scala said.

Ager said he’s skeptical as to whether the energy and volunteerism surrounding the presidential election will continue to November. He expects Harris’s policies on immigration, crime and the economy will disadvantage Democrats, saying her positions are weaker on those topics.

Intensity is high from supporters, Ager said, but he wasn’t sure what to expect when the switch happened: Would Republicans be more pumped up to campaign against Harris and her policies, or would excitement decrease because Biden was a known easier target?

For Democrats, many have said they’re sad to see Biden go, but Harris supporters say they’re glad to have a candidate they can get excited about.

“There’s enthusiasm for Harris, but I think a lot of it was … this release of pent-up anxiety about President Biden, about his fitness for a campaign, all the fallout from the first debate,” Scala said. “They have a reason to believe now, and I think they had lost that with Joe Biden.”

This may be especially true for young voters. Scala said he doesn’t know many young voters who were excited about the presidential primary earlier this year – he’s curious to see how his students are feeling when they return to the UNH campus this fall. Two Dartmouth College sophomores, Lucy Vitali and Sophie Reynolds, drove down from Hanover for the Harris rally on Wednesday. 

Reynolds said that because the vice president is a younger candidate and a woman of color, she finds Harris to be “more relatable” than the current president. She and Vitali were particularly enthusiastic about Harris’s stance on gun control, environmental issues and reproductive freedom.

Both students are involved with their College Democrats organization and Democratic Youth Consulting, a group that helps progressive candidates campaign in New Hampshire.

Just a few weeks ago, Vitali said, she had to do a lot more convincing to recruit volunteers on campus. She campaigns for candidates across the state, and while those with Biden at the top of the ticket, there wasn’t much widespread willingness to help out. Now, people are more willing to go knock on doors.

“I’m feeling so much more optimistic, and I think everyone involved in Democratic politics is feeling this sense of optimism and hope that we really have not felt in a while,” Vitali said. “It’s making us all actually so excited for the election, as opposed to kind of worrying about how much work we have to do, we’re getting excited to do the work.”

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.