WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris faces the delicate task of calibrating your political speech to American voters, a standard task for any White House hopeful, but one that brings additional challenges this year.
First, Harris is running for president while serving in President Joe Biden’s administration, which means she is tied to everything that has happened — or will happen — on her watch. She inherits achievements like limiting the cost of insulin but also the administration fight to stop illegal border crossings.
Secondly, Harris has baggage of his own failed campaign for president before becoming Biden’s running mate four years ago. During the Democratic primaries, she supported a number of progressive proposals that Republicans highlighted to paint her as “dangerously liberal.”
Harris has already rejected some of her previous positions, such as fracking ban and support for single-payer health care. And she’s pledging to deliver on some of Biden’s promises, including no tax increases for anyone earning less than $400,000 per year.
This means that Harris’ path to the White House may depend on her ability to chart a course for the country’s future while being selective about its past. Success will mean keeping Democrats united around his vision while keeping the focus on Republican nominee Donald Trump’s track record of success. undermining the right to abortion and its challenges for democratic traditions.
Everything will have to happen at unprecedented speed because Harris was abruptly thrust into the spotlight after Biden decided to drop his re-election bid just over a week ago. His newly designed campaign website doesn’t even include a policy section.
“You’re building the plane as you fly it,” said Bakari Sellers, a Harris ally who co-chaired her campaign four years ago.
Sellers said Harris should focus on common issues like medical debt.
“You can see the history it represents. You can hear it in her voice,” Sellers said. “But you still need to attract voters who don’t know who you are, who don’t agree with the historic nature of your campaign.”
Not surprisingly, Harris has adopted virtually the same platform as Biden. In her speeches since entering the presidential race, she has promoted affordable child care, paid family leave and expanded health care.
On Tuesday in Atlanta, she promised to target price gouging and hidden bank fees. She always emphasizes the restoration of the national right to abortion, which was eliminated two years ago by the US Supreme Court.
She is also endorsing new proposals announced by Biden since she took over the campaign, including term limits for Supreme Court justices and binding ethics rules. In a statement, Harris said the court faces a “clear crisis of confidence” that needs to be resolved.
Presidential candidates often detail their policy ideas during the primaries as they try to differentiate themselves within their party. However, Harris surpassed that step this year and may face less pressure in the compact campaign to define exactly how the new programs will be funded and implemented.
“In this environment, the Democratic candidate needs enough policy to tell people how she will bring their fight for the future to life, but not so much that it weighs on her speeches,” said Jamal Simmons, former communications director for the vice president. . desk.
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Harris, said she would “build on the historic agenda of the Biden-Harris administration” and offer a “stark contrast” to Trump’s plans to cut taxes for the wealthy and eliminate the Affordable Care Act.
Harris wants to keep Democrats united as the campaign enters its final months. So far, intraparty skirmishes have been rare but not eliminated.
Two billionaire donors said Harris should replace Lina Khan, the Biden-appointed chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, if elected because of her aggressive use of antitrust law. In response, liberals rallied to Khan’s defense and called on Harris to leave her in office. Harris did not comment on the matter.
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said the White House has built “high trust” with liberal groups that will support Harris in the election. He doubted it would drastically change the course of the Biden administration, but hoped “it would have its own flavor and point of emphasis.”
Green added: “I don’t think anyone should be afraid of a gut check.”
Some of Harris’s changes may be more a matter of emphasis than outright changes. For example, his recent comments on the Gaza war did not create any light between her and Biden, but Harris put more emphasis on Palestinian suffering. It also included clearer outreach to Americans who had been demoralized by the conflict.
“To all who have called for a ceasefire and to all who yearn for peace, I see you and I hear you,” she said.
Republicans want to prevent Harris from reinventing herself for the general election, aiming to burden her with the controversies of the Biden era and her own campaign from four years ago.
“She’s been involved in every one of Joe Biden’s failures, but we’ve also seen what her vision is for the president,” said Mike Berg, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “She would make things even worse.”
Trump’s team and allies have been examining videos in which Harris spoke about providing health care to immigrants who are in the country illegally and decriminalizing border crossings. And they blame her for the migration challenges that occurred before the border crossings came down under Biden’s latest policies.
While Trump has not been consistent when it comes to policy proposals, Berg said there are more risks for Harris because she is less well-known and public opinions about her can still be shaped.
“She’s going to look like a liar,” he said. “Was she lying then or is she lying now?”
Simmons doubted that voters would care about her past stances on issues like the “defund the police” movement, which Harris praised for questioning whether money was being spent wisely on public safety because she served in an administration that injected more money into law enforcement.
“Five years ago she said one thing, but two years ago she did something about it, and the crime rate is lower today,” he said.
