With less than 100 days until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris faces unique challenges in pitching her policy ideas to Americans
Vice President Kamala Harris is facing the delicate task of calibrating her policy pitch to American voters, a standard task for any White House hopeful but one that comes with additional challenges this year.
First, Harris is running for president while serving under President Joe Biden, meaning she’s linked to anything that happened — or will happen — on his watch. She inherits accomplishments like limiting the cost of insulin but also the administration’s struggle to prevent illegal border crossings.
Second, Harris has baggage from her own failed campaign for president before she became Biden’s running mate four years ago. During that Democratic primary, she backed an array of progressive proposals that Republicans have highlighted to paint her as “dangerously liberal.”
Harris has already disavowed some of her earlier positions, such as a ban on fracking and support for single-payer healthcare. And she’s pledging to keep some of Biden’s promises, including no tax increases on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.
That means Harris’ path to the White House could depend on her ability to chart a course toward the country’s future while being selective about her past. Success will mean keeping Democrats united behind her vision while keeping the focus on Republican candidate Donald Trump’s record of undermining abortion rights and his challenges to democratic traditions.
Everything will have to happen at unprecedented speed because Harris was abruptly thrust into the spotlight after Biden decided to drop his reelection bid a little more than a week ago. Her newly designed campaign website doesn’t even include a policy section.
“You’re building the plane while you’re flying it,” said Bakari Sellers, a Harris ally who co-chaired her campaign four years ago.
Sellers said Harris should make sure to focus on bread-and-butter issues like medical debt.
“You can see the history she represents. You can hear that in her voice », Sellers said. « But you still have to attract voters who don’t know who you are, who don’t subscribe to the historic nature of your campaign.
