Dear Kamala Harris: We need more than vibes to know what you're all about
Now that we’ve reached the end of the Democratic National Convention, the sprint to Election Day, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, has begun.
And Harris and Walz certainly got an enthusiastic reception this week in Chicago.
What’s less clear is why.
Various speakers at the convention spent a lot of time selling Harris and Walz, but most of the selling points were tied to feelings – not to hard facts.
What would a Harris presidency really look like? We don’t know.
What we did get over the course of the last four days was a lot of vibes. Harris is a good friend. She’s kind. She's a hard worker. She's full of joy.
Walz is a dad. He likes plaid. And don’t forget, he was a high school coach. (Walz’s moment on stage Wednesday when he engaged with his children was truly touching, and I’m not discounting that.)
But Harris and Walz aren’t running to be the country’s best friends – they are running for the most important jobs in the world.
The convention didn't deliver any clarity on why they are up to the task.
California dreaming: Harris and Walz champion the Californication of America. Voters should say no way, San Jose.
Harris isn't a newcomer, no matter what Democrats say
The Harris campaign and its Democratic allies are trying to paint the vice president like she is a newcomer to the political scene – and has nothing to do with the administration that she’s helped lead the past four years.
Unfortunately for her presidential campaign, Harris has absolutely been an integral part of the Biden administration. That includes everything voters don’t like about the economy and inflation as well as illegal immigration.
As vice president, she delivered a record number of tie-breaking votes (33) in the Senate to usher in some of President Joe Biden’s most costly, ill-advised legislation.
Since Harris still hasn’t done any serious interviews or press conferences, she has gotten to skate by easily at rallies and other settings where she’s welcomed enthusiastically. She’s said she’ll do an interview by the end of the month. We’ll see.
What I have a hard time understanding is that up until Biden stepped down from the presidential race, Harris had been an extremely unpopular vice president – historically so. When she was a more vocal part of the administration the first few years, the country did not respond well to her.
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Nor did voters when she officially ran for president in 2019, before dropping out ahead of the first primary in 2020.
So the response to her newfound 2024 candidacy all feels a little strange.
America deserves details from Harris
At a convention-related Politico event this week, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, who also ran Biden’s 2020 campaign, said: “We all know who the vice president is, but the American people don’t really know her that well, and they don't know her story.”
I’m not sure that’s true. The American people did get to know Harris the past few years and didn’t like what they saw.
When it became untenable that Biden could serve for another four years, things suddenly seemed to shift for the Democrats, and Harris became the only replacement that made sense, given the lateness in the campaign.
I want to know what a Harris presidency would look like. Yet, even her website remains devoid of any policy details. The only proposals she’s divulged, such as housing handouts and price controls, are truly awful and would further the economic woes she claims to want to improve.
Harris fails Economics 101: Trump’s ‘Comrade Kamala’ insult is a bit much, but price controls really are an awful idea
While Walz wants us to think he’s Midwest normal, his record as governor is quite different. He seems all too open to socialist-style policies that this country cannot afford.
So does Harris. Just look at her campaign proposals when she ran for president four years ago. And look at her time as a U.S. senator, when she built a record as one of the most liberal members of that chamber.
What’s less clear is who she is now.
The final night of the convention was all about "our future." It should have been a time when we learned more about what this presidential ticket was all about.
That’s far from what happened.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris' DNC speech was short on policy and long on happy talk
