Self-described “progressives” appear to be tiring of Kamala Harris’s effort to downplay her left-wing policies, and are reminding her that they do not want to be taken for granted as she tries to portray herself as a “moderate” candidate.
While Harris told CNN last month, in her first and only media interview, that “my values have not changed,” Harris’s campaign has been telling the media that she no longer supports some of her most radical policies, such as canceling private health insurance, defunding the police, ending detention for illegal migrants, backing the “Green New Deal,” banning fracking, and other policies that are toxic to mainstream Americans but beloved by left-wing Democrats.
Some of these policies, including “taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained migrants,” are so radical that they even managed to shock CNN’s Erin Burnett when they were reported on air by Andrew Kaczynski.
The campaign, understandably, has been trying to bury Harris’s record without explaining how, when, or why she changed her mind. (Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said plainly last weekend that she was changing her policies to win the election.)
But “progressives” are tired of being told to ignore the change and trust the party leadership.
In a lead op-ed at The New Republic, Alex Shephard — noting that Harris simply plagiarized President Joe Biden’s policies while proclaiming “A New Way Forward” — suggested Tuesday morning that the left has had enough:
Three days before the Times poll came out [showing Trump ahead by 1 point], amid growing consternation about her deliberate lack of a clear and detailed agenda, Kamala Harris’s campaign announced a new policy—sort of. Harris, her campaign said, was no longer in favor of banning plastic straws. Five years ago, as a senator from California, she came out in favor of phasing out plastic straws and replacing them with paper ones—albeit with better ones than the flimsy kind that degrade after you’ve drunk a third of your McDonald’s Diet Coke. Now Harris is fine with the status quo.
This is a comical example of a very real trend after Harris became the presumptive nominee in late July: She quickly jettisoned progressive positions she took during the 2020 presidential race—such as gun buybacks, a fracking ban, and Medicare for All—without saying much about where she currently stands. Last month’s DNC was a celebration of the party’s normalcy and the middle class, but there was little of substance beneath it. Her big policy ideas in August were to punish price gouging in grocery stores, kill taxes on tips, and spur the construction of new homes.
…This debate will likely be Harris’s best opportunity to shift the polls back in her favor—and to define herself to the millions of voters who are on the fence about her. But it will also require her to take uncomfortable, even controversial positions. She can no longer expect to keep reaping political rewards without taking any risks.
The implication is that Harris could best use Tuesday’s debate (9 p.m. ET on ABC) to highlight her “progressive” credentials, on the argument that it is best to take a controversial stand than to take no stand whatsoever.
Breitbart News’ John Nolte describes The New Republic‘s swipe at Harris as an attempt to offer friendly advice, ridiculing her plagiarism of Biden’s policies as an embarrassment, but hoping that she can still change tactics.
Regardless, Harris now appears to have caught herself in the trap that bedeviled Hillary Clinton in 2016: appeal to the “progressive” base and alienate the middle, or stick to the status quo and the policies of an unpopular incumbent.
Biden managed to unite “progressives” and moderates in 2016, running to oust a Republican. But Democrats are the party in power, and there are divisions that lurk beneath the surface — divisions that a cut-and-paste job won’t fix.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.