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The News
US Vice President Kamala Harris is the frontrunner to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in November — the choice not just of Biden and a host of senior Democrat leaders but also the politician who polled highest as a Biden replacement before yesterday’s announcement.
Her nomination isn’t certain yet, but as her support coalesces, the focus is shifting to what a potential Harris administration could mean for the US. Based on her record as California’s attorney general, as senator, as a presidential candidate, and as vice president, she’s known for being a staunch supporter of abortion rights, having ambitious climate goals, and for her sympathy to the Palestinian cause.
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SIGNALS
Harris could be ambitious on climate, abortion, and racial justice
Harris is a bigger proponent of action on the environment than Biden, Bloomberg noted: She proposed a $10 trillion climate deal and backed the Green New Deal when she ran as a candidate in 2020, and vowed to ban fracking. She has also become a key voice in the abortion rights movement — a strong voter issue for the Democrats nationally. After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, she also introduced laws to ban police chokeholds and no-knock warrants, reform qualified immunity, and establish a national standard for use of force. But as an attorney general, she also supported California’s death penalty, which drew criticism from progressives, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant noted. She’s also been a vocal supporter of student debt relief.
Harris may be hawkish on Russia, China, but sympathetic to Gaza
On foreign policy, Harris would likely support Ukraine, deepen relations in Asia to counter China, and support Israel, Politico noted. But she’s also been outspoken in calling out the violence in Gaza, which could attract voters that took issue with Biden’s staunchly pro-Israel stance. On trade, Harris was previously against two major deals Biden supported, including the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which she said would not do enough to preserve the environment and American jobs. Meanwhile on immigration, a top voter issue, she’s drawn criticism from the right — she was tasked with addressing the “root causes” of migration to the US by Biden, and the GOP has blamed her for the number of border crossings and taken to calling her Biden’s “border czar.”
The vice president’s chances are fair
Vice presidents tend to have good odds to succeed in elections, New York magazine noted. Perhaps more importantly, she is “a late substitution for an unpopular Democratic president facing an unpopular former Republican president,” so she could offer a fresh contrast to both Biden and Trump, it added. An average of 11 polls compiled by The Washington Post shows that there’s little difference between how Biden and Harris stack up against Trump — the former president still has a lead of about 1.5 points over Harris. That could change now: Harris’ nomination would be historic — she would be the first woman of color, as well as the first from a western state, if she were nominated — and that could energize voters as they wake up to this new reality.