Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping into the 2024 presidential race with a cautious approach to policy, navigating the delicate balance between advancing her own vision and adhering to the legacy of President Joe Biden. This is a unique challenge for a vice president, who rarely have their own policy portfolios and often align their views with those of the president.
While Harris has been closely aligned with Biden’s agenda for the past four years, her surprise nomination as the Democratic frontrunner has forced her to quickly define her own policy platform. This has involved distancing herself from certain liberal positions she championed during her unsuccessful 2020 presidential bid, including proposals to ban fracking, establish a single-payer healthcare system, and decriminalize illegal border crossings. Harris recognizes that voters may hold her accountable for these past stances and is working to present a more moderate image.
One of the most significant shifts in Harris’s policy direction has been her embrace of a proposal to end federal taxation of tipped earnings for workers, a concept initially championed by former President Donald Trump. Harris has added a caveat, limiting the plan to lower- and middle-income workers, and has framed it as a bi-partisan solution. This move has drawn both praise and criticism, with Trump alleging that Harris is simply stealing his ideas.
The White House has backed Harris’s stance on tipped earnings, suggesting a close alignment between Biden and Harris on policy issues. However, the lack of support for this policy during their first term raises questions about its timing and motivations.
Harris’s campaign emphasizes her commitment to bipartisanship and finding common ground, highlighting her ability to achieve bipartisan breakthroughs in areas like infrastructure and gun violence prevention during her time as vice president. However, her platform remains largely centered around Biden’s priorities, including restoring abortion access, raising the federal minimum wage, and enacting a surtax on billionaires. These policies, while popular among Democrats, face significant challenges in a divided Congress.
While Trump has launched personal and racially charged attacks against Harris, his campaign has also focused on highlighting her perceived policy shifts as evidence of her radical liberal agenda. The Trump team is using old videos and public statements from Harris’s 2020 primary campaign to paint her as an inconsistent and unreliable leader.
As the 2024 election unfolds, Kamala Harris will have to balance her ambition for progress with the pragmatism required to navigate the political landscape and secure the support of a divided electorate. Her policy positions, shaped by her experiences, ambitions, and the challenges of the political moment, will be closely scrutinized as she strives to convince voters that she is the right choice to lead the nation.
