Kamala Harris has an opportunity that would not have been available to President Biden if he’d been the Democratic nominee. She can reintroduce herself to voters in ways that address their biggest complaints about Biden’s record and the Democratic Party.
It won’t be easy. She is Biden’s vice president, after all. Yesterday, a Republican political group urged candidates to criticize Harris as a radical, while JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, told a rally, “The Biden record is the Kamala Harris record.”
Still, Harris is not Biden, and she can subtly distance herself from his record and emphasize what she would do differently. There is a long history of vice presidents who did so when running for president.
George H.W. Bush suggested in 1988 that he was “kinder and gentler” than Ronald Reagan. Al Gore portrayed himself in 2000 as more ethical than Bill Clinton (and came within a few hundred butterfly ballots of victory). Hubert Humphrey surged in the 1968 race after he belatedly separated himself from Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam policies.
In today’s newsletter, I’ll examine some of the Democratic Party’s biggest weaknesses now. They offer Harris an opportunity to argue that she isn’t an ordinary politician.
Why moderation works
Democrats often describe Donald Trump and other Republicans as radical. And today’s Republican Party is indeed radical in important ways. Many Republicans still claim that Trump won the 2020 election. Their party favors unpopular abortion restrictions and deep tax cuts for the rich.
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