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After nearly a month as her party’s standard-bearer, Vice President Kamala Harris heads into the Democratic National Convention with not a sit-down media interview or news conference in sight.
Republicans are rightfully grumbling about her unwillingness to engage. The would-be leader of the free world should be taking regular questions. For a political party holding itself up as the guardian of democracy, their candidate should not shun the so-called Fourth Estate charged with keeping the electorate informed.
Compounding matters is the confusion around Harris’ stance on policy positions. When she ran for office in 2020, candidate Harris staked out a litany of extreme views, some of which her campaign has suggested she no longer supports.
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Here are three key areas with lingering questions.
1. Health Care
In 2019, Harris bylined an essay headlined, “My Plan For Medicare For All.” In fact, she made news in 2017 as the first co-sponsor of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ version of the legislation.
“Medicare for All” refers to a single-payer program common in Europe where health coverage comes not from private insurers, but a government-run health program. A complete overhaul of our health care system, which while imperfect remains the envy of the world, has long been a pipe dream of the American left.
Their vitriol toward the industry took a brief respite during the COVID-19 pandemic when innovators partnered with the government to develop the vaccines that fast-tracked a re-opening of our economy, but now their disdain is back in the form of blistering statements, congressional investigations and regulatory threats.
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So extreme is the idea of Medicare-for-All that it met resistance not just from Republicans, but also Democrats, including then-candidate Joe Biden, who said the idea, “makes no sense to me.” Biden even dismissed the scheme as a “sin” because it would upend the current system.
Biden’s concerns are well-grounded. According to an analysis from American Action Forum, Medicare For All would increase federal spending by $44 trillion dollars. For context, the entire national debt is at $35 trillion dollars.
2. Energy
As most Americans were settling in for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris, Harris’ campaign – through a spokesperson – renounced her previous opposition to fracking.
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Like health care, the energy industry has long been a bogeyman of the Democratic left. In 2020, Harris was one of 10 candidates calling for a total ban on fracking, which refers to the process of extracting natural gas from the earth. In addition to providing nearly half (43%) of our country’s electricity supply (for which demand is surging), natural gas creates nearly 121,000 Pennsylvania jobs via fracking. Considering the 2016 presidential margin in the Keystone State was less than 50,000 people, Harris’ newfound perspective makes political sense.
Of course, Harris also co-sponsored the Green New Deal, another pie in the sky scheme seeking an end of all forms of traditional energy production within a decade.
3. Bidenomics
Inflation may be cooling, but America’s views on the economy are not yet heating up. A recent Fox News poll showed only 28% of respondents rating economic conditions positively. Nearly four in 10 (38%) described it as their most important issue – more than double any other topic.
Asked if the U.S. had beaten inflation, President Biden took a victory lap, declaring at a news conference, “my policies are working. Start writing that way, okay?”
Responding to an Axios report that Harris was attempting to create distance with Biden on the economy, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lectured reporters that it was the, “Biden-Harris administration” and “Bidenomics has been something that both the president and the vice president has worked on.”
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Both are true statements. Two years ago, Vice President Harris “proudly cast the tie-breaking vote” for the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). After many fits and starts, the IRA staggered over the legislative finish line along party lines.
The only issue is the bill didn’t live up to its billing. Overall prices remain nearly 20 percent higher under Biden’s watch.
Now Harris wants to go even further, using her first major policy speech to unveil Soviet-style price controls, or a, “sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry,” as one Washington Post columnist put it. Harris co-sponsored a similar effort introduced by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2020.
As a presidential candidate in 2020, Harris signed up for bad ideas with the same level of care as a kid piling on toppings on an ice cream sundae.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally, on Saturday, Aug. 10, in Las Vegas. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency? “We need to probably be thinking about starting from scratch.” Adding more police officers? “Wrongheaded thinking.”
For those seeking answers, don’t hold your breath. Political conventions tend to be heavy on theatrics and light on policy specifics.
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At some point, Harris will face questions. Even the Washington Post editorial board recently noted that her avoidance strategy, “runs the risk of leaving voters to wonder whether she is just shifting with the political winds or, indeed, planning to revert to previous positions after she’s won the presidency.”
Either Harris was wrong in 2019 or misrepresenting her position now. If politics are afoot, voters deserve to know and they can make their own judgments.