“Kamala Harris was such a great candidate when she first launched her campaign but now it’s like I’m barely tolerating her. She’s dragging the party closer in the direction of the Republican Party and not going more on the offense on climate and Israel and everything. I think she thinks because the bar is so low because of Trump that she can get away with not listening to the people”
It is a sad but true fact that as the general election looms closer, the major party candidates tend to shift more towards the center as they appeal to the swath of undecided, centrist voters. However, I hope that no one is entirely disillusioned with the notion that Kamala Harris has completely lost the liberal leanings that defined her early career. With this being said, it is worth considering whether Harris was always the candidate we often imagined her to be.
I think it’s important to draw a distinction between the Harris campaign we saw in 2020 and the Harris campaign of today. In 2020, Harris didn’t even make it through a round of primary voting. At that time she had no major executive experience, so her best bet was to lean into the image of a liberal senator that offered an alternative to the more centrist options, such as Biden or Buttigieg, and who was also younger and more energetic than Warren or Sanders. However, Harris’s campaign barely got off the ground as it lacked both funding and a coherent campaign strategy. Additionally, Vice President Harris has earned significant experience since her first presidential run, gaining both executive and international experience. Considering all of this, it seems somewhat unfair to compare Harris of 2020 to the Harris we see today.
However, I think it is fair to say that Harris has refined her platform as a candidate since she became the de facto nominee after President Biden dropped out of the race this past July. Notably, while still a major advocate for Gun Control, Harris has recently spent more time advertising her gun ownership. Additionally, as her campaign has developed an image independent of her as the first major party presidential nominee to be a woman of color, she has locked in on the notion of an opportunity economy.
This is also where I need to share a hard truth. You express frustration that Harris isn’t responding to her voters because she thinks that former President Trump has set the bar so low that it doesn’t matter. The truth is, she is listening to her potential voters, but she probably isn’t listening to you. I don’t say this to mean we shouldn’t hold politicians accountable for their actions through our vote, and I believe many young people are angry at Harris’ inaction on the genocide in Palestine.
However, for every young person angry at Harris, there is a fiscally conservative 40-something who now feels more seen by Harris’s focus on abortion rights and an accessible economy. And to the Harris campaign’s credit, the youth vote is powerful, but it is also unreliable. Voter turnout for people under 29 usually hovers around 30%, for people over 45 it hovers around 65%. I appreciate where you are coming from. It is incredibly hard to feel excited about a candidate that you now feel is letting you down. However, I hope it brings you some peace to know that Harris is listening, even if it isn’t to you.
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