By Grace Vuoto
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has been running her campaign being as evasive as possible. This ‘strategic ambiguity,’ as has been correctly identified by the editorial writers of The Wall Street Journal, is a disservice to the people she wants to represent. She has a duty to be clear and thorough—rather than being as vague as she can get away with, just to be elected.
Since she was chosen, without going through a primary process, she remains unwilling to confront the two major questions that must be answered: First, does she renounce the Biden-Harris record on the economy and the border or is she proud of it? Second, why did she change her policies from a radical stance--on fracking, guns, defunding the police and the decriminalization of the border—to a more centrist approach? Unless she answers these questions in detail, voters should not take her seriously as a candidate.
On the economy, she simply repeats, again and again that “more needs to be done” to reduce inflation; she also supports the “aspirations” of the people and will create an “opportunity economy.” These are merely cheap platitudes.
Her economic policy consists of a few thin provisions: down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, and tax credits for small business, families with children and developers. She has evaded taking responsibility for energy policies that drove up the price of gas. In addition, she celebrates the 1.9 trillion dollars in reckless spending of the Biden administration that in fact caused the inflation of the last few years. So does she still endorse Biden’s policies, yes or no? If she does, there is little “opportunity” she can now provide by offering a few tax gimmicks. It will be more of the same for the working and middle class if she is elected—a crushing cost of living, as real wages decline.
Nor has she taken responsibility for the catastrophic border policies of the Biden-Harris years. Harris claims the solution is a border bill she will sign into law that will increase the number of border patrol agents—a bill she claims Republican nominee Donald Trump helped to torpedo by exerting his influence on members of Congress. In her view, he did this in order to keep the issue alive in the election season of 2024. However, this is another dodge of the key questions pertaining to the border: Will she reinstate “remain in Mexico,” end catch and release and deport illegal aliens? These are the measures that have proven effective and were reversed by President Joe Biden. Does she approve of what he did? If she does, her border policies will be exactly the same as his, with no relief in sight.
The mainstream media is currently allowing her to piggyback off the Biden years for the credentials she needs to run for the presidency. Harris wraps herself in the Biden presidency to garner credibility and the aura of executive experience. Yet, at the same time, she assumes none of the responsibility for all the policy failures of the administration. She cannot have it both ways. Either she has the experience to be the next president, which means she is accountable for Biden’s policies, or she does not which means she isn’t really qualified after all.
While Harris evades answers on the last few years, she is even more elusive on her previous radical record. In a nutshell, this new Harris is essentially running from everything she ever did politically and everything she ever said as a previous candidate or Senator.
It’s no wonder she is often seen laughing. Her campaign is about “joy” because it cannot be about policy: any detailed answers on policy will shatter the illusion she is deliberately creating as a caring and competent politician. Her deceit in this campaign shows she is neither. Surely she cannot believe her good fortune that she has gotten this far, now essentially tied in most national polls, by avoiding straight answers.
The media has not exposed her. Trump failed to unmask her during the single debate they had on ABC. Only the voters can reject her vacuous campaign in the voting booth in November. Harris is counting on many of them to be swayed by sweet smiles and good vibes; only they can send a resounding message that cheap tricks do not a real leader make.
-Grace Vuoto, Ph.D. is a political commentator and columnist. She can be heard Wednesday mornings at 9:00 am on The Kuhner Report WRKO-AM 680.
-photoby Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images News / Getty Images