As activists, operatives, and party leaders leave the Democratic National Convention — which saw a standing-room-only, 17,000-person crowd in downtown Chicago’s United Center arena — Vice President Kamala Harris’ battle for the presidency against former President Donald Trump is just beginning as she prepares for a Sept. 10 debate, according to the Associated Press.
More than a month after President Joe Biden stepped aside and endorsed her, Harris has only vaguely started to outline detailed plans she would pursue as president to address the nation’s biggest challenges — immigration, crime, and climate change among them. She has yet to sit down for a comprehensive media interview to face difficult questions about her position changesflip-flops on policy in recent years, her leadership style, and the focus on race and gender that looms over her historic candidacy.
At the same time, Harris’ allies acknowledge that she remains largely undefined in the minds of many voters, having operated in Biden’s shadow for much of the last four years. The relative anonymity offers both opportunity and risk.
Harris now has just over two weeks to prepare for what could be her only presidential debate against Trump, a showdown that could dramatically shift the direction of the race.
During a series of meetings throughout the convention week, her advisers cast her policy agenda as a continuation and expansion of Biden’s first-term achievements, particularly on economic matters, even if it may look and sound different in some cases.
Harris has notably dropped her opposition to fracking and her support for Medicare for All, which were defining features of her 2019 presidential campaign. Her aides insist her values remain the same, but she’s embraced more centrist policies out of pragmatism.
Polling reveals that voters’ views of Harris have shifted relatively rapidly in the month since Biden stepped aside and she became the de facto nominee. In a June AP-NORC poll, just 39% of Americans said they had a favorable opinion of Harris, and 12% said they didn’t know enough to say.
After Biden stepped aside, an August AP-NORC poll found that 48% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Harris, with just 6% saying they didn’t know enough to have an opinion. The latest poll also showed that 27% of adults have a “very” favorable opinion of Harris, up from 14% in June.
The sharp shift raises the possibility that public opinion could change again as voters learn more.
