OPINION:
Is Kamala Harris running in a celebrity contest or for president of the United States? Judging by her lack of policy priorities or press availability, it’s hard to tell.
Her campaign website lacks any policy positions whatsoever. The vice president is attempting to ride a wave of media-generated enthusiasm without offering details on how she would govern. That’s unacceptable and unfair to voters.
Many small businesses and ordinary Americans disapproved of President Biden and former President Barack Obama’s big government policies, but at least we knew where they stood. As far as anyone can tell from this campaign, Ms. Harris stands only for herself. Her lack of positions is especially jarring compared with former President Donald Trump’s robust 20-point platform.
“Why would we start talking about policy?” one top Democratic lawmaker told Politico. “We’re actually better off just running on this real wave of enthusiasm and energy.” Indeed, talking policy risks dividing Ms. Harris’ supporters and alienating the far left. Better to keep the headlines about her identity than her beliefs, which actually matter to voters.
Ms. Harris is not just a policy phony, like so many politicians who change their views with the political wind. She’s attempting to operate in a policy vacuum. I guess you can’t be accused of being a flip-flopper when you have no positions.
In normal times, the press would never let a candidate get away with this kind of narcissism. The Trump Derangement Syndrome pandemic changed all that. The media’s role in allowing Ms. Harris to escape even the barest scrutiny demonstrates again that the press can no longer be trusted to be anything more than partisan Democratic hacks.
Ms. Harris can run from policy questions, but she can’t hide from her record. She’s proved over and over to be a tax, spend and regulate Democrat with an even more liberal voting record in the Senate than Bernie Sanders. She’s part and parcel of the current administration, which is one of the most progressive in modern history.
She supports a far-left wish list, including guaranteed basic income, single-payer health care, oil and gas drilling bans and cutting funding to police departments. She wants a wealth tax, rent control and radical labor legislation called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Her positions are more than the majority of Americans can stomach. Her nomination is a gift to Mr. Trump and Republicans — if they can stick to the script. Conservatives just need to explain how her big government positions would exacerbate the cost of living and weak Main Street economy.
Ironically, the one explicit policy Ms. Harris has offered in her campaign so far — ending taxes on tips — is stolen from Mr. Trump. Where Mr. Trump leads with innovative policy, Ms. Harris follows. This is especially galling when you consider that she cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which doubled the size of the IRS to better pursue underreported tip income.
Ms. Harris will announce some basic economic positions later this week. Don’t expect much beyond the Democrats’ standard boilerplate of “fair share,” “middle-out” and “access to health care.” These are euphemisms for big government socialism that Democrats have used for generations. They’re nothing more than a continuation of the failed Biden-Harris administration that has resulted in declining living standards for average Americans.
No wonder Ms. Harris wants to avoid the issues and continue the Kardashian campaign.
• Alfredo Ortiz is CEO of the Job Creators Network, author of “The Real Race Revolutionaries” and co-host of the “Main Street Matters” podcast.
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