Staff Reports
The political circus surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris could put the greatest acts of the Ringling Brothers to shame. With President Biden having willingly exited the 2024 Democratic game of musical chairs, Harris is seeming to discover that linking her political fortunes so closely to his disastrous presidency is not the masterstroke she might have believed. As she steps into the limelight, Harris finds herself tangled in the sticky web of Biden’s record while trying to convince voters that, despite her years in his administration, she is somehow not part of the problem.
Not only has Kamala Harris dragged her feet on unveiling her policy platform, but she has also decided to bolt in the opposite direction of her former ultra-progressive goals. Last weekend, she unveiled her support for Donald Trump’s no-tax-on-tips proposal, yet she continues to dangle promises of greater detail about her economic intentions. This delay in decisive policy could keep her in the political wilderness much longer than she anticipated. And let’s not forget her recent photo-op with Biden, which was a sweet reminder for voters that she is married to his administration, not the new captain of the ship.
FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris cast the decisive vote to strengthen tax enforcement on gratuities in the hospitality industry, resulting in the IRS implementing a tip reporting program. Now, she champions a "No Tax on Tips" initiative, echoing a proposal originally made by President… pic.twitter.com/mMiYI0g6X9
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) August 13, 2024
Despite what her ardent supporters might say, polling data from various sources indicates that the “Kamala bump” sensibly exists only within the confines of her fan club gatherings. The same issues persist, and no one is buying her narrative of being a fresh-faced reformist. A local Republican party chairman aptly put it. You can’t flip a slice of cheese into a potato; the vice president must remember that she’s had a four-year front-row seat to Biden’s ongoing mess, and her promises of reform now come off as nothing more than comforting fairy tales.
At this point in her campaign, Harris appears to be playing a game of political Twister. She has embraced Biden’s centrist policies to insulate herself from criticism of her previous leaps into the radical left. From endorsing Medicare for All and the Green New Deal to suggesting mandatory gun buybacks, her past suddenly feels like a relic she’s eager to bury—yet she’s still trying to project an image of progressive dynamism with lines like “We’re not going back!” Take a minute to ponder how voters are positioned to evaluate her present assertions against her past commitments.
The polling landscape looks less rosy when it examines what matters most to voters: the economy and immigration—issues where Harris finds herself trailing behind Trump widely. She stands at a crossroads where defending Biden unconditionally would likely lead to a disastrous fallout across the voting base. However, any attempt to distance herself from him could have her labeled as opportunistic, a political no-no amongst the party elite. In a world where every word is scrutinized, threading the needle between loyalty to an increasingly unpopular president and the need to present a viable future alternative is proving more challenging than a three-legged race with a blindfold.
In the grand scheme of things, Harris’s predicament isn’t entirely unprecedented, but it’s certainly unique among her predecessors. Historical records show that most vice presidents never had to contend with such a severe disconnect from their administrative pasts. As both Trump and Harris vie for the spotlight—all while trying to keep one eye firmly on the increasingly exasperated American electorate—the stakes continue to rise. Harris has an uphill battle ahead, and with every passing campaign event, she seems more and more like a tightrope walker with no net beneath her.
