The news is that there is no news. And perhaps that’s exactly the outcome Kamala Harris had intended after her first prime time TV interview.
The news is that there is no news. And perhaps that’s exactly the outcome Kamala Harris had intended after her first prime time TV interview on Thursday since she was catapulted to the top of the Democratic Presidential ticket on July 21.
There had been much hype – and certainly high “news” expectations – before the Vice President and her running mate Tim Walz sat down with CNN.
Much criticism too – notably from Donald Trump – that she hadn’t yet subjected herself to a single interview in the five plus weeks since her party anointed her as their nominee, which was true. The hope was Kamala Harris would flesh out her vision for America and detail some of the policies that would take it there.
But aside from learning that she was making pancakes with bacon for her nieces when the call from Joe Biden that he was stepping aside came through, there was scant new detail in the near half hour interview.
And that’s because Kamala Harris is walking a very fine line. How can you launch yourself as a candidate of change and at the same time distance yourself from the past when you are part of the incumbent administration that many voters criticise for America’s problems? Most notably on the economy and immigration. Her catchphrase “A new way forward”, is how Harris seems to be walking that line, and so far it’s working.
The Economy
The change in tone is subtle. On the economy, for example, the number one issue for voters struggling with high grocery prices, there’s none of Biden’s rasping insistence that everything is ok and that the economy is firing on all cylinders. Harris seems to understand better than her boss that voters don’t care about employment numbers or GDP data. They simply care that they are paying 25 per cent more for their groceries than they were four years ago. So don’t try to tell Americans the economy is strong when they’re not feeling it in their pockets. Instead Harris errs on the side of gently reminding voters things are better but quickly admitting more needs to be done and promising she will work hard to force businesses to lower their prices. No details on how she will do it, but acknowledging their pain does at least make them feel heard. No news lines last night for sure – we heard similar on the economy last week in Chicago – but more soothing words.
Immigration
Likewise the tone has shifted on immigration. The old Harris who said building a border wall was un-American and decried decriminalising illegal immigration, now says “I believe there should be consequence”. But when asked by the CNN anchor to explain the apparent shift – to the political centre – Harris has another catchphrase. “My values have not changed”.She used the phrase several times last night to get herself out of potentially awkward situations. Harris pointed to her crack down on the “illegal passage of guns, drugs and human beings across our border” when she was Attorney General in California while sidestepping the obvious question about why she had not done more to address the crisis in the past three and half years as Vice President. It was Donald Trump’s problem, Harris insisted, because he told Republicans to “Kill the Bill” that would have helped solve the problem. “My value around what we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed,” Harris said. Again, the answer was not new, but her calm, confident tone – the tough prosecutor who will deal with the problem (unlike Sleepy Joe) – may work with independent voters. Of course the reality is, unless the Democrats take back the House and hold the Senate, there’s not much she can do.
Fracking
The most awkward moment of the night was an interaction on Harris’ change of heart on fracking, from saying she would ban it in 2019 to insisting she wouldn’t ban it as President. Trump is having a field day with this flip flop.
Again, Harris insisted her values had not changed, but said the situation had. She’s now of the view that the Biden-Harris administration has pumped so many billions of dollars into climate change measures that it’s possible to meet America’s carbon emissions goals and allow fracking to continue alongside. A more aggressive interviewee would have pushed her harder on it, but there was little follow up. And certainly no news. She’d said as much before.
Gaza
Ditto on Gaza, the most delicate line of all that Harris has to tread. But her response was, for me, the most stark answer of the interview. Harris had arguably showed more heart than Biden when addressing the “devastating” issue of Gaza in her speech to delegates in Chicago. Of course her scripted words made no mention of the supply of American bombs to Israel to conduct its war. But she was directly asked last night if she would stop supplying the weapons if she became President in November. “No” was Harris’ reply.
Overall, the interview was a win for Harris and Walz – though he barely got a look in! She allowed voters to get to know her a little bit more without giving away too much – or anything – on policy for Trump and his team to attack her with. There were no new headlines. But crucially there were no negative headlines either. She might not be as lucky next time, on a different network with a less friendly anchor. But for now aides will be happy Harris didn’t fall at the first hurdle.