Harris recalibrates policy stances as she adjusts to role atop Democratic ticket

As the burgeoning Kamala Harris campaign works behind the scenes to refine its policy platform, the vice president has increasingly found herself clarifying which of her positions have shifted over the years.

From fracking to single-payer health care, several cornerstones of her 2020 presidential run, as well as her time as a US senator and California attorney general, now appear at odds with the policies that have crystallized during the Biden-Harris administration and emerged as critical issues in battleground states.

The policy changes reflect the differences between the moderation that has come with governing during the current administration’s time in office and the demands of the 2020 Democratic primary, when both Joe Biden and Harris reversed course on certain policies in an attempt to move to the left. Harris ended her 11-month bid as one of the more progressive candidates in a crowded field.

But the recent clarifications on her current positions, and the speed at which her fledgling campaign moved to make them, also demonstrate the Harris team’s need to define the presumptive Democratic nominee – lest Republicans beat them to it. Even as Harris has energized Democrats and boosted the ticket’s appeal to Black, Latino and younger voters, she is also seeking a running mate who is likely to be a White man with a more centrist persona.

The push to bolster a more moderate image comes as former President Donald Trump and his campaign have ratcheted up criticisms of Harris, seeking to frame her as more liberal than Biden and highlight her California roots. The Trump campaign is up with two ads attacking Harris on border security and describing her as “dangerously liberal.” The $12 million ad buy will air in six battleground states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.

During a Saturday rally in Minnesota, Trump called Harris the “number one most radical left Democrat in the entire Senate,” a reference to a since retracted GovTrack legislator ranking that rated her the most liberal member of the Senate in 2019 based on the bills she introduced and co-sponsored.

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