Harris’s dilemma: Criticize Biden or set her own agenda

Kamala Harris faces a dilemma. 

After four years as vice president, she doesn’t want to criticize the administration or president she’s served. But she also wants to set her own agenda and show voters that electing her won’t be four years of the same thing.

It’s a challenging line to walk, and one where Harris has stumbled in recent days. 

Asked by a host on “The View” on Tuesday if she would have done something differently from President Biden over the past four years, Harris responded: “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”

Republicans seized on the moment, which augmented a central theme of former President Trump’s campaign: that Harris would just continue what he describes as the failed policies of Biden. 

Harris subsequently worked to correct the misstep, telling “The View” that one way she’d differ from Biden would be appointing a Republican to her Cabinet. Asked by Stephen Colbert on CBS later that night what major changes she’d make if elected, she answered that she wasn’t Biden or Trump. 

Those answers didn’t seem to unring the bell, and Republicans hammered home their message.

“We told you. And now Kamala Harris has told you. She openly admits she would NOT have done anything differently than Joe Biden. High prices for gas and groceries, open borders, high crime, endless wars. A Harris Administration is just 4 more years of the same failed policies,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on the social platform X.

Independents and moderate Republicans, major voting blocs Harris has reached tried to appeal to, also are looking for a different response than what she gave to “The View.”

Supporters of former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley “were dissatisfied with both Trump and Biden, and want to turn the page to the next generation,” said Robert Schwartz, senior adviser to Haley Voters for Harris. “When Harris gets asked about how she’s different, she should be able to pivot to how she would secure the border, promote small business or get tougher on Iran. She will keep getting this question; we hope she can make a compelling case that she is the candidate of change.”

The line Harris is walking is difficult, though hardly unprecedented for a vice president seeking to move up to the Oval Office.

When Vice President Al Gore was running for president in 2000, he distanced himself from then-President Clinton, calling his race a “very personal quest” and saying people don’t want to “look at the past,” according to a 1999 CBS News report.

The New York Times reported in 2000 that Gore wouldn’t pick up the phone when Clinton, who was riddled with personal controversies, called during the campaign.

Harris’s position is historically unparalleled in other ways, though. She was drafted into becoming the presidential nominee when Biden, under pressure, dropped out of the race in July. She’s inherited parts of Biden’s campaign since then, while seeking to introduce herself to a larger electorate and show how she’d be a step forward.

“There is an awkward dance for her right now, because she’s a part of the Biden administration,” said Susan Del Percio, a veteran Republican strategist who does not support Trump.

David Thomas, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Gore, said Harris needs to be able to pivot to what her vision of the future is without trampling on Biden.

“You cannot run from the administration you served in,” he said. “You are a part of it, and you should be able to talk about the successes that your administration has had.”

To be sure, there is evidence that Harris is succeeding with the careful line she is walking. 

A New York Times poll released Tuesday found Harris has pulled slightly ahead of Trump in terms of being viewed as a change candidate; 46 percent of voters said she represents change, while 44 percent said Trump is the change candidate.

That’s a strong finding, given that Harris is in the current administration. It could partly reflect her contrast not only with Trump but also Biden — she is younger than both, a woman, and the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother.

In the New York Times poll, 61 percent of nonwhite voters viewed Harris more as the change candidate, while 29 percent viewed Trump in that way, and among likely voters under 30, 58 percent saw her as representing change, while 34 percent said the same of Trump.

Democratic strategist Jim Manley said Harris, who can sometimes be cautious with interviews, has to not fear standing apart from Biden. She can’t worry about how the president or his loyalists will feel if there are times where she needs to show her differences.

“I have no problem with her going out of her way to differentiate herself from Joe Biden. There’s no time for niceties right now, and she’s gotta do what is politically necessary,” he said. “If she were to find more ways to do this, I for one would support it.”

Harris has announced plans that differentiate from Biden’s agenda, such as expanding Medicare to include in-home care, downpayment support for first-time homeowners and expanding the child tax credit to include relief for the first year of a child’s life. She also has made a policy break from Biden by calling for a lower tax increase on capital gains than what he proposed.

Democratic strategist Christy Setzer argued Harris doesn’t have to stand apart from Biden on policies, despite the GOP attacks.

“The reality is that President Biden isn’t our nominee because he’s old, not because he had the wrong policies or was ineffective,” she said. “With the possible exception of Gaza, there hasn’t been a big clamoring for Harris to offer a new direction on specific issues. People just wanted a younger nominee, which means Harris should be able to take the credit for the administration’s accomplishments without having to go negative.”

At the same time, Biden did suffer politically from negative voter feelings about prices and the economy, issues the GOP presidential ticket has used to hammer Harris. There are likely going to be times when she’ll need to show differences with Biden on some central issues.  

Thomas argued that even though Harris is in the present administration, she has an advantage over Trump in winning the change label.

“I think the one who’s going to win is the one who is an effective sort of change candidate. And she has the distinct advantage of running against a guy who’s already had the job,” he said. “What she’s been effective in doing is reminding America how completely chaotic it was when he was in charge. And, do you want to go back to those very chaotic four years? Or do you want something different?”

Amie Parnes contributed.