Kamala Harris hides her progressive record

Kamala Harris has historically been to the left of the Democratic mainstream. But in the past month, she has shifted to the center on the few policy issues she has actually commented on.

The fledgling Democratic presidential candidate has yet to release a plan for her first 100 days, or a plan for day one, and her campaign website lacks a policy section, though she has promised to release details of her economic plan this week. She has also not given any media interviews since Biden announced he would end his campaign, leaving the press and public wondering where she stands on key issues.

To date, the Harris campaign’s policy statements have reflected an effort to moderate her progressive reputation, particularly the positions she took in her failed 2019 primary campaign. For example, she indicated she was open to abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2019, and she has done little to quell the public’s belief that she is soft on immigration in the years since. In 2022, amid record-breaking illegal border crossings, she claimed the border was “secure,” and her immigration-related responsibilities as vice president have focused on “root causes” of immigration rather than border crossings.