A new piece from far-left outlet The New Republic ripped Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for playing it too "safe" by not talking about her policies this close to the November election.
The outlet’s senior editor, Alex Shephard wrote that the approach to lying low and let the media propel her campaign on good "vibes" is not working anymore. He declared that the "honeymoon is over" and argued that Harris’ strategy resulted in making her look like an empty suit.
"But having too few policies is also risky, not least because it makes Harris look like she doesn’t stand for anything," Shephard declared in his Tuesday piece, titled, "Kamala Harris Can’t Keep Running Like This."
The author began the article with his observation that the good vibes that accompanied Harris’ replacement of Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket have gone. "After seven weeks of euphoria over Kamala Harris’s ascension to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, panic finally returned to the party on Sunday," Shephard wrote.
He cited a New York Times poll showing Trump’s "slim lead over Harris nationally" and their "dead heat" in the swing states, and offered it as evidence that "momentum that had sustained Harris since President Biden withdrew from the race has clearly dissipated."
Multiple outlets have reported on just how close the race is between Harris and former President Trump. CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten stated last week that it’s the closest election in a "generation" and noted that if Trump were to outperform polling by only a single point, he’d win.
Shephard went on to rebuke Harris’ strategy, saying that the ever-tightening polls reveal "failure" on the part of her team.
"This was always going to be a very close election, even after Harris replaced Biden. But the tightening of the polls over the past week points to a failure in Harris’s campaign. She had nearly two months to show voters who she is and what she stands for. Instead, she has played it safe, hoping to maintain the positive vibes and momentum of the summer by deliberately not staking out positions on controversial policies."
"It’s now clear that that approach is no longer working," he added, though he did say Harris has "plenty of time" to right her ship, as long as she starts "abandoning the cautious approach she’s taking up since becoming the nominee – and publicly breaking with Joe Biden."
Shephard also grilled Harris for abandoning her previous progressive stances on issues for this election and not replacing them with anything substantial.
"She quickly jettisoned progressive positions she took during the 2020 presidential race – such as gun buybacks, a fracking ban, and Medicare for All – without saying much about where she currently stands," he wrote, adding that her strategy was to "avoid the risk of an aggressive policy agenda that would expose her to criticism."
However, the author argued that didn’t work because people don’t know what she stands for and that her minimal policy points "then get nitpicked to death."
"Her price-gouging solution was roundly criticized by economists across the political spectrum, while her tip policy has come under fire because it was first taken up by Trump."
Towards the end of his piece, the editor advised Harris to "step out of Biden’s shadow" during the debate Tuesday night and demonstrate "a positive agenda."
"The polls are clear: The summer honeymoon is over. This debate will likely be Harris’s best opportunity to shift the polls back in her favor—and to define herself to the millions of voters who are on the fence about her. But it will also require her to take uncomfortable, even controversial positions," he concluded. "She can no longer expect to keep reaping political rewards without taking any risks."
