The Race To Define Kamala Harris Is On As GOP Unleashes Attacks On Her Progressive Record

WASHINGTON ― Republicans this week unleashed a wave of attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, accusing her of being a radical based on some of the liberal positions she took during her 2020 run for the Oval Office.

“She would literally be the most liberal person ever to seek the presidency, in my view,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. “Every liberal train, she’s jumped on. If you think the country is going in the wrong direction, then I don’t see her turning it around.”

Harris, competing in a crowded field of candidates during the 2020 Democratic primary, staked out positions to the left of Joe Biden, who went on to win the Democratic presidential nomination and the White House. They included progressive priorities like so-called Medicare for All, abolishing private health insurance, the Green New Deal, and restructuring the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, also known as ICE.

Harris didn’t go quite as far to the left as the progressive campaigns of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), but the middle lane she carved out in the race ultimately failed to please most Democratic voters, resulting in her dropping out in December 2019, before any ballots were even cast.

Now on the verge of becoming the Democratic presidential nominee just days after Biden withdrew from the 2024 race, Harris is already facing scrutiny over her record and even racist attacks from some on the right. The GOP has also sought to tie downballot Democrats to her positions, including her work in the Biden administration.

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick (R), for example, released an ad Wednesday criticizing Harris with footage from her previous presidential campaign after his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), endorsed her 2024 candidacy.

“Kamala Harris and her support for San Francisco liberal policies is a toxic brand for Pennsylvania Democrats, including weak Bob Casey,” Mark Harris, a strategist for McCormick’s campaign, wrote in a memo. “Casey has embraced the failed policies that vast majorities of Pennsylvania hate.”

Voters have limited perceptions of Harris, according to a survey conducted this week by Democratic polling organization Blueprint. Although more voters associate her with issues like abortion and health care, the vice president is less known in relation to public safety topics like crime and immigration, giving Republicans an opening to define her in those areas in the months ahead. One potential silver lining for Harris, according to the data, is that voters do not hold her accountable for Biden’s economic record and inflation.

Republicans believe that Harris’ standing will suffer as the public gets to know her more.

“I liken it to like a baseball game,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said. “There’s like a pinch hitter that has a couple of good at-bats. And you think, well, why don’t we play that guy more? And then once you get that person more exposed to the curveball and slider, you realize there’s a lot of deficiencies.”

But Democrats downplayed the GOP’s attacks on Harris and her progressive stances from the 2020 primary, saying that voters wouldn’t buy into Republicans’ claims. Democrats also highlighted her record in the Biden administration, which had several bipartisan legislative accomplishments.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called Harris a “proven pragmatist,” while Sanders defended Harris’ advocacy for lowering health care costs.

“If Republicans want to defend a health care system that is designed to make huge profits for the insurance companies, the drug companies, I hope that they do, because that’s a losing proposition,” Sanders told HuffPost.

Other Democrats argued that Republicans had issues of their own to contend with, including GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s felony convictions and some statements that his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), made in the past criticizing Trump.

“He’s a convicted felon, Trump, and his vice president agreed that he was guilty of sexual assault,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said, referencing comments Vance made about Trump in 2016 that CNN detailed this week.

“If he talks about four years ago ― talk about what Vance said four years ago ― they really ought to stay in their lane and worry about their own mess,” Fetterman added.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said, “We should continue to frame this election as a choice between someone who has an incredible history prosecuting criminals and someone who has the credible history being the criminal.”