Vice President Kamala Harris has begun selling herself as more capable than Donald Trump at building consensus on Capitol Hill as she is scheduled this week to head to Sun Belt swing states and the former president focuses hard on must-win Pennsylvania.
During a wide-ranging interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Monday night, the vice president was asked to explain why voters tell pollsters they are unsure about her policy stances and beliefs — especially because she has shifted on issues like fracking. She did not answer directly, instead making a pitch about getting things done, if elected.
“In the last four years I have been vice president of the United States. And I have been traveling our country. And I have been listening to folks and seeking what is possible in terms of common ground. I believe in building consensus. We are a diverse people. Geographically, regionally, in terms of where we are in our backgrounds.
“And what the American people do want is that we have leaders who can build consensus,” she added. “Where we can figure out compromise and understand it’s not a bad thing, as long as you don’t compromise your values, to find commonsense solutions. And that has been my approach.”
Harris, however, was not tapped by President Joe Biden to lead negotiations with Congress — despite her being a former senator — on several major bills, including legislation on COVID-19 relief, infrastructure, and a since-scuttled border and immigration package. Other senior White House and administration officials roamed the halls of Capitol Hill during those talks.
And, for his part, Trump has not clearly explained his legislative strategy, including how he might work with a Democrat-led House or Senate — or both. For instance, the former president and GOP nominee has not explained how he might attract Democratic, or even moderate Republican, support for his “concepts of a plan” to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
During the “60 Minutes” interview, Harris was asked about her pricey plans to deliver tax breaks to would-be small-business owners, first-time home buyers and parents, while also giving health care relief to seniors and others. She responded by suggesting enough lawmakers would go along with her proposals because “their constituents know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Trump regularly participates in television interviews and calls into radio programs. But he often is not asked about his domestic policy plans, with questioners focusing a lot on things like his foreign policy declarations, “rigged” election claims and threats to prosecute his political foes.
For instance, Trump on Monday phoned into conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt’s radio show but was not asked about any of his own domestic policy proposals that would need congressional approval. Hewitt did ask Trump about Harris’ proposal to give first-time homebuyers $25,000 in federal aid.
“That’s going to drive the prices up, yeah. Your price is going to be $100,000 dollars more now. No, no, everything they want to do is wrong,” Trump said of the vice president and her team. “She wants to feed people governmentally. She wants to go into a communist … type of a system.” (Harris on Monday night declared herself a “capitalist” who understands “the limitations of government.”)
‘His needs’
Harris during a Tuesday appearance on “The View” continued to push her consensus-builder approach — while also harshly criticizing her opponent.
“What he does not talk about is you,” she said of Trump and voters. “He does not talk about what your parents need, what your children need. … He talks about his needs.” Harris also, for the second consecutive days, contended she would push for “commonsense” policies, a likely play for any remaining undecided voters.
While President Joe Biden axed a planned trip later this week to Germany and Angola, Harris was still slated to travel to Nevada and Arizona for campaign stops, two key battleground states.
Trump postponed an event with Latino voters Tuesday in Miami due to the approaching Hurricane Milton. He is headed to Pennsylvania on Wednesday with an afternoon rally in Biden’s hometown of Scranton and an evening stop in Reading.
Their scheduled swing state travels come as polls continue to tell conflicting stories with less than one month remaining until Election Day.
A Reuters-Ipsos survey of registered voters released Tuesday put Harris ahead nationally, 46 percent to 43 percent — down from a 6 percentage point lead last month. But a New York Times-Siena College poll also out Tuesday put Harris up 49 percent to 46 percent among likely voters nationally, her first lead in that poll since July; Trump led by 1 percentage point in last month’s incarnation of the Times poll.
Recent battleground polling averages calculated by FiveThirtyEight put races in those states as virtual dead heats, with either nominee leading by no more than 2 percentage points.
Trump began his Tuesday with a social media broadside on Harris, contending her “60 Minutes” interview was considered by “many of those who reviewed it, the WORST Interview they have ever seen.”
Arizona Republicans were also gearing up to critique her job performance ahead of her planned Friday campaign stop there.
“Arizonans are less than 30 days away from firing Kamala Harris and putting President Trump back in office to make American affordable again,” Halee Dobbins, the Republican National Committee’s Arizona communications director, said in a Tuesday statement.
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