Aug 30 (BBC/GNA) – Kamala Harris’s apparent reluctance to give an extended broadcast interview meant that her sit-down with CNN on Thursday night assumed an exaggerated significance. And placed her under greater scrutiny.
It was not a strong start.
Initially, Ms Harris struggled to lay out what she would do on day one of the job, talking in sweeping generalisations about creating an opportunity economy and trying to lower the cost of living.
Ms Harris has been prone to giving complex, detailed and often confusing answers. Her opponents like to mock her “word salads”. This wasn’t a major issue in this interview, but she will need to craft a more concise explanation of how she intends to make life more affordable for ordinary, working Americans if she wants her message on the economy to land.
Throughout the interview, which she did along with her vice-presidential pick Tim Walz, Ms Harris appeared calm and confident. And, crucially, didn’t score any own goals.
Asked about her shifting positions on some key policies since she last ran for president in 2019, Ms Harris said her values had not changed – before confirming that she no longer supports a ban on fracking for natural gas or decriminalising illegal immigration.
And when addressing Republicans’ claim that she is soft on border issues, she pointed to her previous experience as a prosecutor in California. It is experience that Ms Harris often leans on, including in her attacks on Donald Trump, whose criminal conviction she frequently points out.
“I’m the only person who has prosecuted transnational criminal organisations who are trafficking guns, drugs and human beings,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash. “I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as attorney general to enforce our laws.”
Immigration and the southern border is potentially Ms Harris’s greatest liability in this election. It is an issue many voters care about passionately right across the country – and one on which the Biden administration has had little to boast about given the high numbers of undocumented immigrants at the US southern border.
GNA/Credit: BBC