Politico Columnist Says’ Harris’ ‘Bet’ Is To ‘Run Out The Clock’ By Barely Revealing Policy During Campaign

Politico senior political columnist Jonathan Martin said on Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris plans to win the presidency by not fully revealing her policy during her short campaign. Harris still has not…

Jason CohenAug 16, 20244 min read

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Politico senior political columnist Jonathan Martin said on Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris plans to win the presidency by not fully revealing her policy during her short campaign.

Harris still has not published a policy platform to her campaign website as of Aug. 16, close to four weeks into her presidential campaign. Martin, on “Squawk Box,” said Harris should not share details of her policies because it’s better for her to make the election about former President Donald Trump.

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“Look, I think her entire bet is to make this race a question of, ‘Do you want the Donald Trump persona?’ Democrats have flourished for almost nine years whenever Donald Trump is in the headlines,” Martin said. “When the campaign, when American Politics is about Donald Trump and his conduct, Democrats do well. So, clearly, that’s going to be her strategy. And then you overlay that with some reassurance based upon her biography and her messaging that she is somebody who is willing to hue to a more centrist political persona.”

“And I think that’s really the campaign,” he said. “Yes, she’ll put some meat on the bones on policy. She’s going to have to, I think, just to get by for the next 80 days.”

Host Andrew Ross Sorkin then asked Martin if it could be “problematic” for Harris not to have a firm policy platform.

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“I think it does if we see more activity like we did two weeks ago, obviously, when you had those really sort of unsightly unemployment numbers and a two-day collapse of the market,” Martin said. “And I think that raised fears of, ‘Oh, my gosh, maybe she can’t run as a de facto incumbent. Maybe she’s going to have to run from Biden and the White House.’ I think, obviously, those fears the last couple of weeks have been allayed because obviously that didn’t presage a broader panic in the economy.”

“So, look, I think a lot of this will hinge upon where things are with the economy, with external events. We haven’t talked about the possibility of a wider war in the Middle East and more instability abroad,” the columnist continued. “If that happens, obviously it’s going to force her to speak more precisely about where she actually stands on policy … I think her bet, Andrew, is to sort of run out the clock here and just hope that Trump day in, day out, says things that are going to dominate the headlines and she can put together a crackerjack campaign and beat him just like Biden did in ’20.”

MSNBC analyst Michael Steele warned on Monday Harris could face policy-related “speed traps” during her campaign, including the Israel-Hamas war.

Harris is set to deliver her first significant policy speech regarding her economic plans on Friday in North Carolina, where she will prioritize reducing costs for Americans, according to The New York Times.

“The good news for her, to be totally frank, she’s not encumbered by a deep ideological anchor and she’s never been that way,” Martin concluded. “She wants to win elections and she wants to be the next president. She’s going to do what it takes to try to accomplish that, and she’s going to be largely deferential to what advisors tell her that she ought to be doing on policy and substance. It’s hard to recall a presidential campaign in which both major party nominees were so little grounded in any real ideological worldview. The great story in this election is that a lot of the action is going to be taking place in January and beyond in ’25.”

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