Kamala Harris has unveiled some centrist policies, abandoned some old positions and left many vague as she prepares for the crucial US presidential debate with Donald Trump.
The Democratic vice president released a list of policies on her website on the eve of the confrontation, with Republicans accusing her of “shifting the shield” on key issues.
The White House nominees rank in five key areas:
The ‘Opportunity Economy’
Harris has emphasized her commitment to the United States’ middle class, citing her background as a single mother raised in California, and saying she wants to create an “opportunity economy”.
One of his most concrete policies so far is a $6,000 child tax credit for families with newborns. He has also promised a tax cut for 100 million Americans while raising taxes on the wealthiest and lowering housing prices.
Taxes are one of the few policy areas where she has broken with President Joe Biden. Aimed at moderate voters, she wants a 28 percent tax on capital gains, lower than the 39.6 percent proposed by Biden.
Harris has also promised to eliminate taxes on tips paid to service industry workers — just weeks after Trump announced a similar policy.
She has said she would oppose “price gouging” by corporations to tackle high prices — one of her main weaknesses against the Republican Trump — but her plans on that front remain unclear.
Environmental flip-flops
Harris has not laid out any detailed environmental policies, except in one key area: fracking.
He has vowed not to ban the practice, which uses high-pressure water to extract oil and gas — despite previously saying he was against it.
In his first and only on-screen interview since becoming the Democratic nominee, he told CNN that while his positions may have changed, his “values haven’t changed”.
Harris has also walked back her opposition to plastic straws, according to the Axios news site.
As vice president, he has strongly supported Biden’s green energy transformation under the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”
limit ‘result’
Illegal migration along the U.S.-Mexican border is one of the most sensitive issues in this campaign.
Harris said in an interview with CNN that people who cross the border illegally should face “consequences.”
He backed Biden’s push to toughen immigration policy and supported investing in the “wall” on the border that Trump had demanded — even though he criticized it in the past.
However, Biden’s proposals never passed through a divided Congress, as Republicans blocked them to cause political damage to Democrats.
firm on abortion
Harris’s position on abortion, another major election issue, is not in doubt.
He has repeatedly criticized Trump for enabling the U.S. Supreme Court to eliminate the federal right to abortion.
Harris has said that if elected she would try to ensure protections for abortion in U.S. law.
Gaza Marshes
Harris has been more outspoken than Biden on the issue of civilians killed by Israel in the war in Gaza, fueling speculation she could take a tougher stance with the US ally.
But in an interview with CNN she said she would not stop supplying arms to Israel, despite calls from Democrats and Arab American voters to do so, and pledged to help Israel defend itself.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
