The conservative media machine is working to paint Kamala Harris as a flip-flopper as the newly instated Democratic presidential nominee works to differentiate herself from Joe Biden.\ The charges may have some merit.

Kamala Has a Problem 

Harris has changed her tune on issues, seeming to adjust to the zeitgeist. And Harris’s campaign is light on policy, suggesting that the Vice President may try to reverse engineer positions that are broadly appealing and more likely to earn her an election victory. Granted, campaigning is generally about finding a message that sticks with the voter – at least to some extent. But the campaign is typically built upon a foundation of policy principles with some specificity. Harris may be entering the race with less specificity than most at this juncture.

“She’s going to almost exclusively look at the voter like a consumer – and sell, sell, sell,” one Democratic aid told The New York Post. “Do I think that’s a long-term strategy? No. But I think the plan is to win and figure it out.”

Of course, the conservative media was going to go after Harris vigorously no matter what. The flip-flop charge is a low-hanging fruit that has been pursued in many an election cycle. Will the charges stick to Harris, the way they stuck to Mitt Romney in 2008?

Examples of Flip Flopping by Kamala Harris 

“Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has more flip-flops than a Ron Jon Surf Shop,” The National Review wrote. Examples include Harris’s former support for mandatory gun buyback programs. Today,  Harris says that she no longer supports gun buybacks. Similarly, Harris once favored a ban on fracking. Now, Harris says that she wants to exploit America’s domestic energy reserves. Many of the flip-flops seem calibrated to attract centrist and independent voters,  like the swing state folks who are going to decide the outcome of the election.

The tack to the center supports positions that are more closely aligned with the GOP. But instead of endorsing Harris’s rightward drift, the GOP is going to try and make the flip-flop charge stick, as is their prerogative, especially in a presidential election year. More examples include Harris’s shift on Medicare-for-All. Harris once supported the plan, which would have eliminated the private health insurance industry. Now Harris does not support Medicare-for-All. Harris once supported a federal job guarantee, and a shift of funding away from local police forces and toward social workers and community interventionists. Harris has since tacked to the center on all of these issues.

The odd thing about the Harris candidacy is that she didn’t have to slog through a primary to earn the nomination. Instead, Harris was essentially ordained. She never had to take positions and defend those positions against a field of peers who may have felt differently. So, Harris now has the luxury of constructing a platform of whatever she wants. We’ll see what the platform is but safe money is on a platform that is calibrated towards ensuring an election victory.

About the Author: Harrison Kass 

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

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