Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to double down on her economic message this week with a speech recasting her policy vision and a lengthy new document outlining her approach in more detail.
Her focus on the economy comes at a crucial time with many voters still skeptical of her ability to improve the economy, a central issue in the presidential campaign.
Harris’ economic speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and a policy blueprint described by three people familiar with the matter are part of an effort by her campaign to weave together various economic proposals into a broader, thematic message.
During the condensed campaign trail, Ms. Harris has unveiled plans to help homebuyers, expand the child tax credit and raise taxes on big corporations and high-income earners. Like her Republican rival, former President Donald J. Trump, she has not released detailed plans for many other issues. The document she is expected to release will be about 80 pages outlining her economic policy priorities, but it is unclear how many specifics will be included.
A goal of Ms. Harris’ campaign is to present a concrete economic plan that can be contrasted with “Project 2025,” a conservative policy plan from which Mr. Trump has sought to distance himself, said a person familiar with the campaign’s thinking.
The Harris campaign declined to comment.
Many voters say they still want to know more about Harris, and the economy remains a top issue in the election: A recent New York Times/Siena College poll in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina found that 12% of voters who are open to changing their mind about the candidate said they were concerned about Harris’s economic policy. Trump leads in all three states.
Trump has long held an economic polling lead in the race, first against President Biden and then against his Democratic replacement, Harris. Many voters are pessimistic about the economy’s direction under a Biden-Harris administration and nostalgic about its performance under Trump, often blaming the current administration for a surge in inflation that has only just returned to normal over the past year.
Harris’ attempts to more clearly articulate her economic policies come as Trump continues to try to define his rival’s policies as “radical.” During an economic speech in Georgia on Tuesday, Trump called Harris a “communist” and a “tax queen.” He said Harris’ plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% would drive companies out of the United States.
“Other countries like her because she takes everybody out of our country and puts them in their hands,” said Trump, who has laid out a plan to cut corporate tax rates on domestic manufacturers to 15% if elected.
Harris’ campaign has criticized Trump for promising to raise tariffs on goods imported into the US. The vice president has called his plan a “national sales tax” that would mean higher prices for many American families, including low-income ones.
Harris has begun to narrow Trump’s economic lead in some recent polls, and there are signs that Americans are becoming slightly more optimistic about the economy.
The delicate balancing act for Harris will be how to distance herself from Biden’s policies since becoming the party’s nominee. She has sought less dramatic tax increases on investment gains for high-income earners than Biden has proposed, in an effort to portray herself as more moderate than the president.
Harris is also facing pressure to push for a separate plan to tax unrealized capital gains for Americans making more than $100 million. Under the plan proposed in Biden’s budget, such wealthy Americans would pay a 25% tax on a combination of regular income like wages and appreciation in the value of assets like stocks and real estate before they are sold.
Ms. Harris said during the campaign that she supported a “millionaires’ minimum tax” that was included in Mr. Biden’s budget proposal, but behind the scenes her advisers have been exploring alternatives to raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans without targeting unrealized gains, a tax Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked.
Outside groups supporting Harris have called on her to take a more direct, populist stance with voters about her economic philosophy, though they don’t always agree on what that should look like.
Democratic research firm Blueprint is pressing the vice president to blend his message of reducing the federal budget deficit with cracking down on “bad” companies that are allegedly unfairly scamming Americans.
“On the economy, Harris has a chance to turn the tide by presenting a message focused on lowering prices, addressing fiscal issues and pushing for targeted government action against companies that exploit consumers,” the company wrote in a battleground state polling memo this week.
Other liberal groups are pressuring Harris to do more to portray herself as a supporter of consumers over big business.
“Harris should offer a diagnosis of why Americans don’t have the economic opportunities she wants,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Action in Washington. “This is key to connecting with voters on economic issues because it helps them understand what policy remedies Harris would implement if elected.”
Owens added, “Voters want to know whether the issue is that corporations have too much power and workers have too little power, or whether she’s worried about something else.”
