US VP Harris embraces new attack role, draws fresh Republican fire
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[July 29, 2023]
By Jarrett Renshaw
BOSTON (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris has shown a punchy side
during a tour of nearly a dozen U.S. states in recent weeks, attacking
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for backing "revisionist history" about
slavery, telling Iowa healthcare workers to rebel against the state's
new restrictive abortion laws and rallying Latinos in Chicago to fight
"extremist" Republicans.
On Saturday, Harris, the first woman and first woman of color to serve
as vice president, opens the NAACP's annual conference in Boston, a key
political event for Black Americans that will help define the issues
Democrats focus on in the 2024 election.
The high-profile speeches are part of an expanded role for U.S.
President Joe Biden's much-scrutinized governing partner ahead of the
election, senior Democrats say. She'll engage in many more
campaign-style events in months to come, designed to reacquaint Harris
with loyal supporters, burnish her image with independents and reach out
to Democrats' who haven't been hearing the Biden administration's
message.
It's a move that couldn't happen too soon, some influential Democrats
say.
"We have constantly said to the White House that they need to send her
out more because we need the base – that is Black voters and others - to
understand what you are doing," Reverend Al Sharpton, a veteran civil
rights activist and head of the National Action Network, told Reuters.
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Biden credits Black voters for his 2020 victory, with exit polls showing
he carried 87% of the vote. But recent polls and turnout in the 2022
midterms reveal erosion in enthusiasm among the bloc that needs to be
shored up before next November.
The White House is also hoping to improve Harris' public image and
historically low approval ratings. A recent NBC News poll showed 49% of
registered voters hold a negative view of Harris, compared to 32% with a
positive view, a net-negative rating of 17 that is the lowest for a vice
president in the history of its poll.
While it's too early to say whether her polls are improving, Harris's
remarks are drawing new Republican fire, and highlighting divisions in
the opposition.
DeSantis on Friday accused U.S. Senator Tim Scott, the most high-profile
Black candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential race, of accepting
Harris's "lie" about Florida's new slavery curriculum requirements. His
campaign accused another Black Republican who criticized the changes,
which include teaching that slavery had possible benefits to the
enslaved, of being a Harris supporter.
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![](../images/072923PIX/news_m2.jpg)
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris
meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog (not pictured) in her
ceremonial offices at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in
Washington, U.S., July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
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Voters wary of the president's advanced age of 80 are expected to
take a much harder look at the vice president. Some Republicans are
already suggesting Harris could run the country if Biden wins in
2024.
"We are running against Kamala Harris. Make no bones about
it...[it's] Kamala Harris that's going to end up being president of
the United States if Joe Biden wins this election," Republican
candidate Nikki Hailey told Fox News in June.
Harris, who was more popular than Biden with women, young voters and
even some Republicans when he picked her as his vice presidential
running mate, has seen her ratings sag in office under a firehose of
criticism from conservative media outlets and a portfolio that
included the intractable U.S. issue of immigration.
Some Democrats say she hasn't stepping up forcefully enough, or
taken burdens off the President's shoulders. Since the Supreme Court
overturned Roe vs Wade last year, though Harris has become
increasingly vocal.
“She does better on subject matters and audiences she is comfortable
with. Given the portfolio she was handed early on – and the
challenges it represented – it’s simple campaign management to get
her out front of friendly audiences where she can get some of her
mojo back,” said an adviser at the Democratic National Committee.
Longtime Harris supporters are feeling the difference.
"I am getting much more emails and direct outreach to keep me
updated on what she's doing, including transcripts. It was zero for
a while, so it’s a great to see that level increase," said Bruce
Thompson, a North Carolina attorney and early supporter of Harris in
2020
(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Heather Timmons and
Alistair Bell)
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