Kamala Interview

VP Harris granted a 10-minute interview to a local reporter in Pennsylvania.  It went so well that the Trump Campaign posted it, stating that the latest ad was out.  Well, I've got to see this.  Overall, it was okay.  Again, a lot of what she said was aspirational and non-specific, but she did offer some idea of what her administration might be like.

First, when asked what she would do about high prices and general affordability issues, she repeated her spiel about growing up middle-class among other hard-working middle-class people.  The American people are ambitious, aspirational, and have a wonderful work ethic.  By the end of her statement, she had not addressed the question of high prices and affordability.  Unless you consider that her mother saving to buy a house when Kamala was a teenager as a prescription.  She did suggest a $50K tax credit for starting a small business, but was off topic.  Well, maybe it was on topic as it might make buying/starting a small business more affordable.  Kind of a niche population for that.  Ditto for the $25K home buying assistance.  Fine, that might help with buying a home (actually, it won't; much like how all the government funding of higher education has just made education more expensive, it will do the same for housing), but what about the grocery bill, utility bills, and so forth?

Next, she was asked how she is different from Joe Biden.  Well, obviously she's not Joe Biden.  Okay, I'll take that as a joke.  She wants to focus on things that haven't been focused on because she is a new generation of leader.  Here was the $6K tax credit.  Americans have dreams and aspirations.  In other words, policy-wise, she offered virtually no space between herself and President Biden.  Of course, this is a trick question because she doesn't want to attack or criticize the sitting president, but he was losing badly so she can't just be more of the same.  Yes, it's a tough question but she needs to craft a better answer.  Also, what is this 10 to 20 year horizon?  You have 4 years to prove yourself or out the door you go.

The gun control question arose, and she was even given credit for being a gun owner.  She noted that her running mate was also a gun owner and believed in the 2nd Amendment.  "We're not taking anyone's guns away."  Great.  But common-sense gun laws and an assault weapons ban are good ideas that she will pursue.  So, she will take away some guns?  Maybe she should have said, "No one is coming for all your guns, just some of your guns."  Well, unless you only own an AR-15, in which case it will be all your guns.

When asked about the Trump appeal and how she would talk to his voters, she said that Americans have more in common than we realize.  She said we should put country first.  I'm sorry, what was that?  You mean like America First?  That's a policy of your opponent.

When asked what she wants Americans to know about her that they might not already know, she really struggled.  She loves her family, she loves to cook, and she never asked a victim their party affiliation but rather 'Are you okay?'

To the average viewer, this will play well.  To the news junkies (like me), this confirmed some of Trump's accusations (i.e., she is stealing his policies - country first, and is a gun grabber) and also painted herself as a 2nd Biden term.  How it is interpretted will depend on the viewer.