Kamala Harris should take her own advice if she wants to defeat Donald Trump

Americans want to be unburdened by what has been but Kamala Harris better take note of her own famous words if wants a chance at defeating Donald Trump, writes Tom Minear.

What can be, unburdened by what has been. Believe it or not, that word salad is one of Kamala Harris’s favourite sayings, which she has repeated over and over again for years.

Now that the Vice President is all but confirmed as the Democratic nominee for November’s US election, she should take her own advice if she wants to defeat Donald Trump.

Joe Biden’s campaign strategy rested on being the lesser of two evils, compared to the former president who has been impeached twice and charged with four sets of crimes.

US Vice President Kamala Harris. Picture: AFP

If Harris’s first speech as the presumptive candidate is any indication, she plans to use the same blueprint while drawing a sharper contrast: her as the former prosecutor, him as the convicted felon.

“Hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said.

It’s a good line. But so do voters. And at this point, there is probably nothing Trump could say or do to change their views of him. You only have to look at his social media posts since Biden dropped out to understand that his supposed transformation after he was shot was nothing of the sort.

This is not to say Harris should not run a negative campaign. It would be political malpractice for the Democrats not to remind voters of Trump’s record in office, and to spell out what a second term would bring.

But with Biden as their candidate, that was all they could do. He was never going to be able to sell a message about the future when few even believed he could serve four more years.

Many Americans are sick and tired of politics, in large part because the clash of personalities between Trump and Biden has often left them feeling like real problems are being ignored.

While Harris must own Biden’s record, she has a chance to break that cycle.

And not just because she is younger, racially diverse and a woman – because Americans will be listening to her in a way they have not been listening to Trump and Biden.

As the President scrambled to save his candidacy, he unveiled policy shifts such as a five per cent cap on rent increases and wiping medical debt off credit records. No one noticed.

If Harris puts a handful of ideas like that on the table, voters will be paying attention. They want to be unburdened by what has been – although Harris better find a snappier slogan.

Originally published as Kamala Harris should take her own advice if she wants to defeat Donald Trump