Opinion | Kamala Harris Is Great at Asking Tough Questions. She Should Get Better at Answering Them.
When Kamala Harris sat down for just the second major television interview of her campaign last week with the Philadelphia ABC affiliate, the anchor asked her to outline “one or two specific things” she would do to fulfill her pledge of “bringing down prices and making life more affordable for people.” She responded by recalling how she was “a middle-class kid” who grew up in a community of construction workers, nurses and teachers who were “very proud of their lawn.” She recounted her mother’s saving to buy her family’s first house.She paid tribute to a neighbor who became a surrogate parent.
She praised the “beautiful character” of the American people.Only then, after nearly two minutes, did Ms.Harris outline her plan for a $50,000 tax credit for start-up small businesses; private-sector tax breaks to spark construction of three million housing units over four years; and $25,000 in federal down payment assistance for first-time home buyers.It’s a shibboleth of modern political strategy that candidates should answer the questions they want to, not the ones that are asked, and Ms.
Harris faces a unique challenge in this truncated presidential race of introducing herself to an electorate that in many ways still barely knows her.So she might be forgiven for leading with a blizzard of atmospheric biographical detail that makes some voters feel they can’t trust her to answer a direct question.But in a campaign in which Donald Trump fills our days with arrant nonsense and dominates the national discussion (and polls show a tight race where Ms.
Harris is running behind Joe Biden’s level of support in 2020 with some groups), the vice president can’t afford to stick only to rehearsed answers and stump speeches that might not persuade voters or shape what America is talking about.Writing about politicians for decades has convinced me that direct, succinct answers and explanations from Ms.Harris would go a long way — perhaps longer than s...