Inside Harriss Big Economic Pitch

ImageAll eyes on the economy Kamala Harris on Wednesday is expected to deliver a detailed economic address in which she will seek to define herself as a defender of the middle class, entrepreneurs and consumers who will also take on bad actors in the business world.The stakes of the speech are high.Harris is locked in a polling dead heat with Donald Trump, who spoke about his own vision of a “new American industrialism” on Tuesday.

According to polls, many undecided voters say they want to hear more from the vice president about her plans.Harris will seek to draw a contrast with Trump on the economy.She is expected to argue that she is not bound by ideology, an effort to shake off concerns that she’s too progressive, especially as business leaders worry about her stance on antitrust.

Her speech is expected to point to her track record as California’s attorney general and as vice president in convening public-private partnerships to protect consumers and support small businesses.In recent weeks, she has promised to help home buyers, raise taxes on big corporations and high-income Americans and offer tax breaks for small businesses.By contrast, she is expected to say on Wednesday, Trump is focused on improving the economy for the top 1 percent of society.She’s still behind when it comes to voter perceptions of the economy.

While she may have gotten a political boost from the Fed lowering borrowing costs last week, momentum that’s been captured in recent polls, over all Americans appear to still favor Trump on the matter.Consumers are still concerned about the job market and their finances.Speaking in Georgia on Tuesday, Trump — who labeled Harris a “communist” — pitched an economic plan that was full of sticks and carrots.

Among its components were issues both familiar, such as vowing to slap huge tariffs on importers that run afoul of the Republican Party’s free-trade wing, and new, such as giving foreign companies access to federal lands to...