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Vice President Kamala Harris has had an extraordinary first month as the Democratic presidential nominee. She has spoken before packed rallies, won acclaim for picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and even become something of an internet meme.
Harris has not, however, conducted a press conference or an interview with a journalist.
All that’s slated to change on Thursday when CNN’s Dana Bash interviews Harris alongside Walz. The pre-taped interview will air at 9 pm Eastern Time.
The timing of the interview — nearly 40 days after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and threw his support behind Harris — has generated an unusual degree of anticipation, as politics-watchers look to see how the new Democratic presidential nominee holds her own in an unscripted format. Many candidates who feel confident about their standing in the polls limit their exposure to potentially risky media coverage. But Harris’s refusal to engage with the press for anything more than a minute or two between campaign stops has given Republicans fodder for attacks — and prompted griping from some mainstream journalists.
Setting aside political concerns, Harris’ lack of interaction with the press has also deprived the public of opportunities to learn more about her agenda as president. In an Aug. 16 economic policy speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, Harris outlined plans to lower the cost of living, including by expanding key tax credits for low- and middle-income families, banning “price gouging,” building 3 million new homes and providing first-time homebuyers with $25,000 toward a down payment.
But even these plans raised new questions — about, for example, how Harris defines “price gouging” and what she means by a ban. Harris has also yet to outline her complete policy views on issues like energy and climate, corporate regulation, health care and whether to reform the Supreme Court, as well as how she would tackle the all-important sphere of foreign affairs.
In addition, Harris has evolved ideologically over the years. As a prosecutor, Harris often cut a moderate figure, pursuing tough punishments for offenders, including those charged with drug-related crimes. As a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris courted progressives with plans to transform health care, immigration and energy policy. Now as a candidate, Harris is quietly backing away from the left-leaning stances she took during the last presidential race and tacking to the center once again.
It’s a lot to unpack. Which is why over here at HuffPost, we definitely have a lot of questions.
We crowdsourced across our team and came up with 13 questions that we really, really hope Harris gets the chance to answer — on topics ranging from the Supreme Court to the Israeli-Hamas conflict to just, literally, what does she mean when she talks about price-gouging?
1. If you win in November, what would be your first actions as president? What do you want to have achieved at the end of your first 100 days in office?
2. This is a question for both Harris and Walz: What role do you envision Walz playing in a Harris administration?
3. How would you describe your ideal Supreme Court justice? If Congress sent you a bill to expand the size of the court or impose term limits on justices, would you sign it?
4. Top Democratic donors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, have called for you not to re-appoint Lina Khan as chair of the Federal Trade Commission, claiming she is hurting innovation. Do you plan to re-appoint Khan? More broadly, do you support the Biden administration’s aggressive approach to antitrust policy?
5. What exactly does a ban on price gouging look like? How would you define the practice and enforce a law against it?
6. You said during your DNC address that you and Biden were working “around the clock” to get a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal done. But your national security adviser, Philip Gordon, said you’ve ruled out an arms embargo for the Israeli military. First, can you confirm you’ve ruled out an arms embargo? And if that’s the case, what leverage are you open to using on the Israeli government to achieve a ceasefire?
7. What do you see as the United States’ goal in arming Ukraine? Pushing Russia out of Ukraine entirely seems very unlikely, to say nothing of the death toll it would entail. At what point would it be wise to encourage Ukraine to sit down with Russia at the negotiating table?
8. As a presidential candidate in 2019, you argued for treating unauthorized border crossing as a civil, rather than criminal offense, and said public health care plans should cover undocumented immigrants. Do you stand by those positions today? Why or why not? If you no longer hold these beliefs, why did you change your mind? If you still hold those beliefs, what do you say to critics ― like Donald Trump ― who say that it’s wrong to spend taxpayer dollars on people who are here illegally?
9. As a presidential candidate in 2019, you called for banning the natural gas extraction technique known as fracking. Your campaign has said you no longer support this proposal. Can you confirm? If so, why?
10. Likewise, as a presidential candidate in 2019, you rolled out your own Medicare for All proposal. It would have preserved a role for private insurers as providers of Medicare plans, but envisioned all Americans dropping their current coverage for one of these modified Medicare plans. Your campaign has said you no longer support this proposal. Can you confirm? If so, why? What health care reforms do you support?
11. Do you have a national greenhouse gas emissions target you would support as a country?
12. Is growing nuclear energy part of your vision for decarbonizing the economy? What about permitting reform, which some experts say is necessary to getting energy projects off the ground faster and more efficiently?
13. As a candidate, you have only ever competed for votes in California, a solid Democratic state. How do you plan to win in swing states — like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada — where your appeal is untested?
