Kamala Harris’s 2020 Message Seemed to Be Working in Vegas

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Kamala Harris rose through the political ranks as a prosecutor in California. But as Harris, now a U.S. senator, runs for the Democratic nomination for president, her background is making some in the party question her progressive credentials. Harris has tried to flip that narrative, most recently during a two-day swing through Las Vegas. When her own family was skeptical about her decision to become a prosecutor, she told guests at the 100 Black Men of America gala on June 14, she reassured them—and by extension 2020 voters—“I want to be the person who helps fix things, and I’ve grown up knowing the biases that have informed our criminal justice system.” Most of those who took part in the blitz of campaign events and appearances Harris made over the course of the weekend were still undecided, which doesn’t mean much this early in the campaign, especially when so many candidates are vying for attention. But they seemed to be buying Harris’s message.

Jackie Harris, 54, had listened to Harris’s memoir, The Truths We Hold, on audio book and liked what she said about being a “progressive prosecutor.” A therapist who works with people in the Las Vegas criminal justice system, Harris (no relation to the Harris running for president) particularly likes the crime-prevention programs she initiated. “There's such a need,” Harris said. “So many people in the criminal justice system are dealing with mental health issues, substance abuse issues.” But Harris is not among those in the left wing of the Democratic party who view the entire system with suspicion: “When there are crimes, people do need punishment,” she said. Among her patients are also victims of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people at an outdoor concert. “We need to make change,” she said. “This cannot go on.”

Monica Jackson, 49, a former TV news anchor from Henderson, Nev., also defended Harris’s prosecutorial record. If Harris were a man, she said, no one would care at all. “That’s just the stigma that’s been around forever, but I’m old enough and wise enough to know and not to get baited by somebody’s else response to her experience,” Jackson said. “If you can’t handle a woman with this kind of platform, you’re not going to be able to handle Kamala Harris. If you can’t handle a woman addressing issues that you see men addressing most of the time, you’re not going to be able to handle Kamala Harris. So I say to everybody: Women are throwing their hats in the ring. Get used to it.”

Harris addressed a rally held by the Fight for $15 movement outside a Las Vegas McDonald’s on June 14, telling the crowd that she’d worked at McDonald’s as a student, before she had a home and family to support. “If we want to talk about these golden arches being a symbol of the best of America, well, the arches are falling short,” she said. “Senator Harris, her coming out here means a lot,” said Obidah Harris, 33, a McDonald’s worker himself. “That means that we have a senator on our side that’s actually listening to the people’s voices. The more senators that we have on our side to listen to our voice and what we need and what we deserve, the better it would be for the middle class.”

Carla Duran-Pooser, 41, showed up for a women’s meet and greet with Harris not really knowing who she wants to vote for. “It’s a little overwhelming right now,” she said of the vast Democratic field, which now encompasses 23 candidates. “I’m trying not to be selfish and go with the easiest candidate that relates most to what I want—rather, I’m trying to find someone who will get us out of what I believe to be a little bit of a disaster right now.” Biden would be easy to vote for because “we already know and trust the politics of the Obama administration,” she said, but that doesn’t make him the right choice. As for Harris and the liability posed by her former career, “She had sworn she’s going to follow what the law entailed. She did it. I can’t be mad at her for that,” Duran-Pooser said. The campaign’s  messaging is working on her. “If she has to follow the law, she’s going to follow the law. But if it comes to making laws, I think she’s going to make laws that are consistent with what her platform is.”

“Prosecutor doesn’t mean that they’re bad people,” said Chris Perryman, 62, who heard Harris speak at the 100 Black Men of America gala. “No, I don’t hold that against her.” Perryman is a real estate broker in Oakland, Calif., so he’s more familiar with Harris’s record than most. He hasn’t fully made up his mind, he said, but he’s leaning strongly toward voting for her. “I like her. I like what she says. She’s for the low end people and want to make a change. She’s here for real people.”

Yvette Williams, 61, is the chair of Nevada’s Clark County Black Caucus. She showed up at the women’s meet and greet with a lot of questions for Harris. “Absolutely I want somebody that’s going to be a fighter, but also for my community. We want somebody that’s going to fight for the injustices, the inequality, and the inequities that have gone on in this country for too long. Is she going to fight for us? What about reparations? There’s a lot of other issues that we want to talk with her about,” she said. “On the scale of justice, we’ll call it, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.” Harris’s background as a prosecutor, she said, is a weakness. “We know that. Now we need to talk about, what are some of the other strengths.”

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jillian Goodman at jgoodman74@bloomberg.net

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