What is the Democratic Party’s position and will it matter to Kamala Harris?

When President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate platform had already been closed for five days.

So the 92-page document that mentioned Biden 287 timestouting her first-term accomplishments and articulating goals for her second term is now a campaign agenda item for Harris, mentioned only 32 times.

Will it change anything?

“Not really,” said Stephen Medvic, director Center for Policy and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, and election expert. “I don’t think there was anything different on the agenda than what Harris was saying or what she did in the Biden administration.

“While Harris may emphasize certain points differently, she agrees with most of the program’s tenets.”

A platform that addresses issues such as abortion, economy, job creation, climate change, border and criticism Former President Donald Trump — mentioned 150 times — will still be run by Democrats, though he’ll now have a novel boss.

Historically, while the platform is not binding in any way, it gives the public a sense of the party’s principles and priorities for upcoming elections. Not a strategic plan with metrics, the platform — especially for a second-term administration — highlights past accomplishments as much as, or more than, future goals, Medvic said.

Here are some of the key themes on the Democratic platform:

Economy and cost of living

Democrats say in their platform that by closing loopholes they will be able to reach the wealthy while cutting taxes for working families. billionaires pay a minimum income tax of 25%, which will raise $500 billion over 10 years.

The platform adds plans to “end the preferential treatment of capital gains for millionaires so that they pay the same rate as investment income.” There will also be “crackdowns” on “garbage fees” — hidden fees that airlines, Internet providers and hotels add to customers’ bills without their knowledge.

In addition, about 500,000 households, including low-income veteran households and teenage adult households leaving foster care, will receive rental assistance, according to the platform. The plan also includes funding to lend a hand build or renovate 2 million homes nationwide.

A novel neighbourhood home tax relief, a “first in history”, will be introduced with the aim of making housing affordable not only for renters but also for homeowners.

The platform refers to Americans’ struggles with the high costs of food, housing and health care. In remarks that overlap with the Democratic plan, Harris recently revealed Economic agendain which the focus is on this type of expenditure.

One difference between Harris and the platform is that Harris proposes $25,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, compared with the $10,000 relief in the Democratic document.

Border and immigration

This the next Democratic administration “will press Congress to provide the resources and authority we need to secure limit,” the platform states. That would include additional border patrol agents, immigration judges, asylum officers, state-of-the-art inspection machines to lend a hand detect and stop the flow of fentanyl, and funding for cities and states that shelter migrants.

These arguments appear to be a response to Trump’s constant reiteration that Democrats are failing on all aspects of border control.

On the platform, the Biden administration criticizes Trump for using his influence to kill bipartisan agreement with Congress that “included the strongest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border. It would make our country safer and our border more secure, while treating people fairly and humanely and expanding legal immigration, consistent with our values ​​as a nation.”

The platform also calls for ways to expand legal immigration for those coming to the U.S. to escape violence. It also emphasizes ways to keep families together by supporting a path to citizenship for the long-term undocumented and securing the future DAC program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a policy that temporarily protects from deportation undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.

The War in Gaza and How to Talk About It

The platform states that Biden and Harris “believe that a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is critical to the interests of the United States.”

The document also stated that the administration supports two-state solution which ensures the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in their own viable state.

The war in the Gaza Strip has escalated rapidly divided The Democratic Party and its platform appear to be an attempt to address the concerns of the pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian factions within the party.

The platform expresses its intention to mediate “immediate and lasting ceasefire agreement“which secures the return of hostages and addresses “the enormous suffering and extreme suffering of the civilian population caused by the conflict, including the displacement and death of so many innocent people in the Gaza Strip.”

In addition, the platform states that Biden and Harris oppose settlement expansion as well as any attempt to “unfairly single out or delegitimize Israel.”

Aware pro-Palestinian sentiments resonating across America and the Democratic Party, Harris appears to have “talked about the humanitarian toll in Gaza more than Biden did,” indicating a slight departure from the platform, according to Dan Mallinson, a professor of public policy and government at Penn State Harrisburg. “The protests probably pushed her more toward that.” All week, pro-Palestinian protesters have been demonstrating at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Fight for reproductive rights

On the platform, Democrats discuss how Biden and Harris have joined other like-minded Americans to “bring back reproductive freedom “for every woman in every condition.”

Much of the document is a summary of what the Biden administration has already done, including “rejecting threats from Republicans chase people who help women travel to another state to have an abortion.”

This Biden Administration According to the platform, it has worked to protect patient and provider privacy by strengthening federal health privacy protections. protection, combating the illegal sharing of personal data and issuing guidelines to protect students’ privacy.

Harris can employ that platform to push harder on abortion rights, Mallinson said.

This issue has become even more stern in this presidential election, the first since the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the verdict Roe v. Wadeand federal abortion rights in 2022.

“Ideas on the platform like codification Roe AND increasing access to in vitro fertilization are consistent with Harris’ approach,” he added. “But I think that’s more central to her campaign than Biden’s. He’s been where his party is on this issue, but her campaign talks about freedom, and that fits in well.

“Plus, she’s a much stronger messenger than Biden is as a woman, and it’s easier for her to forcefully argue the case. That’s a comfort to her.”

Donald Trump Problem(s)

The Democratic platform is rife with hostility toward Trump. Almost every major category listed in the document includes an accusation that the former president is on the wrong side of an issue.

One of Trump’s main criticisms, the platform says, is that his view of the world is limited to “what he sees from his country club.” Mar-a-Lago”, referring to words Biden used during the election campaign.

On the platform, Trump is particularly criticized for: