Now that Vice President Kamala Harris has named her running mate and the Democratic ticket is set, some in the media have a polite request.
Might Harris please, please sit for a proper interview? Perhaps hold a press conference? Answer our questions?
The new Democratic nominee has not done an extended interview since June 24, three days before the fateful debate that knocked her boss out of the presidential race and paved the way for her historic candidacy. Harris appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which frankly is not like entering the lion’s den.
When the Democrats switched out President Joe Biden for his understudy, they hoped they were getting a more skilled communicator of the party’s message. That faith has been borne out thus far: Harris’s rallies feel more like pop concerts — admittedly because they often are — than funerals, and she delivers her attacks on former President Donald Trump with considerably more vigor than the octogenarian she replaced.
But the reticence about putting the Democratic standard-bearer in unscripted settings has continued despite the youth revolution at the top of the ticket. We know that Harris can read well from a teleprompter and at least some of her staff can meme. What about answering tough questions? While nimbler than Biden, it is in exactly these scenarios that Harris's last presidential campaign unraveled.
“One longtime Harris ally suggested to West Wing Playbook that Harris could hold off on big interviews until after Labor Day,” Politico reported.
There is plenty to ask Harris about. In addition to a scrubbing of her policy portfolio as vice president, Harris’s campaign has walked back, often anonymously, issue positions the candidate took in person and frequently on camera. Can she explain, or even confirm, the shifts?
Yes, it is important for the country to hear from the woman who might be president in an unfiltered manner. It will help inform the voters’ decisions to remove any confusion about where she stands on matters of public concern.
But it is just as important for the credibility of the media to appear at least a little bit curious about Harris’s positions. The past few weeks have been like an experiment about what happens when major media institutions remove their layers of protection from the Democratic presidential candidate. Once the debate appeared to doom his election chances, Biden faced as hostile a press as any Democrat not under indictment in recent memory. Then, as soon as he dropped out, Harris received almost uniformly glowing coverage.
The contrast was stunning. Conservatives have complained about liberal media bias for decades, dating back to at least the Nixon administration. The noticeable shift in tone from Biden’s candidacy to Harris’s seemed almost designed to confirm the charge.
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It is understandable the Democratic base would be relieved and elated to have a better chance in the presidential contest. The Beltway press corps should not have a similar reaction.
Harris cannot credibly taunt Trump about debating if she remains in bubble wrap until Labor Day or beyond. Journalists across the spectrum must insist she make herself more available.
Hugo Gurdon will return next week.
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