(The Center Square) – Conventions are done, states begin voting next month, and a turbulent summer election season climaxes by Democrats sending Vice President Kamala Harris up against former President Donald Trump.

Though second-in-command to President Joe Biden, Harris promises without giving definition a “new way forward” that will end divisiveness and bring about a renewed America. Democrats have held the presidency for 12 of the last 16 years, and Harris mixes promises to continue Biden’s legacy with turning away from the “politics of the past.”

Her verbal pathway thus far is a mixture of “build on the foundation of this progress” and saying there will be change – threading the needle of strategic steps away from the Biden administration she is in. Everything is brushed with negativity toward Trump, sans accusations of copycat moments.

Harris has yet to post a platform on her website, leaving judgment of her key issues in the eye of the beholder from commercials, campaign rallies and speeches at the Democratic National Convention. Since becoming a candidate on the night of July 21, she’s not sat for an interview or fielded questions in an open press conference.

“We aren’t going back,” has been a rallying cry for Harris’ campaign, warning of what four more years of Trump might look like for America.

Fearmongering goes both ways, with Trump saying the effects of a Harris presidency are already being experienced and “will only get worse.” His vision for the future is to restore some of the past, meaning policies and provisions he instituted while in the Oval Office after winning in 2016.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” Harris, who chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as running mate, said at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this past week. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”

Harris’ opponent sees it the other way around.

“They want to get elected, and then destroy our country with radical left, Marxist/socialist policies,” Trump said on social media in response to the Democratic National Convention. “We can’t let this happen and, if it does, we won’t have a country any longer. The USA will be reduced to ashes.”

Polling

Harris and Trump have agreed to debate Sept. 10 in Philadelphia, hosted by ABC News. Trump has also proposed going on Fox News on Sept. 4 and NBC News on Sept. 25; Harris has not accepted.

Harris’ campaign had more donors in the first 10 days of its kickoff than Biden’s had in its entire 15-month lifespan, breathing new life into the Democrats’ 2024 election chances. A Reuters poll found that 57% of Americans disapprove of Biden. This includes 23% of Democrats. Harris in Chicago encouraged the Democrats to pave “a new way forward” with her presidency.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll found likely voters said inflation/price increases (45%), illegal immigration (36%) and the economy/jobs (28%) are the issues they are most concerned about. Other polling since Harris became a candidate July 21 runs congruent.

Republicans at 55% were much more likely than Democrats (37%) to put inflation as a top concern, and arguably more important for the outcome of the election, independents (44%) like Republicans were more concerned about inflation.

The Reuters poll also found that voters are more likely to trust Trump on both issues dealing with the economy and illegal immigration.

Inflation, economy
While Harris is looking to frame her platform as the new way forward, economically it is looking very similar to Biden’s in 2020. As candidates, both have emphasized taxing the wealthy and building up the middle class.

Harris, at a rally, said of the Biden administration that, “As President of the United States, it will be my intention to build on the foundation of this progress.”

Yet, in some ways, Harris has moved even further left than Biden.

At a rally on Aug. 16, Harris laid out her economic plan for the country, which included taking on “big food companies,” “big pharma,” and exploitation in the housing market to lower prices. This includes setting price controls, a proposal that has been met with significant backlash, even from sources that would normally support the vice president.

While considering economic policy, inflation is the issue that will be on every voter’s mind.

Harris has struggled to lay out any specific policies that she will implement, or distance herself from the Biden administration’s role in inflation. She vows to stop corporate greed, for example, using a price gouging law on the grocery industry. Critics say the need is baseless and execution could be counter-productive.

Inflation is more than double – 2.9% – the inherited 1.4% by this administration in which she serves, and prices have risen more than 22%. A 40-year high of 9.1% inflation was hit in their 18th month.

A recent ad for Trump used Harris’ own words to push back against her economic policies: “A loaf of bread cost 50% more today than it did before the pandemic,” Harris can be heard saying. “Ground beef is up almost 50%.”

Harris has been called out for announcing a similar plan to Trump to not tax tips, just days after he first announced it.

Illegal immigration

Immigration policy changed when Biden took office through a series of executive orders. Building of a wall on the southern border to Mexico was stopped. When the president’s proposed bill to address the border stalled, he waited months before issuing an executive order.

Harris has began talking tough on the border, a noted change from past Democratic rhetoric of “humane” immigration reform. Her claim of blame on Republicans for not closing the border is tied to Biden’s bill stalling. Thus, she says she will be harsher than Trump on immigration.

Her 2017 tweet on what is now X says “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.”

“Donald Trump does not care about border security – he only cares about himself,” Harris said falsely at a rally recently. “As president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed, and I will sign it into law, and show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like.”

The Center Square estimates, including gotaways, that people entering or living in the country illegally since January 2021 is about 12 million. Additionally, Tom Homan – former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement – says 13 people were arrested from the Terrorist Watch List during the Trump administration as compared to 381 since.

Harris has been labeled the “Border Czar” by Trump and other Republicans. It is a nod to the diplomacy assignment given to her by Biden on March 24, 2021.

While immigration is listed as the top issue in the Republican Party Platform, other issues like “corporate greed,” “reducing pollution and making polluters pay,” and “arts and humanities” appear above it in the Democratic Party Platform.

Health care, abortion

While abortion was listed as the fourth-most important issue for voters, Harris and Democrats around the county have made it their rallying cry.

“We trust women, and we will never stop fighting to protect their reproductive freedom,” she posted on social media Wednesday.

It’s a statement that has drawn criticism from women supporting their safe spaces from men, such as in prisons and athletic competitions and related to Title IX; and from women who chose not to get a COVID-19 vaccine but were forced to by the federal government under the Biden administration.

Harris, like Biden, has promised to use the federal government to restore the abortion protections found in Roe v. Wade. This means a nationwide policy allowing for abortion up to viability outside the womb, which is around 22 to 24 weeks.

Despite Harris saying that Trump plans a federal ban of abortion, Trump has instead promised to leave it to the states to decide.

Other health care issues have also taken a prominent place in the election season.

Harris has falsely said Trump would repeal the Affordable Care Act, Social Security and Medicare.

Throughout the Democratic National Convention, Democrats praised the Biden administration for forcing companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs like insulin.

Harris has said that she plans to continue to these policies to further lower the cost of other common prescriptions, while also saying that as vice president she will work with Biden to take on the impact of medical debt.

“Health care should be a right – not just a privilege for those who can afford it,” Harris posted on social media.

Tax policy

Harris has echoed Biden’s promise to use the tax system to reward work and not wealth.

Harris said at a rally recently that her policies will give 100 million Americans a tax cut, all while cutting the national deficit.

“We will do this by restoring two tax cuts designed to help middle class and working Americans: The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit,” she said.

She, like Biden, emphasizes the importance of closing tax loopholes and promising to make corporations pay more taxes.

This is the biggest distinction between Republican and Democratic tax policy. While Trump would like to cut taxes across the board, Harris has promised tax cuts for lower-income and middle-class families.