Future
Can Harris Keep the Peace Among Progressives and C.E.O.s?
The vice president garnered public endorsements from progressives at the Democratic National Convention, but she must also keep corporate supporters on board.
The transition from President Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris has gone smoothly atop the Democratic ticket even amid questions of whether she can hold together a disparate coalition of progressives and business centrists.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times
United, so far
Democrats rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris on the first night of their national convention, as the party seeks to hold together a coalition of progressives, labor leaders and big corporate donors.
Speaking at last night’s event were President Biden, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, labor representatives and Hillary Clinton.The question is how long that group can stick together.
Progressives appear to be largely sticking with Harris, as more details emerged about “Kamalanomics.” She appears likely to keep much of Biden’s economic agenda, while extending incentives for home buyers. Notably, she also called for raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, from 21 percent.
Union leaders, who represent a key voting bloc in battleground states, took the stage to throw their support behind Harris as well. (Not present: Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who spoke at the Republican National Convention last month, but whom D.N.C. organizers appear to have snubbed.)
Donald Trump is fighting back, telling factory workers in Pennsylvania on Monday that Harris is “an economy wrecker.”
Will Harris’s supporters in the corporate world stay on board as well? So far, she appears to have maintained the backing of well-heeled business leaders, including the Palantir co-founder Alex Karp. Big donors have continued to give to her campaign at events across the country and are showing up in force at the Democratic convention.
