Kamala Harris for president

Whether your litmus test is experience, policy or character, Kamala D. Harris is the right choice for the highest elective office in the land.

Start with the skill set she would bring to the presidency: seven years as the district attorney in San Francisco, six years as attorney general for California, four years in the U.S. Senate, and nearly four years in her current role as vice president. More important than that accumulation of time, however, is what that experience reveals about Harris.

Her record tells us that she repeatedly took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and did so. It tells us she respects institutions and will work to protect them, not undermine or destroy them. And it tells us she has a long devotion to public service, which is exactly what it sounds like — service to the public, not to herself. In a crisis, you want someone who understands that they are beholden to the American public, not their own interests.

That instinct to put the public first also informs her reasonable and moderate approach to issues and policies.

Harris is a strong and steadfast defender of reproductive rights, and has a holistic view on providing health care rooted in what she calls the "dignity" of each individual. That's a profound starting point. She wants to expand access to health care and expand Medicare benefits to cover long-term care and in-home health services so that people can age in place, addressing a national crisis that is felt profoundly on Long Island. She would cover the cost with the savings achieved by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. She also plans to continue the progress made by the Biden administration in reducing prescription drug pricing, and has vowed not to reduce or cut Social Security benefits.

HELP FOR FAMILIES

Harris wants to increase the child care tax credit for parents of newborns and help first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in down-payment assistance. She has promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year, and has made an effective case that the high tariffs former President Donald Trump has proposed will function like a tax by raising prices paid by ordinary Americans for a variety of goods. Countless respected economists across the nation have said her economic plan, which is targeted to the people who most need help, will not raise the deficit as much as Trump's plan.

Harris does bear some responsibility for the nation’s recent bout with inflation. The policies she and President Joe Biden pursued at the beginning of their administration to help the nation recover successfully from the pandemic — including the long-overdue infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act — put lots of money into the economy and helped to overheat it. But she also must be given some credit for the apparent easing of that inflation, which economists say would likely accelerate again under Trump's plan. Prices for gas are down, interest rates are lower, and jobs are up. She also deserves recognition for her role in passing that badly-needed infrastructure bill, which is at work now across the country and here on Long Island, and the IRA with its landmark climate change-fighting initiatives.

Many of her proposals, naturally, will be subject to negotiations with Congress, but understanding Harris' values indicates the tack she will take in those talks. That's especially true for immigration. Biden's administration exacerbated the crisis on the southern border during his first three years in office but has cracked down recently and reduced border crossings. Harris supports tougher measures to reduce illegal immigration but also wants comprehensive reform of immigration policy and an earned pathway to citizenship. She promises to sign the bipartisan border bill negotiated in the Senate that had been on track for approval before Trump blew it up. All of that requires congressional cooperation.

Harris will preserve the independence of the Justice Department and work to expand rather than restrict voting rights. She won't keep opponents in fear of political prosecutions and never would use the American military against the American people. Her sharp questioning as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee tells us that if there was to be an opening on the Supreme Court, Harris would nominate a strong supporter of liberty and individual rights.

She seems likely to chart a reasonable and moderate path internationally. She is a reliable ally in NATO and is committed to protecting Ukraine and its fledgling democracy from a predatory Russia. While she clearly supports Israel's right to defend itself, she seems likely to take a harder line with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu as part of her desire to tone down the heat and scale back American military involvement in the Middle East, and she will maintain the Biden administration's current tough stance on China.

VALUES ARE CRITICAL

While issues and policies are important, values are critical. That’s true not only because values are a barometer of character, but also because they are a guide to a leader's policies and to how someone will react when confronted with unforeseen circumstances — a national calamity such as a pandemic, an international shock like the onset of war, or local devastation or tragedy including another mass shooting, hurricane or wildfire.

Harris' values are rooted firmly in our nation's tradition and the American experience.

She is someone who chooses to lift people up, not denigrate them. Someone who seeks commonalities, not division. Someone who looks at our nation as a community of strivers trying to make their country and themselves better, not as a battleground where citizens consider each other an enemy who must be defeated. Someone who doesn’t see people with whom she disagrees as evil, but simply as people with a different point of view.

Harris understands that the grand and rich mosaic of those who live here is our strength, not our weakness. She is a merchant of hope, not a salesman of fear. She believes in the rule of law and the protection of individual rights, and understands that justice is rooted in both toughness and compassion. She believes in equality of opportunity for everyone, wants to improve the lives of those who are less well-off, and believes in the power of government to help achieve that.

Let's face it: This is not a typical election. Part of that is because of Harris' opponent, part is her late entry into the race, and part is the divisiveness in our nation. Part of it, too, is the historic nature of her candidacy. Harris was the first woman, first Black person, and first Asian American to serve as vice president, California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney. And she'd be the first woman and first Asian American president. But she rarely talks about that. She's running this race on her merits. And on her merits is how she should be judged.

Newsday's editorial board endorses Kamala D. Harris for president.