Kamala Harris, then the San Francisco District Attorney, poses for a portrait on June 18, 2004. Márcio Jose Sánchez/Associated Press Hide caption
Toggle caption Márcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Two days before President Biden announced he was dropping out of his quest for a second term, his campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon appeared on television to insist that the president would continue the campaign.
“He’s the perfect person to take on Donald Trump and prosecute the case,” Dillon said.
But about 72 hours later, Vice President Harris made the same allegation, reviving an argument she made when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 2019 against a crowded field of candidates.
“Before I was elected vice president, before I was elected senator, I was elected attorney general of California, and before that, I was a trial prosecutor,” Harris told campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, a day after Biden endorsed her to lead the Democratic nomination.
“In these roles, I’ve faced off against all kinds of abusers – predators who abuse women, con artists who deceive consumers, and charlatans who break the rules for their own personal gain. So listen: I know a type like Donald Trump,” Harris said, words that became a centerpiece of her whirlwind campaign.
Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris briefs the media after a money laundering investigation in Los Angeles on September 10, 2014. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images
It’s a rhetoric Harris has used before.
When she first ran for president in 2019, Harris’ campaign focused on her career as a prosecutor. Her slogan was “For the People,” which is how she introduced herself in court.
Her appeal to voters is the same today: Her background as a prosecutor makes her the perfect person to take on Trump.
But five years ago, Ms. Harris’ record as a prosecutor was a liability on the campaign trail: She was attacked in primary debates by her Democratic opponents for her record of cracking down on marijuana use and school truancy rates, and left-leaning voters called her a cop.
“They didn’t mean it as a compliment,” said Georgetown University law professor Paul Butler, himself a former prosecutor.
Former President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom after being found guilty in his hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024. Pool/Getty Images Hide caption
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The message will be conveyed differently in 2024
But this time, Butler said, Harris’ record as a prosecutor may be perceived differently by voters because of shifts in their perceptions of public safety, criminal justice and Trump.
“In some ways, the prosecution of Donald Trump has completely transformed the way some progressives and some conservatives think about the criminal justice system,” Butler said. “A lot of people on the left are now totally committed to prosecuting Donald Trump and holding him accountable.”
Butler said Harris is likely to use her experience as a prosecutor to emphasize centrist politics.
“Her message to conservative audiences would be that her policies as a district attorney and attorney general of California demonstrate that she is not soft on crime,” Butler said, “but her message to progressive audiences would be that her experience as a prosecutor gives her unique expertise on problems in the system and how to solve them.”
Vice President Harris speaks with police officers following a shooting that left seven people dead in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 5, 2022. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
Harris’ selling point was to get “smart” on crime.
Leaning toward the center on judicial issues has long been part of Harris’ strategy.
In 2003, Harris, a trial prosecutor, began her political career by running for district attorney in San Francisco.
According to her friend David Chiu, who was a member of Harris’ “kitchen cabinet” at the time, Ms. Harris rejected the idea that law enforcement officials had to be either tough or soft on crime. Instead, she wanted to be “smart” on crime, he said.
“The key is to increase conviction rates, but also to think about recidivism rates and use data to manage reform and accountability,” said Chiu, who now serves as San Francisco’s city attorney.
When she became district attorney, Ms. Harris launched initiatives such as “Back on Track,” a job-training program for first-time offenders of nonviolent crimes, and her supporters say that program and her other efforts were ahead of its time.
But she also faced criticism for her other efforts, particularly her efforts to reduce school absenteeism, which criminalized parents whose children were absent from school — a history that came back to haunt her during the 2019 election campaign.
But allies like Chiu say times have changed. “2003 was very different from 2024,” he said.
