Kamala Harris embarked Monday on her first official journey as vp to advertise the just-signed $1.9 trillion stimulus legislation, a two-day swing that doubles as an opportunity to spice up her personal profile.
She’s touring to Nevada and Colorado, each essential presidential election states the place Democratic senators are defending seats in subsequent 12 months’s midterms. The journey is a part of a cross-country blitz deliberate by President Joe Biden and prime administration officers to promote the aid bundle and guarantee Democrats get credit score for it from voters.
Since taking workplace in January, Harris has been beneath scrutiny as she carves out a task for herself as vp — an workplace with few particular tasks {that a} former occupant, John Nance Garner, as soon as referred to as “a spare tire on the car of presidency.” Gaining essential duties will likely be essential for Harris, 56, ought to she select to run for president once more sooner or later.
With this week’s journey, Harris is creating a task as a key promoter for the stimulus, the primary main laws Biden signed into legislation. The White Home views the plan as central to defeating the pandemic and engineering a robust financial restoration. A lot of Harris’s focus has been on how the rescue bundle might assist small companies and girls within the workforce.
A White Home official downplayed the notion that the journey is meant to construct Harris’s profile. The vp sees it as an opportunity to encourage People to get a Covid-19 vaccine, the official mentioned, particularly individuals of colour who usually tend to be hesitant.