Harris turns to favorite foods in effort show more private side, connect with voters
WASHINGTON — One of the biggest challenges facing the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the final part of the campaign she introduces herself to the voters for her Republican rival, Donald Trumpgets the chance to define her.
Until her sudden ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket this summer, Harris was still a somewhat unknown figure in national politics, driven in part by her aversion to openness and embrace of the spotlight. And since becoming the nominee, Republicans have criticized Harris for not giving many interviews or providing enough detail about her policy plans.
But the vice president shares personal details about her childhood, cooking and food to show her more personal side.
Harris is known to be a foodie and enjoys cooking. In fact, she had just made a pancake and bacon breakfast for her niece’s 6- and 8-year-old daughters on the morning of July when Biden called to tell her he was dropping out of the race.
From talking about nacho cheese Doritos as her favorite snack to washing kale in the bath, Harris wants to connect with voters on a more personal level. While the fact that she enjoys snacking on tortilla chips probably won’t be enough to convince someone to vote for her, the small — and sometimes funny — details can help Harris show that she can relate to people and their concerns.
“She is trying to show that she is a full-fledged person who goes beyond just her policy proposals,” Dana Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University, said in an email.
When Harris stopped at Dottie’s Market in Savannah last week during a campaign bus tour of southeast Georgia, she was excited by what she saw on the counter.
“What kind of cake is that?” she said. Chocolate caramel, an employee replied.
“I want a piece of that. Caramel is my favorite,” Harris said. “Oh, chocolate and caramel?” she added, after she seemed to have processed the description. The cake was covered in white icing with caramel on top and dripping down the sides.
“Fantastic,” said Harris.
“I was in band when I was your age,” she said during a visit to marching band practice at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia, giving a pep talk about leadership.
“Everything you do requires a lot of rehearsal, a lot of practice, long hours. Right?” she said. “Sometimes you hit the note, sometimes you don’t. Right? But all that practice makes for beautiful music.”
Harris did not say what instrument she played. An aide later told a reporter that Harris played the French horn, xylophone and timpani; the vice president had confided that she “couldn’t stop at one instrument.”
Harris shared her kale recipe—and her unusual preparation method—with Mashama Bailey, executive chef at The Grey restaurant in downtown Savannah. A friend always asked Harris to make the greens for an annual Christmas party.
“And I’m not lying to you that I would make so many vegetables that I would have to wash them in the bathtub,” the vice president told Bailey. “I’m telling you the truth.”
Harris starts by rendering the bacon fat, then adds sliced garlic, chiles, lots of water and some chicken stock. “And I let it sit for a while before I add the vegetables,” she said. After a few hours, she finishes it off with vinegar and Tabasco sauce.
According to McDonald’s, 1 in 8 Americans has worked in a fast food restaurant at some point in their lives. Harris is one of them.
“I had a summer job at McDonald’s,” she said at an August campaign rally in Las Vegas, trying to show empathy for the struggles of the middle class.
During a policy speech in North Carolina, also last month, in which she discussed her rent-seeking proposal, Harris said she was still in college when she “worked at McDonald’s to earn pocket money.”
Her duties They made fries and worked the cash register, she said earlier this year on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
Harris and her sister, Maya, were raised by a single mother, Shyamala, an immigrant from India. Harris has said she was 13 when her mother bought her first house after saving for a decade.
When it’s time for a snack, Harris reaches for Doritos.
“This is my go-to, the original, nacho cheese,” Harris said, clutching a red bag of Doritos as she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and their spouses stopped at a Sheetz convenience store in Moon Township during their campaign bus tour of southwestern Pennsylvania in August.
Her favorite soft drink?
“I like root beer. He likes Diet Coke,” she said, referring to her husband, Doug Emhoff.