Vice President Kamala Harris’ DNC Speech Left Voters Confused on  Pivotal Policies 

Kamala Harris walks across the stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. (Courtesy/People Magazine)

On Thursday, Aug. 22, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her speech on the last day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. She missed the mark on key details that could have potentially attracted a younger demographic. 

In her speech, there was no mention of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that she supported both as senator and vice president that would make it easier to convict police officers of misconduct. There was also no clear foreign policy stance that would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Harris did mention a controversial immigration bill.

This caught the attention of Howard University Student  Noah Jackson, 20. 

“I’m going to vote for Kamala, but I don’t feel good about it at all,” said Jackson. “She represents a clear and dramatic right-wing shift on immigration that I don’t support at all.” 

Jackson was referring to Harris’ speech where she mentioned passing an immigration bill that failed to pass earlier this year, however, would make it much more difficult for immigrants to claim asylum in the U.S. from violent situations in their home countries.

“As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill,” said Harris. 

And this wasn’t the only issue Jackson saw with the speech.

“Her language on Palestine is really awful to me,” Jackson continued. “I’m not very moved by the fact that she’s a Bison, said Jackson about Harris being an alumna of Howard University.”I would rather vote for a candidate that wasn’t actively endorsing a genocide,” said Jackson.

The conflict between Palestine and Israel is a serious issue for many young voters this year.

“Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself,” said Harris during her speech at the convention. Younger voters see rhetoric like this as an implicit endorsement of Israel’s violence against civilians along the Gaza Strip.

However, Christian Dorsey-McQueen, a junior, political science major, sees it differently.

“I believe it’s a misconception to believe that [all] young voters care and understand about the genocide in Palestine,” said McQueen.

Despite the negative receptions of her Middle Eastern policy, Vice President Harris’s approval among the younger African American voting bloc has not suffered. The Pew Research Center shows Harris has the highest level of support from Black voters aged 18-49. Support for her campaign wanes, however, with moderate and independent voters. These more centrist policies on immigration and foreign policy may be part of a strategy to persuade their vote. 

“Those of us who do care often surround ourselves with individuals, whether online or in person, who care about the [Palestinian] genocide,” said McQueen.“Making us believe that the environment we converse in is reflective of everywhere.”

While many students want Harris to shift her policies in a different direction, in this election it may just not be possible. Harris must appeal to moderate voters if she wishes to win the election in November.

“That environment is a left-leaning school that’s an HBCU, where awareness at this level is more dominant. This, however, is not the case in other areas like a primarily white institution in Alabama,” says McQueen