Barbara McQuade, Columnist

Kamala Harris Has a Smart Approach to Crime

The vice president should remind voters that her strategic prosecutorial approach was effective — and influential beyond California.

August 17, 2024 at 12:00 PM UTC

By Barbara McQuade

Barbara McQuade is a professor at the University of Michigan Law school, a former US attorney and author of the forthcoming book, "The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government."

Cracking down on drug cartels as California’s attorney general. — Cracking down on drug cartels as California’s attorney general.
Photographer: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

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Vice President Kamala Harris has been using her record as a prosecutor to draw a contrast with her rival for the presidency, convicted felon Donald Trump. Perhaps seeking to neutralize that line of attack, former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have been portraying Harris as “weak on crime.”

Maybe they assume Harris will hesitate to push back on this attack. After all, in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and demands to defund the police, Harris distanced herself from characterizations of her as a “top cop.” But Harris has spent the bulk of her career as a thoughtful leader in the criminal justice system, gaining insights she should tout in her campaign for president. Based on her record, Harris defies the conventional labels of “tough” or “soft” on crime — instead pioneering a nuanced approach that influenced the federal government during the Obama administration.