CHICAGO—Democrats listed their top policy ideas for Vice President Kamala Harris on the last day of the Democratic National Convention, and their answers were as diverse as the delegation itself.
The Epoch Times asked delegates and lawmakers on Aug. 22 to suggest one policy priority for their presidential nominee. Republicans have criticized Harris for her failure to address policy specifics. Her supporters named a wide range of issues, some of which Harris has already mentioned in campaign speeches.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), recognizable for his shaved head, playfully suggested that Harris should address the issue of hair loss. “I just think she should do something for bald men in America,” Booker told The Epoch Times.
Others listed more serious concerns, starting with what has become a signature issue for the Harris–Walz campaign: increasing access to abortion.
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley said Harris should continue to push for abortion access, which she described as “a matter of health care justice and economic justice.”
Monique Wise of Indiana said abortion access is the No. 1 policy matter. “Protecting women’s right to choose. End of story,” Wise said.
“I would like to think that all women can agree on this: Our bodies, our choice.”
Economic issues, especially the cost of health care, were also mentioned repeatedly.
“That’s something that I think has been noticeably more absent from the dialogue this go around,” Ross Trivisonno, a delegate from Texas, told The Epoch Times. “Health care and people’s access, right to quality and affordable health care is more important than ever.”
Pressley also mentioned economic issues and health care as a significant concerns. She said the Harris campaign should talk about the need to lower the costs of housing and prescription drugs, “which Kamala Harris will do.”
Kerstin Lundgerm, a Swedish citizen who attended the convention, said it was up to Americans to decide U.S. policy. But she recommended that Harris focus on “kitchen table” issues such as affordable health care and housing.
“If I had to pick just one,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said, “it would be cutting prescription drug prices. Kamala Harris played a central role in some of the most successful decisions made by President Biden,” Coons told The Epoch Times, referring to the cap on certain prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.
Washington delegate Heather Young wants Harris to focus on accessibility for disabled people. “The disabled community is the largest minority in our country,” said Young, a disabled veteran. “We’re the only minority that you can become a member of at any point in your lifetime.”
Young said making spaces more accessible for wheelchair users, for example, also benefits people with strollers and bicycle riders. “It’s not just people with disabilities,” she said. “Fixing things for us actually makes it better for everyone.”
Asher Edelson, a teacher and school board member from Vermont, also wants Harris to address disability issues. “Ending that egregious reality wherein people with disabilities lose their benefits upon marriage would be a fantastic policy step for soon-to-be President Harris to take,” said Edelson, who has Tourette syndrome.
Jannie M. Cotton, chair of the Arkansas Democratic Party, said education is a top concern—in Arkansas and in other states where voucher programs allow parents to use state funds to pay private school tuition. “I believe in choice, but those parents are more prepared to pay than the public school [parents]. So when you take money—it’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Other Democrats suggested Harris work on crime and immigration.
Evelyn Blackwell of Washington, D.C., said her city needs a better crime bill. Such legislation is made at the federal level for the District of Columbia. She said juvenile crime has gotten “out of hand” in her hometown.
LaShon Bradley is most concerned about illegal immigration. “There should be a focus or emphasis on the immigration issue,” Bradley told The Epoch Times, adding that the country needs to “have more control” over that.
“There are some people who are really on the fence because she’s not speaking more on that policy,” Bradley said.
Texas delegate Madeline Gibson said gun violence was the top national issue that she hopes Harris will address. “My grandfather was murdered by a mentally handicapped man, and my church was the very first church to have a mass shooting in Daingerfield, Texas,” Gibson said. “And the gunman was my mom’s geometry teacher, so that’s a very big issue for me.”
Other issues mentioned included climate change, voting rights, and transportation infrastructure.
Kevin Freeman of New York wants to see Harris develop young leaders within the Democratic Party. “I want to hear new voices, and I like what I’m seeing at the convention, a deep bench of young and diverse voices.”
To do that, Freeman said, education is critical. “It’s important to me that children understand the process. We don’t have civics in high school. There’s very little understanding of the history and the context of this country.”
Pressley raised an issue that Harris has spoken about in campaign rallies and that has been the subject of protests outside the convention hall throughout the week—she’d like to see Harris keep talking about the need for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
The congresswoman said she is still “holding out hope” that the convention would feature the voices of the Palestinian families that have been affected by the Israel–Hamas war.
