Harris focused on results, being as inclusive as possible, says official

Vice President Kamala Harris is focused on being as inclusive as possible and on practical results, a top Indian American adviser to President Joe Biden said on Monday, observing that she is a tremendous leader.

She is focused on practical results and being as inclusive as possible, Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to the US President told PTI in an interview.

Tanden, a close aide of the president, has known Harris, who is now the Democratic presidential candidate since she was the Attorney General of California and the two interact quite frequently.

We have talked about ensuring that we're engaging Indian American leaders in the White House, that we are hearing from them about their concerns, the community's concerns. Also, she's very practical, though, when she's talking about small businesses and economic development. She wants to know how it's going to impact real families throughout the country, Tanden said.

But I will also tell you that I have talked with her about what it was like for her mom to make chapatis on the weekend and her own experience being coming home and having a house that smelled of spices, which is a little different when you're, then other houses in your neighbourhood, but also how her local community was really welcoming of her family, she said referring to her frequent conversation with the vice president.

The thing that I want everyone to recognise about her is that she carries a story of Shyamala Gopalan in her heart. This is a woman who came here at 19 to really try to grasp the American dream, which is just the experience of so many of our families. That is just a part of our experience. All of us have come here hoping for opportunity, but that really depends on a country that sees itself for all of us, not just for a few, she said.

That's really what's at stake in this national moment. So, I'm really thrilled that we're in this moment because she will be a tremendous leader. She is a tremendous leader. She will be a tremendous leader, and I know people can be really proud of her and her accomplishments, Tanden said. Responding to a question, Tanden said a Harris administration is going to be very different.

I mean, I will be candid with you. I think she will have her own cabinet. She will have her own leaders in the White House, and I think she will chart her own course, she said.

She's focused particularly on housing costs, childcare costs, some of these real burdens on family's costs that I know a lot of families have with elderly parents. That's a particular burden for families, particularly Indian American families where grandparents can be living with parents. She has really been thinking through what are the burdens families face and I think will be focused like a laser beam on those costs, Tanden said.

She slammed those calling Harris's pro-people policies as socialists. That's so crazy. Just let's talk about. Is it socialist to provide small businesses, a tax credit, a tax deduction from five to $50,000? Is it socialist to say that you really see the economy growing from the middle out, but focusing on small businesses, business growth? Is it socialist when you have a candidate who says she's a capitalist? she asked.

I think that's what's so odd about this is that people are saying things about her that they would never say about other candidates. We should be very vigilant about attacks on her given what she said and what she's done. We're talking about a woman who is a prosecutor. She put criminals behind bars. She focused on transnational crime, focused on going after Mexican gangs, she put murderers behind bars and people talk about her as a socialist. That's crazy to me, she said.

Also, we have to defend against attacks on women because people aren't used to a person named Kamala being in this position of power. That's why I think it's incumbent upon us to protect a little bit against those kinds of attacks, Tanden said, adding that Harris simply ignores those personal attacks on her.

She recognises that this election is not about her. It's actually about the people of this country. And people in politics want to make it a mud fight between two people, when truly that's usually just hiding who's really at stake, whose lives are at stake.

So, if she says she has a to-do list, other people can have an enemies list, but she has a to-do list. And on her to-do list are issues like reducing red tape for businesses. One of her biggest proposals is expanding the number of homeowners we have, building housing supply by reducing red tape. That doesn't sound very socialist to me, she said.