Can Kamala Harris Sell Bidenomics?

Much of President Biden’s agenda polls well, but voters roundly dislike his handling of the economy. That’s a campaign challenge for his vice president, as she mounts a presidential bid.

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The economy and prices have been a top concern for voters, who have given President Biden’s economic agenda low marks despite big investments.

President Biden has signed more major economic legislation than any other president has this century. He presided over record job growth and a recovery from pandemic recession that was the envy of the wealthy world. He crafted an ambitious, multinational industrial policy meant to help America and its allies rebuild strategic manufacturing capacity to counter China.

But voters gave Mr. Biden little credit, focusing instead on the inflation surge that plagued much of Mr. Biden’s term.

That shortcoming was jeopardizing Mr. Biden’s re-election chances well before he fumbled through a televised debate last month and re-inflamed questions about his age. Polls showed that the economy and prices topped voters’ issue concerns, and that they roundly preferred former President Donald J. Trump to Mr. Biden on the issue.

As Mr. Biden steps away from the 2024 campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris tries to rally support for the presidential nomination, economic questions loom large over her candidacy.

Will Ms. Harris, 59 and unburdened by the age questions that dogged Mr. Biden, fare any better at selling the Biden-Harris economic record — including its investments in low-emission energy, advanced manufacturing and other industries? Can she maintain Mr. Biden’s connection to certain blue-collar voters in pivotal states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, while re-engaging economically disaffected young voters who had grown disillusioned with the president?

And can she overcome voter anger over inflation, which peaked at 9 percent in 2022 but has since fallen closer to the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2 percent?

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