#Harris says Sanders, Warren contributed in ‘very substantial way’ to DNC platform

Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris commended the Democratic party for falling “in line” ahead of the general election, noting the contributions of progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to the party platform.

Speaking to donors at a virtual fundraiser early Tuesday evening, Sen. Harris (D-Calif.) made the remarks while answering a question about how the Biden-Harris campaign was engaging with progressive voters.

Everyone, Harris said, “has really fallen in line” with their commitment to being a united party.

“The party really has coalesced in a way that we needed to,” the California Democrat added.

As an example, she noted that Sanders (I-Vt.), Warren (D-Mass.) and others “contributed in a very substantial way to what ended up being the Democratic platform.”

Harris was referencing the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Forces, which was created to combine the platforms of Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, the two Democratic primary front-runners.

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ most progressive ambitions were largely bypassed in the 2020 Democratic Party platform, but he stood by the proposals regardless.

The party’s list of policy recommendations did not include “Medicare-for-all,” arguably Sanders’ most widely known policy proposal, tuition-free public college or the Green New Deal.

The Vermont senator acknowledged the differences between himself and Biden as they related to the platform in a statement in July when the platform was revealed.

“While Joe Biden and I, and our supporters, have strong disagreements about some of the most important issues facing our country, we also understand that we must come together in order to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history.

“Though the end result is not what I or my supporters would have written alone, the task forces have created a good policy blueprint that will move this country in a much-needed progressive direction and substantially improve the lives of working families throughout our country,” Sanders said.

Progressives were able to score some wins in the 110-page document, which featured hundreds of policy recommendations across six policy areas.

The task forces agreed to back eliminating carbon emissions for power plants by 2035, implementing new use-of-force guidelines for police, banning for-profit charter schools, blocking the federal government from approving contracts to companies that pay below the $15 minimum wage as well as a myriad of immigration policies.

Asked later on at the Democratic running mate’s fundraiser about how the campaign was speaking to white, working class voters who went for former President Obama in 2008 and President Trump in 2016, Harris said that employment was their focus.

“Those voters are the ones who are now, a number of them, we’re talking about working class voters regardless of their race, unemployed,” she said.

During his time in the Oval Office after the pandemic hit, according to Harris, Trump “has not even made a real attempt at helping these working people stay above water, so that they can get back on their feet when we get through this crisis.”