The DNC Danced Around a Key Harris Weakness. Now Jerome Powell Takes It On

Vice President Kamala Harris‘ greatest political weakness — the economy — took a backseat at a Democratic National Convention framed largely around joy, vibes and excitement. Now it will fall to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to provide some clarity when he delivers a highly anticipated speech on Friday.

Democrats did focus their convention on a number of policies, from reproductive rights to criminal justice, healthcare and even immigration, another weakness. But pocketbook issues like inflation and wage growth received less attention from speakers throughout the week, despite polls that show those among the pitfalls that could hobble Harris’ campaign come November.

A CBS News/YouGov poll released last week found that 83% of respondents believe the economy is a major factor in this election — and that Donald Trump led among those worried about their own personal finances.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll two days later showed Trump leading Harris by 9 points, 46-37%, in trust to handle the economy.

Despite those flashing warning signs for the Democratic party, their convention was largely built around other issues intended to energize to the party’s base, political experts told Newsweek.

Now, after the balloons have fallen from the rafters of the United Center, the chair of the Federal Reserve will deliver a policy speech from the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole that is likely to provide some hints about the state of the U.S. economy as the general election gets underway in earnest.

Powell’s remarks come amid conflicting economic indicators, one or more of which could turn into this election cycle’s October surprise.

On the one hand, the economy is humming along. Inflation is nearly back to the Fed’s target of 2%, giving policymakers the ammunition they need to pull the trigger on an anticipated interest rate cut at its meeting next month. Big banks like Goldman Sachs no longer believe a recession is imminent, corporate earnings have been decent-to-strong and stocks are essentially back to levels they were a month ago — before a brief but sharp drop — and still up double-digits on the year.

And yet, there are signs of cracks forming.

This week, the Labor Department revealed that the job market is significantly weaker than it has appeared, with payroll figures revised downward by more than 800,000 — a shocking 28% — for the 12 months ending in March. The Canadian government is working to resolve a rail stoppage, an X factor that could throw North American supply chains into chaos ahead of the holiday season. Consumer spending, the bedrock of the economy, has slowed as inflation-weary shoppers turn prudent.

These are issues that got scant attention this week in Chicago, for good reason (no one likes a party pooper). And Harris may well take a renewed focus on kitchen-table economic concerns as she hits the trail in earnest over the coming weeks, Anne Danehy, a professor of political science at Boston University, told Newsweek on Thursday.

“I think that they’ll bring much more concrete policy on the economy. Right now, this is establishing what the Harris-Walz ticket, and this is who we are. These are our values,” she said.

She noted that some economic priorities — tax cuts and prescription drug prices among them — have received more attention from speakers at the DNC. Inflation, she said, took a backseat as it is “a bit of a downer,” and is more difficult to discuss at an event intended to “invigorate” Democratic voters.

Some speakers, such as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, did play up the economy in their speeches, albeit in broad strokes.

“We need to make life more affordable for working people. Donald Trump, the felon, has no plans to lower costs for families. He doesn’t know how, and he doesn’t really care,” said Warren.

Republican strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek that Democrats “missed a huge opportunity to discuss pocketbook issues during the convention, specifically to highlight to consumers how they will focus on lowering prices.”

“Doing so won’t occur by going after grocery stores and ‘evil’ corporations. Proving price gouging is extremely difficult to prove and rarely occurs,” he said, referring to one of the concrete economic policies Harris has thus far unveiled — a widely panned plan to institute price controls on grocery stores.

He said that Democrats have spent so much time on reproductive rights because they believe it will bolster Harris’ standing with suburban women, a key voting bloc. He added, however, that these voters “also care about other issues, specifically the cost of food, rising insurance costs, and the high price of gasoline or a failing public education system.”

“Conventions cater to the party faithful, the true believers in the party. Little effort has been made during the 2024 Chicago Convention to appeal to moderates. Democrats have focused on ‘joy’ and ‘freedom,’ but only the freedoms a more activist, powerful government, as envisioned by the Harris-Walz ticket, would provide its citizens,” he said.

Indeed, in her keynote address accepting the nomination on Thursday, Harris spoke about housing costs and called for an “opportunity economy,” but did not mention gas or grocery costs.

Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that independent voters may look back on the DNC wanting more from the party, noting that more substantive plans have been “lacking” so far.

“Staying murky on substance might be a good thing, if they can keep the honeymoon going,” Reeher said. “I think many of the Democratic stands on domestic policies related to pocketbook issues might alienate them from the voters that they’ll need in the battleground states. Certainly, some of the things that appeal to the base.”

He noted that Harris has had less time to craft a more concrete policy platform given that she only entered the race a month ago.

“The lack of substance and definition in the campaign’s message at the convention might reflect that they are still trying to figure out their stands on those economic issues, and what they are going to offer that’s different,” he said.

Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign for comment via email.

Meena Bose, the executive dean of Hofstra University’s Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, told Newsweek that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are likely to craft a more cogent economic message as the campaign goes on.

“The swift shift from Biden to Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee just four weeks ago makes the convention focus on freedom, democracy, and broader themes of political participation and governance unsurprising,” she said.

Danehy, from BU, said that despite less specific discussion of economic policies, the DNC was among “the most strategic convention” she has ever seen.

“It seems like it’s very clear, the message they’re trying to convey. What they’re trying to go after, to get those small undecided voters…to win them over,” she said.

Time will tell whether the limited focus on the economy in August will matter in November. Presidential elections have a way of turning on a dime — just ask Barack Obama. In 2008, as he accepted his party’s nomination, the candidate crafted an acceptance speech heavy on foreign policy, slamming George W. Bush repeatedly over the Iraq War.

Less than three weeks later, Lehman Brothers collapsed.