Over the past few weeks, MSNBC legal analyst Melissa Murray and I traveled across the country to explore what Black women from the cities to the suburbs are thinking about in the upcoming election. In every conversation, the economy came up as their top concern. They want to know the person they support has a plan to address their needs.
In this election, Vice President Kamala Harris is the only candidate who fits that bill.
On Wednesday, the vice president detailed her economic agenda with a speech and an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle in Pittsburgh. From a campaign perspective, she hit all the marks one would want from a candidate in appearances like these. She was personable. Though she rarely speaks publicly about caring for her mother after her cancer diagnosis, she went into details that anyone who has had to care for a loved one could identify with.
This level of accessibility is crucial and could make a difference among undecided voters.
Importantly, Harris also spoke in great detail about her plans, but one didn’t need to be an economist to follow the conversation. Her explanation of how her plan to provide $25,000 in down-payment assistance to first-time homeowners would serve as a path forward to build intergenerational wealth was reasonable. When she spoke of her plan to boost a tax deduction for small businesses to $50,000, she made the connection to how that helps startups get off the ground. This level of accessibility is crucial and could make a difference among undecided voters.
In Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, Melissa and I spoke with a young voter named Clarke who just finished her master’s degree. She told us that out of 20 classmates, just four were able to land jobs after graduation and that many young people are at a moment when they are being crushed by inflation. Voters like Clarke understand the stakes in this election and are searching for real solutions to ease their economic pain.
Blue Bell is an affluent suburb of Philadelphia that both presidential candidates have targeted. Democrats have made gains there, netting 40,000 more votes in 2020 than they did in 2016 — a big reason Joe Biden carried the state in the last election. This is a suburb where the margins will matter, and how Black voters and younger voters overall show up to the polls could determine not only the winner of the state, but possibly the entire election.
On the campaign trail, Harris has been building the framework to help voters like Clarke. Harris calls it her “opportunity economy.” Notably, she doesn’t just say the phrase; she explains what it means for people in their lives. Her plan is to increase financial security for all Americans, no matter their backgrounds. In her speech this week to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Harris focused on growing America’s workforce. She connected her vision to her own middle-class upbringing, effortlessly delivering her plans for practical goals that would push America into a brighter tomorrow.
While Harris laid out her economic policies, she also didn’t miss an opportunity to needle her opponent. During her MSNBC interview, Harris said former President Donald Trump is “just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues. And one must be serious and have a plan, and a real plan, that’s not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally.”
The small-government conservatives where I grew up in Nebraska will tell you that isn’t likely to work.
Harris and Trump have very different visions of how to run the most powerful economy in the world. Frankly, when it comes to Trump’s economic vision, it isn’t hard to flush out. He is, as The New York Times’ Jim Tankersley puts it, using a “hammer and bullhorn” approach. He wants to force companies to lower prices, without a clear understanding of how the markets work, and then somehow tariff his way to economic prosperity. The small-government conservatives where I grew up in Nebraska will tell you that isn’t likely to work.
Trump’s economic pitch is so disconnected from reality that even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blasted Trump’s tariff proposals as a price hike for American consumers.
Earlier this month, Trump was asked what he would do to tackle the high cost of child care. His response was an incoherent rant about tariffs on China — a nonsensical answer that didn’t list a single solution. He has shown to voters he doesn’t understand the realities of child care in America, one of the biggest costs for families. In contrast, Harris’ plan is clear and simple to understand: Expand the child tax credit. And we all know Trump doesn’t have a plan to lower costs of health care. Instead, he claims to have a concept of a plan. Dii, a North Carolina voter Melissa and I spoke with in Washington, D.C., said a plan for affordable health care will be on her mind when she casts her ballot. Voters are paying attention. I think voters tend to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt on the economy because for years they have just claimed to be better, although they were never good at backing it up with actual policy. This November, unspecified “concepts” just won’t cut it with Black women. Harris and Trump aren’t the only candidates on the ballot this November. Eleven states will select new governors, control of the U.S. Senate is on the line, and every member of the U.S. House of Representatives is up for re-election. For candidates up and down the ballot, strong turnout from Black women could make the difference in victory or defeat. Black women are often spoken of as the backbone of the Democratic Party. They are definitely consistent when it comes to showing up to vote, but their vote isn’t owned by one political party. It needs to be earned. And for Black women concerned about the economy, Harris has done a lot to earn it. “Black Women in America: The Road to 2024” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. It will be available to stream on Peacock the following day.
Symone D. Sanders Townsend is an author and a co-host of "The Weeknight." 
