One of the biggest challenges for the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris In the final phase of the election campaign, she introduces herself to the voters before her Republican rival, Donald Trumphas the chance to define it.
Until her sudden election as the Democratic frontrunner this summer, Harris was a relatively unknown figure in national politics, in part because she was reluctant to be out in the open and in the spotlight. And since she was elected, Republicans have criticized Harris for not giving many interviews and not revealing enough details about her political plans.
But the Vice President reveals personal details about her childhood, her cooking skills and food to show her more private side.
Harris is known to be a foodie and enjoys cooking. In fact, that July morning, she had just prepared a breakfast of pancakes and bacon for her niece’s 6- and 8-year-old daughters when Biden called to tell her he was dropping out of the race.
From saying that Doritos with nacho cheese are her favorite snack to washing collard greens in the bathtub, Harris is trying to connect with voters on a more personal level. While the news that she enjoys munching on tortilla chips at snack time probably isn’t enough on its own to convince someone to vote for her, the small – and sometimes amusing – details could help Harris show that she can empathize with people and their concerns.
“She is trying to show that she is a full person beyond her policy proposals,” Dana Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University, said in an email.
Caramel is a favorite
When Harris stopped at Dottie’s Market in Savannah last week during a campaign bus tour of southeast Georgia, she was excited by what she saw on the counter.
“What kind of cake is this?” she asked. Chocolate caramel, answered an employee.
“I want a piece of that. Caramel is like my favorite flavor,” Harris said. “Oh, chocolate and caramel?” she added, seemingly digesting the description. The cake was covered in a white frosting with caramel on top and dripping down the sides.
“Fantastic,” said Harris.
Beautiful music
“I was in the band when I was your age,” she said while attending marching band practice at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia, and gave a pep talk about leadership.
“Everything you do takes a lot of rehearsal, a lot of practice, a lot of hours. Right?” she said. “Sometimes you hit the note, sometimes you don’t. Right? But all that practice leads to beautiful music.”
Harris did not say what instrument she played. An aide later told a reporter that Harris played the French horn, xylophone and timpani; the vice president had confided that she “couldn’t stick to one instrument.”
Kale in a bucket
Harris shared her kale recipe – and her unusual preparation method – with Mashama Bailey, the chef at The Grey restaurant in downtown Savannah. A friend asked Harris every year to prepare the kale for a holiday party.
“And I’m not lying to you when I say I’d make so much green stuff I’d have to wash it in the bathtub,” the vice president told Bailey. “I’m telling you the truth.”
Harris starts by rendering the fat from the bacon before adding chopped garlic, chili peppers, lots of water and some chicken stock. “And I let it sit for a while before I add the vegetables,” she said. After a few hours, she finishes by adding vinegar and Tabasco sauce.
Golden Arches
According to McDonald’s, one in eight Americans has worked at a fast-food restaurant at some point in their lives. Harris is one of them.
“I had a summer job at McDonald’s,” she said at a campaign rally in Las Vegas in August, trying to show understanding for the problems of the middle class.
During a keynote speech in North Carolina, also last month, discussing her proposal to combat price gouging, Harris said she was in college when she “worked at McDonald’s to make money.”
Your tasks “We made fries and worked the cash register,” she said on the “Drew Barrymore Show” earlier this year.
Harris and her sister Maya were raised by a single mother, Shyamala, an immigrant from India. Harris said she was 13 when her mother bought her first home after saving for 10 years.
Doritos as a snack in between
At snack time, Harris reaches for Doritos.
“This is my favorite dish, the original nacho cheese,” Harris said, holding a red bag of Doritos as she and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and their spouses attended a Sheetz Supermarket in Moon Township during her campaign bus tour through southwestern Pennsylvania in August.
Your favorite lemonade?
“I like root beer. He likes Diet Coke,” she said of her husband, Doug Emhoff.
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