Harris takes a populist tone on the economy. Will it help with young voters?

Vice President Kamala Harris struck a decidedly populist tone when she unveiled her economic policy in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday.

The vice president made housing the core part of her policy rollout, pledging to build three million new homes. As part of that, she has proposed a tax incentive to build starter homes. This comes as nearly 1 in 10 homes are now worth more than $1 million, which is a record high.

Harris also proposed providing a $25,000 payment support to help people buy a home for the first time.

“There’s a serious housing shortage in many places. It’s too difficult to build, and it’s driving prices up,” she said on Friday. “We also know that as the price of housing has gone up, the size of down payments have gone up as well. Even if aspiring homeowners save for years, it often still is not enough.”

The policy rollout comes just as Harris will head to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. Much of the focus has been on whether she will face a revolt from younger voters because of her and President Joe Biden’s support for Israel amid its war with Hamas that has led to thousands of deaths in Gaza. Indeed, Harris has confronted protesters at some of her early rallies, to varying levels of success.

But as Inside Washington has noted before, polling has shown that young voters tend to prioritize the economy, particularly the cost of living and housing, while not nearly as many consider the war in Gaza to be of similar salience. Indeed, when The Independentinterviewed Black voters in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention before Biden stepped aside, they cited inflation and “high as hell” rent as primary reasons for dissatisfaction with Democrats.

Harris’s decision to make housing