Like a lot of issues, we don't really know where Kamala Harris stands on reparations. But supporters of the idea note that she has said some vaguely positive things about it in the past and they are hopeful that she'll take up the issue again if she's elected.

Reparations advocates say Harris’s past comments and her new position as the first Black and Asian American woman to head a presidential ticket give them renewed hope that the movement to provide recompense for Black Americans for decades of discrimination could gain new, national traction.

“We have a Black woman with a lived experience and a heart for the Black community,” said Robin Rue Simmons, a former alderman in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill., who pushed a program that provides qualifying Black residents with $25,000 to address the city’s history of housing discrimination. “I believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is the leader to advance this conversation at the federal level.”

Is this a left-wing fever dream or could this actually happen? The truth is that no one knows. This is one downside of Harris never giving interviews. On top of that, she has already flip-flopped on a number of issues compared to what she was saying back in 2019.

Since becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris’s campaign, speaking for her, has rejected her 2019 opposition to fracking...her past support of a single payer health care program and her more liberal proposals on immigration.

The Harris campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment on her current position on reparations.

In short, Harris has been running away from all the evidence that she is a far-left candidate and trying her best to appear moderate. So the fact that neither she nor her campaign will touch this topic probably means it falls into the same category as these other issues, i.e. things she would have to distance herself from if asked.

Of course I don't believe Harris has really changed her opinions on any of these issues. She's still a far-left candidate but she has to pretend otherwise for the next couple months. If she wins, then she'll suddenly revert to form and, yes, reparations could be one of the things she suddenly remembers. But as with most of the left's agenda, there is a problem. Support for reparations is very narrow.

While 75 percent of Black Americans support federal reparations, only 15 percent of White Americans and 36 percent of Hispanic Americans agree.

This issue is not going to be a winner at the ballot box. One Democratic PAC leader summed it up this way, "I think reparations will be a major policy conversation over the next few years, but I don’t think we need to start that conversation before the election."

I don't think Kamala Harris is going to drive this train, certainly not this year. Even if she's elected, it would be a very unpopular way to spend whatever small amount of political capital she might have. Maybe she would mention it at some point and get the activists excited but, realistically, there is no chance anything happens on the national level in the next four years. For the time being, this really is a left-wing fever dream. Even the reliably leftist commenters at the Post know it. A few examples:

• "Do they want her to lose?"
• "The headline should read 'Election is Harris's to lose; reparations advocates hope she will push extreme and massively unfavorable policy and lose'"
• "Reparations is a political dead letter and always will be. Give it up."
• "Just NO. Why would you want to throw this massive fireball of an issue into the race at this point?"

There are hundreds more like this. Almost no one thinks this is a good idea and quite a few are angry at the Washington Post for even mentioning it this close to election day. When your own side runs away from an issue, that's a clear sign it's a loser.

Also, is it just me or does the photo at the top of the Post's story look Photoshopped? I don't mean the image is fake, but the photo of Kamala at the center seems to be glowing as if it's backlit while everything around it is shrouded in darkness. Is this another case of a photojournalist trying to send a message? 

Barack Obama -- Halo pic.twitter.com/7nOhu28qoD

— Atsilv 🦅 (@ShadowN8V) March 31, 2022