WHAT KAMALA HARRIS MEANS BY ‘FREEDOM.’ Kamala Harris loves “Freedom,” the song by Beyonce that the vice president uses as her entrance music for campaign appearances. Harris has also made “freedom,” the word, the theme of her campaign. It’s hard to tell whether the theme came from the song or the campaign’s use of the song came from the theme. A New York Times analysis said “Freedom,” the song, gave “Democrats a muscular keyword with widespread appeal to voters across partisan lines” and also “offer[ed] a deeper meaning for a candidate hoping to make history as the first black and South Asian woman president.” A shorter version of that might be that “freedom” tested well.

But what does Harris mean by “freedom”? She has elaborated on it in some campaign speeches. (It should be noted that Harris hasn’t actually given many campaign speeches, even though the campaign is now in its final stretch, because she started so late, after a secretive group of Democratic power brokers pushed President Joe Biden out of the race.) By “freedom,” Harris does not mean the basic rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, the press, and assembly. When Harris says “freedom,” she means the freedom for people to experience the priority items on the Democratic Party agenda.