When Kamala Harris formally kicks off her presidential campaign at a rally Sunday, she plans to portray herself as a unifying antidote to the current toxic political climate, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks.

The first-term Democratic U.S. senator from California will give her speech in Oakland, her hometown, as she caps off her first full week as a 2020 contender. Central to her pitch to voters is a pledge to heal a deeply polarized country, a division she blames on President Trump.

“People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other. But that is not our story. That is not who we are,” the excerpts read.

That doesn’t preclude her from taking jabs at Trump, as she asserts that American democracy is “under attack and on the line like never before.”


“We are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question,” she is expected to say. “Who are we? Who are we as Americans? So, let’s answer that question. America, we are better than this.”

The speech will also hit on her key policy planks, including her support for a Medicare-for-all program and a tax credit for the working poor and middle class. Harris’ platform reflects the Democratic base’s leftward shift in recent years.

Her appeals to “the people” are a refrain throughout the remarks. Harris’ campaign slogan is “For the People” — a play on how she introduced herself in the courtroom when she worked as county prosecutor. The rally is being held blocks away from the Alameda County courthouse where Harris once worked.

“My whole life, I’ve had only one client: The People,” she will say.