Presidential candidates hesitate to single out the poor for extra help

In her major economic speech last Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris declared that “building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency, because I strongly believe when the middle class is strong, America is strong.” Her approach follows in the footsteps of her Democratic predecessors -- Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden all embraced versions of a middle-out approach to build the American economy.

But in a Pew poll conducted earlier this year, 9 out of 10...