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Before becoming her party's presidential nominee, Kamala Harris had no real, measurable positive impact on the public during her nearly four years in the White House. She operated largely under the radar and fell short when it came to some of her most high-profile missions.
She was not widely known herself as a leader. She wasn't gaining many new fans. She had not yet fully earned her next position. In Washington circles, she was known more for her rocky relationships with staff and low approval ratings than for her actual accomplishments.
Harris struggles to highlight 'one policy' difference between her and Biden
Indeed, throughout the first years of the Biden-Harris administration, the vice president was praised for playing a major role in the fights over abortion and voting rights and forging strong relationships with key foreign allies. Although she was ridiculed for her word salad and sharp laughs, she never overtly undermined the administration's policies. To those who saw her up close, she was impressive but not iconic, charismatic but not yet a superstar.
And on July 21, when Joe Biden stepped down and Harris took his place, she was good enough. Democrats and Never Trumpers have said it many times. They just wanted healthy people. Ordinary people. Someone sane. A different person. Someone who isn't Biden, someone who isn't Trump. Someone else.
I would vote for a politician who works, not Biden or Trump.
I would vote for that squirrel in the tree over Mr. Trump.
There are no perfect candidates.
The country needs to turn the page on its tired, eccentric old men.
Harris can handle it.
Maybe Harris will surprise us.
And she surprised them.
No one, not even Harris herself, knew what was going to happen that slushy summer Sunday afternoon when Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race and endorsed him as the No. 2 Democratic presidential nominee.
A derecho-sized sigh of relief came from Democrats coast to coast, north to south, and every blue enclave in between.
President Biden's dismal debate performance in June exposed the extent of his decline and put a clear and stark spotlight on his limitations as a candidate and as a candidate for a second term. Democratic voters and party loyalists, Trump critics, Trump haters, and Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers all feared the worst. They are obsessed with an octogenarian with failing eyesight who cannot deliver the votes and is certain to lose the election. And then their unthinkable, impossible nightmare will happen: Donald Trump will return to the White House.
After weeks of party pressure and the kind of tortuous political intrigue rarely seen in this country, Biden agreed to withdraw his re-election bid. He avoided a contest for the Democratic nomination and handed the torch to Harris. Biden said in a statement that hiring Harris as his vice president was “the best decision I ever made,” adding, “I fully support and support Kamala as our party's nominee this year.” I will.''
“It's time for Democrats to come together and defeat Trump,” he added.
This powerful affirmation was standard, but bogus. Mr. Biden and his team, even members of the vice president's office, have long said that Ms. Harris is not yet ready to be president and would be a weak, perhaps hopeless, candidate against Mr. Trump. I was thinking about it for a while. Some White House officials clung to the belief that the visibly weakened Biden remained the less risky option. He was as confident as he was concerned about his long-held view of Harris.
When Harris accepted Biden's appointment, she seemed to become a political supernova overnight. She expanded, tilted and improved. She displayed charm and grit, confidence and swagger, grace and grit. She was great in the current emergency situation.
Democrats who were once dispirited by Biden's candidacy now cheered as loudly as they exhaled. Dominant media took great pleasure in covering the great story and endorsing the Democratic heroine. Newspaper headlines and cable hype went beyond mere hagiography to farce. The blindfold was firmly in place. The summer buzzword is vibe shift and joyand of course, brat.
Harris chose a tight-knit running mate, including picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after a much-shortened vetting process, and held a strong, dignified and lively convention in Chicago. I made it a success. Harris was in command. Her polls were competitive and she was a big fundraiser.
But atmosphere alone cannot sustain a presidential campaign, and supernovae, no matter how bright and intense they explode, will fizzle out within a few weeks. When that shine faded, voters were left with the same Kamala Harris, the same Kamala Harris she had always known, and someone who was highly suspect in her own camp.
Kamala Harris didn't have a clear theory or governing ability to win a campaign, and she never tested presidential-level skills. Reality set in and she started to stall.
By Labor Day, the brat's summer was all but gone. It turns out that this change in mood is not a national phenomenon at all, but rather a visceral, manic reaction among the Democratic base.
By Labor Day, the brat's summer was all but gone. It turns out that this change in mood is not a national phenomenon at all, but rather a visceral, manic reaction among the Democratic base.
Meanwhile, independents, double-haters and undecided voters stood and took notice, waiting to learn more about Harris' positions and policy plans. But Harris offered no rationale for becoming president beyond preventing Trump from seeking a second term. By Labor Day, Ms. Harris had not given any tough interviews, given consistently candid answers about her intentions after taking office, and had not contacted Red America. she did not risk convention “What did my party do wrong?” He conceded on everything, eschewing the boldness and political awareness that have been at the core of every president elected since Bill Clinton.
Harris' supporters enjoyed another burst of adrenaline when she faced off against Trump in the Sept. 9 presidential debate. Harris was a strong performer, but the debate ironically only highlighted her fundamental problems. She looked good, sounded good, seemed relaxed and unflinching, and played well with Trump's ego, but in front of a large audience of adoring citizens, she had no choice but to hammer home the hard facts and self-centered. failed to clarify the issues. It was an appallingly short-sighted example of style over substance, and a terrible wasted opportunity.
It's time for Harris to stop being fooled by atmosphere and metaphors and get to work.
But can she?
Kimmel's network, ABC, has come under scrutiny for some of its ties to the Harris-Waltz campaign. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Her work history showed that the arduous task of crafting a message and headline a full-fledged campaign could be an uphill climb. Biden and many White House operatives remain concerned that Harris will not be able to beat Trump, and memories of her failed attempts to prepare Harris for both the presidential race and the campaign are still fresh in her mind.
Even those with short memories know that Ms. Harris has so far failed to demonstrate adeptness at assembling the basic building blocks of a viable national candidate. During her extensive and distinguished career in California, Harris made as many enemies as friends, with a significant number of local Democrats, including both political operatives and ordinary citizens, refusing to enthusiastically support her. and in some cases refused to support her under any circumstances.
Harris was not a particularly prominent or popular member of the Senate, so she failed to impress many of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle. In fact, some of her biggest critics to date have been fellow senators who served with her on Capitol Hill, but to be fair, she held that position until becoming vice president. There was little time to establish.
Her presidential bid, which she launched in January 2019, ended before the year was out. She failed to convey her message of victory, failed to gain support, and ran out of money before a single vote was cast. A postmortem on her campaign highlighted her apparent lack of determination, credibility, direction, and guiding principles.
CNN data expert says Trump's popularity is higher than in past elections while Harris' momentum is 'stagnant'
The various criticisms that have flowed through Harris' professional rise are intertwined with weaknesses in her current campaign. For most of the fall, it was difficult for her to get the message across. She has struggled to create winning soundbites from interviews and rallies. Despite her freshly honed oratory style, Harris delivered a too vague and measured argument, failing to evoke a crystallizing moment, a spiritual revelation. Throughout most of the campaign, her travel schedule was strangely light, with few rallies, no intercontinental blitzkrieg operations, and a lack of coordination within her organization, calendar, and polling stations.
Even among some Democrats who are keen to see Harris win, the candidate who was mentioned before she stormed to the nomination is now being mentioned all too often. I still have a strong feeling that this is the case. These Democrats look at people living in the moment instead of dealing with the situation.
If Harris loses on Nov. 5, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has followed her political path over the past few decades. All the signs were there.
But at this point, even if Harris were to win and force Donald Trump into retirement once and for all, it would be little short of a shock.
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With less than three weeks left, Harris is showing new signs of life, coming into his own and having more fun. Her latest anti-Trump catchphrase —unstable, unstable, unchecked–There seems to be something that resonates with you. She pivots from something that seems divisive (shattering previously held liberal positions) to something she enjoys (a cheeky denunciation of Trump's suitability for the presidency). It radiates a refreshing glow of sincerity.
Democrats are fired up and the country is ready for a reset. Harris has millions of supporters who are willing to vote for her, and not just because they hate Trump, want to vote for a woman, or are pure Democrats. These people are currently voting for Harris herself because they value her accomplishments so highly. Ms. Harris' resume has always been solid and hard-earned, and she will need to demonstrate real skill, stamina, and determination to become a U.S. senator and vice president. Despite a strange confluence of events that led to her being chosen as the Democratic nominee, Harris is currently standing her ground. among them Certainly, and there is a chance of winning.
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Even as the country races toward Election Day, Harris still has time to blend summer vibes with the steely gladiator focus she displayed last week. Confronting Mr. Trump, one of the most formidable, most creative, and most agile campaigners of our time, is no easy feat. Of all the variables at stake in a presidential campaign, the qualifications of the candidates are extremely important, perhaps the most important.
And no one ever said winning the White House would be easy, even as a candidate. especially Perhaps for a candidate who was given the party's nomination without a contest.
