6 Warning Signs Democrats Ignored About Kamala Harris
Public support for Vice President Kamala Harris has fallen so far, so fast that she has become a political liability even for her historically unpopular boss.
SO WHAT
Democrats can’t afford to overlook Harris’ weaknesses any longer.
WHAT HAPPENED
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll released Sunday put Harris’ approval rating at 28%, significantly beneath Biden’s new low for the pollster of 38%.
Latest USA Today/Suffolk survey: President Biden's approval rating has sunk to new low of 38%. So prepare to switch to VP Harris in 2024? Maybe not. Her approval rating is even worse at 28%.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) November 8, 2021
According to poll tracker FiveThirtyEight, Harris has lost nearly half her support among Americans since April, when her average approval rating was 55%.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Democrats have had plenty of warnings that Harris might not be a successful vice president — here are six red flags they failed to heed:
Jan. 17, 2019: The New York Times published an op-ed headlined “Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor.'”
Widely mistrusted by the activist left because of her law enforcement background, Harris never succeeded in building a Democratic base.
Dec. 3, 2019: Harris suspended her Democratic presidential campaign after a disappointing performance.
To my supporters, it is with deep regret—but also with deep gratitude—that I am suspending my campaign today.
But I want to be clear with you: I will keep fighting every day for what this campaign has been about. Justice for the People. All the people.https://t.co/92Hk7DHHbR
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019
Despite much fanfare — including then-President Barack Obama plugging her as a potential successor in his final days in the White House — Harris proved uninspiring as a political entity unto herself.
Aug. 11, 2020: Biden named Harris as his running mate in a historic moment for non-white women — which had little to do with her political assets.
I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020
The 4PM’s Curt Mills recalled in The American Conservative Monday: “Biden made a pledge of a female (she/her…) vice president to seal the deal in the spring 2020 primary season.”
- After George Floyd’s killing, “He needed a black woman — and stat,” and his team put together a short list, Mills wrote. “But Biden, the seasoned pol, had a warranted phobia of anyone who had not run and won statewide.”
- So, per Mills, “Harris, the only female black Democratic senator, got the nod, at last, by default.”
March 24, 2021: Biden appointed Harris as his immigration czar during a border crisis.
Media chatter ensued that Biden was sabotaging Harris’ political career with impossible assignments.
June 7, 2021: Harris’s took her first international trip, and it went sideways.
The Central America junket — during which Harris tried and failed to laugh off questions about why he hadn’t visited the border — exposed her political weaknesses even to friendly observers.
June 30, 2021: Politico publishes one of a series of unflattering reports detailing dysfunction in Harris’ office.
The news cycle raised further doubts about Harris’s abilities and personality.
WHAT’S NEXT
Once hailed as the Democrats’ future, Harris’ failures and plummeting popularity have some questioning whether she should even appear on the party’s 2024 ticket.
- “Democrats must look beyond Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for 2024,” Janan Ganesh argued last week in the Financial Times.