Today the NY Times published a story about Kamala Harris which mostly reads as an attempt by someone, probably Harris herself but maybe someone at the Times as well, to remind people that she exists and that she's running for president again. Here's how it opens.
The one thing that Kamala Harris absolutely, definitely, most certainly does not want to talk about is whether she is thinking about running for president again.
“It’s three years from nooooow,” the former vice president pleaded in an interview last month, sitting in a leather chair backstage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville before one of the final stops on her nationwide book tour. “I mean, honestly.”
Ms. Harris is busy selling books — a lot of them. She is not yet selling herself.
Three paragraphs in I was ready to stop reading. Nevertheless, I persisted and I'm glad I did because eventually the article does discuss something interesting. How does Harris, who recently turned down an offer to run for Gavin Newsom's job as governor get along with the man who has already been running for president for a year. The story suggests they are none too fond of one another at this point.
Their relationship is complex, to say the least. In her book, she needled him by revealing that he never returned her call the day Mr. Biden dropped out. “Hiking. Will call back,” he texted.
(Incidentally, Mr. Newsom said on a podcast at the time that he had been on a treadmill; an aide clarified that he was initially on a treadmill and later went on a hike.)
Mr. Newsom has questioned why the episode was included, given that he endorsed her so quickly. He texted Ms. Harris to ask her this after her book came out, he recounted recently to a video game streamer.
He said she had a pithy reply of her own: “On book tour. Get back to you later.”
“Anyway,” Mr. Newsom said with a laugh, “that’s the relationship.”
Harris has repeatedly been criticized for her staff turnover rate. It seems people find her difficult to take as a boss. But it sounds like that has all worked out rather well for Gavin Newsom.
The Newsom and Harris circles of advisers have always overlapped. But Mr. Newsom has now subsumed Ms. Harris’s former network to a startling degree.
Her former chief of staff is now his. Her former chief consulting firm is now his. Her former campaign manager ran Mr. Newsom’s redistricting ballot measure campaign.
Meanwhile, her political orbit is still shrinking: Sheila Nix, currently her top adviser, is leaving at the end of the year.
Asked directly if she could see Newsom as president one day, she gave a politician's answer: "I think Gavin is very talented. I really do. And I think we have many talented people." She can't endorse him when she's planning to run herself.
If the Harris camp thought this book tour interview would be good for her profile, they should really read the comments. Here's the most upvoted comment:
No, she is definitely ready to be written off. Absolutely no vision for helping Americans. Not saying the alternative was better. But Americans said no. They will keep saying no as long as the Democratic Party machine keeps trying to ram tired, corporate candidates down our throats.
Here's #2 (both have more than 1,100 upvotes):
She may not be done with politics, but we are done with her. I feel a large amount of anger at the current state of affairs in this country and blame Harris and Biden for badly handling and losing the election. Accountability can sting, but we are all suffering from the consequences of that election. Done with Harris.
I'm not exaggerating. Almost every comment is negative. There are 802 comments on this story and I had to scroll down to the very bottom to find someone who said they would vote for Harris again. Here's a positive one with three upvotes.
Harris 2028! Yes I said it. This woman inspired more enthusiasm, hope and joy than had been seen since 2008 Obama. And it wasn't just Trump hate. As this article so clearly explains, people are very dedicated to her and still completely inspired by her. There is nobody and I mean nobody who is thinking of running that can match that energy and most importantly nobody that can match her standing with the two most important voting blocs as mentioned in the article: black voters and women. The nomination will run through those people and it's hers if she wants it.
Brat summer! Those people do exist but check it for yourself, the first 150 comments, all the ones with hundreds and thousands of upvotes are negative, telling her to read the room and get out. At the very bottom of the pile with fewer than 5 upvotes each are a handful of people (maybe 1 in 20) saying they'd voter for her again. The overall ratio here is absolutely overwhelming. I've never seen the comments so lopsided.
My takeaway is simple. Harris has zero chance of being nominated. Anyone who donates money to this campaign is a moron.
