Almost a year after taking office, the debate over her suitability as the president’s successor has become one of the great concerns of the Democratic party in a country that still struggles to place women and racial minorities in a situation of can. Despite the fact that Biden, who will be 82 years old in 2024, has shown his intention to run for a second term if health permits, the uncertainty about the electoral future has reached edges of panic among his ranks, including some senior officials from the current administration, faced with the possibility that Harris was not prepared to prevail over a Republican candidate, who knows if even Donald Trump.
In recent months the party elites have had at least two ‘crisis dinners’, where among the topics to be discussed was the so-called ‘problem with Harris’. The great fear is that history will repeat itself and the vice president will become another Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that it is often forgotten that the latter garnered more support in the 2016 elections (the popular vote), even if she ended up losing to Trump. .
With new voting restriction laws recently passed in many southern states, the fear now is of getting “stuck” with a Harris nomination, whose approval rating is barely 40%, even lower than that of the president. The party’s lack of support for Harris would be labeled racism, alienating the minority vote and creating multiple problems for Democrats.
As if that were not enough, the vice president is the victim of obsessive scrutiny in the media and continuous campaigns of demonization aimed at undermining the political future of who is called to take the witness in case Joe Biden decides not to stand in the elections given his old age. From rumors of a rift with the president – based on not appearing together in public enough – to a spate of leaks about mounting tensions between West Wing officials and Harris’s team, including his chief of staff Tina Flournoy, attempts to erode the tandem have been constant and unleashed nervousness in the White House.
In Republican circles, prone to indulging misogyny and racism, attacks on Harris have been redoubled in order to wear down the potential Democratic nominee. That if the position is too big for him, that if he does not visit the border with Mexico, that he is very much left over, that if he pretended a French accent in his meeting with President Macrón … Everything is the subject of controversy and in political forums they are often degrading comments loaded with racial references to cast doubt on their authenticity or their belonging to the national culture. The media, for their part, accuse the vice president of being the only reason for friction within a disciplined administration, otherwise no joke, focused on dealing with the serious problems facing the country.
Tension among Democrats
A recent CNN report based on unofficial interviews with government personnel laid out details illustrating the tension between the Biden team and Harris’ team, something the vice president’s office has called “gossip.” The news channel even devoted an entire program to speculating on the ‘Harris issue’, forcing White House chief of staff Ron Klain to come out in defense of the vice president.
The Los Angeles Times has a blog that analyzes Harris’s daily work schedule in detail, and across the Atlantic, Britain’s The Times dedicates an online column to covering the vice president’s “nefarious” mistakes. Opinion columns in major newspapers are not far behind. In the Washington Post, she is ruled out as president with only one term in the Senate, which has never been an impediment to male candidates, including the previous president. The fact that female journalists are assigned the job of discrediting Harris in order to avoid being accused of being prejudiced seems to obviate that misogyny and racism come from everywhere. Among the frequent reproaches that are thrown at her is that of not settling for the role for which she was chosen from a lot of candidates.
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, on the White House lawn. /
But the reality is different. The election of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s traveling companion in the difficult generals of 2020 obeyed her high profile to secure the key vote of African Americans, especially women, and to consolidate the great national coalition that took the presidency from Trump . Since taking office, Harris has faded from the public eye. The tasks entrusted to her by the president, as an immigration envoy to Central America, in charge of protecting the right to vote, or NASA programs, are low-luster projects with no short-term solution.
Much of the vice president’s work goes under the public radar on issues such as channeling support for small businesses in communities of color and women, or the bill to pass national legislation that protects voting rights at the federal level and puts slowing down Republican efforts to restrict it at the state level.
None
As Speaker of the Senate, Harris is in possession of the crucial tiebreaker vote that has allowed the famished Democratic majority in the House to hold and pass President Biden’s legislative agenda so far this year, including the pandemic bailout package. Also the infrastructure law, the historic billion-dollar bill that the president pushed through in November and that should have been a victory for Harris because of the role he played behind the scenes, but for which he has barely made a profit. After more than 30 public events and dozens of meetings with members of Congress, in the end it was Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, absent during tough negotiations – parental leave for the birth of his baby – who snatched Harris public recognition as a spokesperson. of the plan.
However, the once powerful senator from California who, with fiscal discipline, thoroughly questioned members of the Trump Administration in their appearances before the Senate, seems to have lost a bit in her last public appearances.
The candidate who during the last vice-presidential debate was left untouched by Mike Pence’s incessant interruptions with a “let me, I’m talking,” seems caught in the crossfire between her supporters and her critics. An unprecedented scenario for Harris, who is prevented by the limits of his position from taking measures to face the political moment he is going through.
Although in all administrations, regardless of the ruling party, there is always a certain tension between the president and the vice president, the natural successor to power tends to withdraw well into the legislature from hinting at political ambitions. In this sense, Biden’s team, very sensitive to signs of disloyalty, seems determined that Harris’s options are reduced.
The friendship and connection between Joe Biden and President Barak Obama, who saw his vice president as a father figure to trust and seek advice, has not continued with Kamala Harris. His position has been filled by former Biden associates, with whom he has already worked and in whose loyalty he trusts. The timing is also particularly complicated. With rising inflation and his own approval rating dropping to 38 percent, Harris is probably one of his least worries.
Kamala Harris, with the French President, Emmanuel Macron. /
Kamala Harris, with many miles, public office and elections behind her, seems to be taking notice and may be hatching a new strategy. “Polls change,” he recalled in a recent television interview. In fact, a new poll, the first since speculation began with the 2024 election, places Harris ahead of potential Democratic candidates in a hypothetical primary with 13% support, followed by the former first lady. Michelle Obama, who has repeatedly said not to include her in the polls.
In a sneak peek of things to come, Kamala Harris debuted as interim president just over a month ago when President Joe Biden temporarily transferred his powers to her while she underwent a colonoscopy under anesthesia. And although 90 minutes are no more than anecdotal, on a symbolic level she became the first woman in history in that position.
A Democratic Front to Stop the “Whispering Campaign”
Many in the Democratic party, including senior White House officials, have come to the defense of the vice president to stem the avalanche of leaks about alleged internal problems in her office. In addition to Klain’s denials, Biden’s top adviser, Cedric Richmond, has called the rumors a “whispering campaign designed to sabotage her.” In the environment of the vice president, they also think that she is not adequately positioned, even that they marginalize her. Kamala Harris herself has privately admitted feeling “limited” politically.
Among the Democrats who support Harris there is a general consensus that, as a leader, Kamala Harris does not receive much support from the White House, and that she should occupy leadership positions rather than carry weight, in a way that could underpin her leadership, strengthening her and also the party in the long run. The teachings of the Clinton campaign are still fresh in the memory of Democrats, interested in curbing some gender dynamics in the press coverage of the vice president with a view to future elections.
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