I mean, she’s getting the same on-the-job training Biden had, and from someone who’s been there. She’s intelligent and seems charming. I haven’t been following her work as VP, but the idea of her as President doesn’t seem unlikely. Or does it? And if not, why not?
There’s a (semi?)serious conversation going on right now about the host of a TV comedy show (I’m a fan of both him and Trevor Noah) running for President, after all.
She’s almost certainly gonna be a candidate sometime soon (2028 at the latest), and based on the track record, likely will become a party nominee. Every Democratic Vice President back to Mondale has been the Democratic prez nominee in a subsequent election.
I’m probably alone in the camp of finding her delivery somewhat, forced, dare I say overwrought? Sure, I get that you have to have some semblance of orating abilities to get your party’s message across, but more often than not, it looks like she’s trying to be too emphatic, where everything has the same sense of urgency. This isn’t a gigantic gripe - if she maybe toned it down just a little…the odd relaxed inflection…some modulating, somewhere. Her constant trumpeting, alas, somewhat dilutes, for me, the way she puts herself cross.
In the 2020 primary campaign Harris hit 15% approval among Democrats at one point but rapidly dropped to single digits despite massive funding and celebrity promotion. The DNC is going to be reluctant to push an ‘ethnic’ candidate that might alienate their Mid-West liberal contingent (hence their constant distancing of Stacey Abrams despite how well she has delivered for the party in Georgia), and she hasn’t actually shown strong support among black voters, probably in part due to her record as California attorney general and that many people don’t view her as being ‘really Black’ due to her mixed heritage. (Yes, Obama also had a mixed heritage but his background and representation make him much more appealing to black voters in general.) Harris hasn’t really had much visibility as Vice President, and much of what she has had has been less than positive with constant rumors of internal strife in her office.
I think that from a standpoint of experience Harris is as strong as any candidate, and she is a good speaker with a lot of backing, but she is not a generally popular candidate among voters. There are half a dozen candidates with broader appeal than Harris and would frankly be a better choice.
Stranger
I think she would likely do a fine job as President.
Having her as the nominee though would guarantee a GOP win.
Sadly, you may be right.
I am not a huge fan of Harris, but we could (and have) done worse.
Kolak_of_Twilo is spot on. There are plenty of people in this country who simply won’t accept a female president, let alone one that isn’t 100% white. Will that attitude change? Let’s hope so, but it won’t be in my lifetime, if ever.
Her best (only?) path to the presidency is if Biden dies or resigns.
True, but Hillary almost won, and she did win the popular vote. If it wasn’t for the Comey memo (and a few other things) she would have beat trump.
A woman is electable. A black person is electable. But both? I dunno. Maybe.
The only way I see it happening is if Biden dies in office and she takes over and proves she can do the job well. She could then run for reelection and would probably win. Not that I’m wishing that all happens.
Yeah, you may be right. Good point.
These days, though, I almost feel it’s required to ask how much her unelectability is real and how much is “many people are saying.” Not saying she IS electable, but if there’s already an idea in people’s minds (especially the media) that she can’t win, the stories are likely going to be slanted that way. She hasn’t had any huge scandals.
This isn’t intended to be confrontational, more educational: like who?
I like her but I doubt she can win. I’d certainly vote for her but I think women candidates come to the plate inheriting a 0-2 count.
She will run in 2024, but won’t make any overt moves until Biden declines to run (wild guess: around Labor Day 2023). The nomination will be hotly contested, and should be. Democrats will not accept anything resembling a coronation. Biden will say she is well qualified, but won’t make an explicit endorsement.
I’m a big fan of Kamala Harris. I don’t know if she can get the nomination, but she needs to try. I was deeply upset by the sexism directed at Hillary Clinton, often in implicit double standards. I’m completely fed up with that shit. There will be more of the same, but we need women to keeping hammering away at it.
Republicans will fling lies, contempt, and ugliness at every Democrat they feel threatened by. A progressive, female, black, mixed-race Californian who went to a HBCU* will greatly trigger them. She’ll enjoy the badge of honor.
*historically black college or university.
She grew on me quite a bit during the campaign, but I haven’t seen much of her since.
But other names that I would love to see:
Jon Stewart with Katie Porter
Pete Buttigieg with Mallory Morgan
Jamie Raskin with Hakeem Jeffries
I could name several more, but these people would do a great job.
As with any Democratic candidate for President, she’d start out with 22 states (give or take) sure to vote for her and 22 states (give or take) sure to vote against her. A half dozen or so states in play will tip the electoral college one way or the other.
I have a hard time seeing Harris having the success that Biden did in the “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Biden brought these states back into the D column after Trump swept them in 2016, but I think that’s probably a fluke. Biden was almost uniquely positioned to appeal to these electorates, having built his whole political persona on appealing to blue collar whites. But she can afford to lose two of them if she holds onto the rest of Biden’s states.
No more celebrity candidates, please. I remember three- Reagan= a disaster, Schwarzenegger= Okay but not great, and trump= the very worst president in memory, a disaster of biblical proportions.
I like Pete, but an openly gay man can’t win the general. 
And married to a Jewish person.
I agree we don’t need any more celebrity candidates.
And while I admire the people listed I don’t see anyone who has a credible chance of winning. A gay man simply has no chance of wining, nor does someone who is Jewish. Today racist and misogynistic attitudes are so openly displayed I’m beginning to consider Obama’s election to be a fluke.
And who the heck is Mallory Morgan? Google isn’t giving me much of anything.
Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren (my personal favorite but seems to be everyone’s second or third choid), Sherrod Brown, Pete Buttigieg, Roy Cooper, Tammy Duckworth.
Kamala Harris is a candidate who looks great on paper—she’s personally accomplished, only slightly left of the ‘center’ of a Democratic party that is to the right of Nixon and almost Reaganesque in its policy goals, has ‘law & order’ credentials, presents and speaks well, has a lot of celebrity and business support, and has impeachable credentials serving as both a US senator and Vice President. Despite all of this, you’d be hard pressed to identify a message from her 2020 campaign; she has not distinguished herself as Vice President except for the constant string of VEEP-like anecdotes of the dysfunctional environment from the OEOB; and in general doesn’t seem to have a lot of support from either the moderate or (especially) the progressive wings of the Democratic party. She’s basically in the position of being a younger, more ethnic Hillary Clinton; fine but not inspiring, qualified but not outstanding, what accomplishments she’s made are overshadowed by criticisms of not being ‘enough’ of any particular wing.
If she were the candidate who won the Democratic primary I’d have no problem voting for her but the only way that would happen if is the DNC uses superdelegates to push her past other candidates. I hate to say it because I detest his excessive gadflyism, but Bernie Sanders would wipe the floor with her for not being sufficiently progressive and his followers would throw enough dirt—real or manufactured—to drag her down in a general election, and she just hasn’t shown the ability to rise above the churn. I’m sure she’d be at least a competent executive, but she has demonstrated that she’s just not very effective as a candidate, and that is the first hurdle of any candidate for office.
Stranger