In this thread “If it’s Biden vs Trump, who will be the VP candidates?” (If it's Biden vs Trump, who will be the VP candidates? - #35 by Jackmannii) PastTense says that Kamala Harris is “unelectable as President in 2028”, and there seemed to be some agreement on that.
IANA American and I am curious about why that is. Thanks
She has nothing like the qualifications people feel necessary in a president. She’s not a good speaker, not with a prepared script and flat out awful at answering questions. She has little experience in anything except as a prosecutor in California. Personally I think that doesn’t say much even for the position of prosecutor or a state AG… because California. She has minimal political relationships, no experience in the federal government save for her position as VP which she seems to be returning to it’s previous status as nearly pointless while the president is alive.
At this point, it’s because “reasons”. DJT threw out the concept of unelectability as far as POTUS is concerned.
In addition to being a bit stiff, she often just doesn’t come off as terribly charismatic in general. Biden has a certain degree of charm - not a shit-ton mind you, but some. Harris just doesn’t have much flair, which sadly is a serious demerit in today’s media-driven campaigns.
She also gets a serious side-eye from some progressives due to her law enforcement background, which might further impact enthusiasm/get-out-the-vote efforts. Not that Biden is beloved by progressives either, but he has had the specter of horror (Trump) driving turnout through fear. Harris might not have the same motivator working for her, or at least not to the same degree. Though if Trump loses 2024 but makes another run in 2028, who knows 
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There has also been persistent rumors of dysfunction in her campaign management during her presidential nomination run. Lack of campaigning acumen by her or her staff would be a serious problem.
Which isn’t even to mention misogyny and racism of course. But those folks were never going to vote for her anyway. Her real challenge would be to excite people ostensibly on her side of the fence to get out and vote for her.
That said I don’t think she is literally unelectable. Rather she will have fewer advantages and have a more vertical climb than some.
As a Californian, I like her just fine. I voted for her in every opportunity I’ve had so far. Not sure I’d vote for her for president, it depends on the other candidates. (She withdrew before the 2020 California primary.)
The way you get elected President in the United States is by winning the popular vote in individual states that collectively represent 270 electoral votes. The Republican and Democratic candidates each start with about 20 or so states effectively in the bag, so it’s really about 10-12 states where the Presidential election is decided.
Several of these states are midwestern states that have high populations of white, non-college-educated voters. These voters went strongly for Trump in 2016, giving him these states. Biden was able to bring these states back into the Democrat’s column in 2020 by – in part – performing better with this demographic than HRC had. The question is whether Haris would have the same appeal, and if not what coalition she could put together in these states (or how she could switch other states from the R to D column) in order to secure an electoral majority.
Well, she ran before and did poorly. But by that matrix, Biden was unelectable too. I don’t share the view that she couldn’t win, but as others have said, she’s certainly not a shoe in.
In addition to many potential political factors and some missteps as San Francisco DA and California AG, she is reputed to be hard to get along with and the working environment in her VP office has been described as “abusive”. Of course Trump is about ten million time worse in every respect, but he caters to a totally different demographic of mostly unhinged lunatics.
She’s not white, she’s married to a Jewish person and she’s a woman. This is America we’re talking about.
When she spoke in the debates and elsewhere prior to Biden winning, she always came across to me as bored, disinterested and sarcastic. Not to mention having zero charisma.
She is demographically blessed, or cursed, YMMV. But as a blessing that’s insufficient by itself to be elected president. There is no message to convey to the American people about the advantage of a Harris presidency. The comparisons to Biden are absurd, he succeeded under unique circumstances that I think Harris would be unlikely to face. I suppose given a sufficiently dislikable opponent Harris could be elected president but it would have to be someone even more disliked than Biden’s opponent.
And I am talking about 2028 after two full Biden terms. If she has any potential as a presidential candidate, like any other VP the underling position is a terrible for establishing your perceived qualifications for the top job.
Out of curiousity, would vote for her against any present-day GOP candidate?
She’s a double minority; black and a female.
To be clear, I meant, in the primary, as compared to other Democrats. Of course I would vote for her over any republican.
Not sure why I was mentioned in the OP in connection with Kamala Harris, as I said nothing about her in the linked post.
I don’t see Harris as “unelectable”. She hasn’t stood out to me one way or the other, but you could say that about VPs in general.
That’s weird. I thought that I was just copying the thread title and link. I don’t know why your username was picked up as well. At any rate, that wasn’t intentional at all, sorry.
Ah ok, understood.
I don’t think Biden was considered unelectable so much as he was considered a poorer candidate for president than the many others he ran against in primaries and therefore unlikely to ever reach the main event. Kamala Harris falls far under that status. People dislike her in general, unfairly perhaps, but that’s the kind of negative that can’t be easily overcome. It can be done, Nixon did it, but he didn’t start off with the lack of perceived qualifications that Harris has. He successfully changed his image so people could focus on his positives. Harris is sorely lacking in positives. Perhaps people will remember the result when an unpopular candidate without such positives did in 2016. Harris is not considered as presidential material by many people even in her own party, she needs something else to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate and so far she doesn’t demonstrate any potential in that regard.
If you want to properly cite an entire thread, go to the topmost post (the OP) and click the chain icon at the bottom of that topmost post, then the copy icon in the pop-up, then paste the result into your post.
If you want to properly cite a particular post in another thread, go to that particular post and click the chain icon at the bottom of that particular post, then the copy icon in the pop-up, then paste the result into your post.
Trying to copy the url seen in your own browser’s address window with the other thread on the screen is not the right way to do that and results in what you got.
I think this is exactly correct. I would vote for Harris easily against any (currently) imaginable R opponent, and likewise there are people in many Red states that would reflexively vote against her - in either case, my state and those Red states wont make much difference. But it’s those purple states that make all the difference in our Presidential elections. Fickle, they are.
Anyway, While Biden was able to flip some of those states in 2020, they can just as easily be flipped back next time around. Harris has had the pedal to the floor with the whole “Look at me! I am the first like me to be here! Isn’t that inspiring!?!?” thing which, my perception here, will not garner a lot of enthusiasm amongst some key voting groups in purple states that could go either way, or went more for Biden last time around but could easily be swayed back the other way next time. Her other credentials not withstanding, Harris would be a risky proposition for a Presidential run, unless there is some polling that suggests she’d keep engagement with those same voting groups.