The Democrats’ Kamala Harris Problem

Yesterday, over at Townhall, Matt Vespa dove into the question that has begun making the rounds yet again after the release of Joe Biden’s scandalous classified documents investigation. But this debate isn’t over Joe himself, but rather his running mate. How exactly did Kamala Harris wind up in the number two slot? There are a couple of bits of low-hanging fruit that might explain it, but the issue is taking on more significance now that Biden’s grip on the presidency is looking a bit more tenuous. Matt points us to what might have been a less obvious answer in 2020, but now is suddenly making a lot more sense. And it was brought up recently by Senator Tom Cotton. 

Let’s call it like it is: Kamala Harris was chosen because she’s 25th Amendment insurance. https://t.co/6aAfOk4tQf

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) February 9, 2024

Could that have been the plan all along? Was the Biden team reading the tea leaves and establishing a plan just in case things in his presidency went pear-shaped and people started getting funny ideas about removing him prematurely? If that was the concern, perhaps they thought the best way to prevent such an eventuality was to ensure that the replacement waiting in the wings was an even bigger trainwreck. At the New York Post, Dan McLaughlin wanders down a similar path in an opinion piece where he explains why “It’s time for a serious talk about Veep Kamala Harris.”

How better to do this than to elevate the vice president to the presidency and have her run as an incumbent?

But this time, it’s Kamala Harris. She’s even more unpopular than Biden or Trump, with a 35.5% approval rating at this writing. Her favorability has been under water in every single poll taken since August 2021.

And as we’ve seen repeatedly, Harris doesn’t improve upon close inspection. She was kept out of high-profile appearances during the 2020 campaign, and that has largely continued.

Every time the White House has said she was in charge of an issue, it got worse.

At the time of her selection, picking Harris wasn’t hard for most people to explain at a quick glance since they are Democrats. She ticked most of the right boxes. She was female and Black with some experience in elected office. The only thing that would have made her perfect would have been if she was a lesbian, but you can’t have everything in this world.

Now, however, in light of current circumstances, some other factors merit consideration. Remember that even back during the 2020 Democratic primary, nobody wanted to see Harris in office, even among Democrats. She came in near the back of the pack in every primary, even in her home state. Even those Democrats who took her seriously complained about her record of “over-incarceration” and prosecutions in California. 

Now things are only worse. As McLaughlin notes, Kamala’s approval ratings are actually worse than Biden’s, a nearly historic feat in and of itself. And one of the top issues for voters this year, along with crime and inflation, is the disaster at the border. Who was supposed to be our “border czar?” Oh, that’s right. Kamala. 

I’m not sure if Biden and his handlers had thought all of this through before he even took office. It seems unlikely. But if Kamala Harris truly was intended to be “25th Amendment insurance,” it certainly seems to be working out well for them. But the people it’s not working out well for at all are the rest of the Democrats.

If the Democrats reach the point where they feel they have to dump Biden but they realize swapping in Harris wouldn’t help matters, what other options are there? McLaughlin points out that bribing her to leave the stage gracefully of her own volition probably wouldn’t work. What could they offer her that would be more tempting than what she has now? She would be one of the most laughably unqualified nominees for a Supreme Court seat imaginable. She almost certainly won’t be offered a shot at Feinstein’s Senate seat. She might consider becoming a Governor and Gavin Newsom is near the top of many people’s short lists to replace Biden, but how could that be made to work in short order?

Yes, the Democrats do indeed appear to have a Kamala Harris problem. And there is no easy, practical solution to it on the horizon. We should probably just break out the popcorn and wait to see how it all plays out.