"People hate Joe Biden, Harris quotes David Plouffe, her senior strategist and an Obama White House veteran, as saying. What's unstated is that Harris was never a vote-magnet. When she ran for attorney general of California in 2010, she won by less than 1%, a margin of fewer than 80,000 votes in a deep blue state. Seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, her bid ended in December 2019, two months before the Iowa caucus."
"Fast forward to 2024. Harris's second White House run was hardly conventional, plunged as she was into the maelstrom with just those 107 Days to go. Clearly, thanks to Biden and his enablers, Harris faced steep challenges. Nonetheless, timidity and indecision pocked her campaign. Fear of being overshadowed led her to pick a disheveled dad for vice-president. No one foisted the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, on Harris. He became her prime-time emotional support pet, all the same."
"With cameras rolling, JD Vance, then an Ohio senator, played Mr Nice Guy instead of a pit bull, lulling Walz into somnolent irrelevance. When Tim fell for it and started nodding and smiling at JD's fake bipartisanship, I moaned to Doug [Emhoff, her husband], What is happening?' Harris recalls. I told the television screen: You're not there to make friends with the guy who is attacking your running mate.'"
Two central conclusions emerge: Joe Biden should not have sought re-election and Kamala Harris lacked suitability for a national ticket. Biden was hampered by age and overconfidence, perceived by many as a failure and losing broad public support. Harris struggled to attract wide electoral backing, narrowly winning the 2010 California attorney general race and ending her 2020 presidential bid before Iowa. Her 2024 effort began with only 107 days remaining, faced structural obstacles, and showed timidity and indecision. The choice of Tim Walz as running mate, his weak debate showing, and JD Vance's tactical approach further undermined the campaign.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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