'Underwhelming': Democratic organizers are worried about Kamala Harris’ 'political strengths'
31 January 2023
Even if President Joe Biden runs for reelection in 2024 and wins a second term, Democratic strategists and organizers know that they need to think about a post-Biden future and their prospects for 2028 and beyond. That means considering where prominent Democrats are likely to be five or six years from now.
One such Democrat is Vice President Kamala Harris, an historic figure who is both the United States’ first Black vice president and its first female vice president. Harris, in 2020, did a lot to energize Biden’s presidential campaign. Biden and Harris often clashed during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, but when Biden became the nominee, many Democratic strategists applauded him for choosing Harris as his running mate.
Journalist Cleve R. Wootson, Jr., in an article published by the Washington Post on January 30, reports that some Democratic Party organizers are expressing “concerns about Harris’ political strength.” The Post, according to Wootson, discussed Harris with “more than a dozen Democratic leaders in key states.”
Wootson reports, “Harris’ tenure has been underwhelming, they said, marked by struggles as a communicator and, at times, near-invisibility, leaving many rank-and-file Democrats unpersuaded that she has the force, charisma and skill to mount a winning presidential campaign.”
A South Carolina-based Democratic strategist, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told the Post, “Every fiber in my body wants her to be president. Everything I’ve ever fought for is for someone like her to be president. I think she’s a good person with a good heart who can lead the country. But I don’t know that the people who have to make that happen feel that way right now. I don’t know that she has what it takes to get over the hump in our present environment.”
Rep. J.A. Moore, a Democrat who serves in the South Carolina State Legislature, believes that Harris needs to increase her visibility.
Moore told the Post, “I think the main thing is I wish she was out there and more visible. They want to see that representation, they want to see her face more and see her connection with what the administration is doing.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump, who 'fell in love' with Kim Jong-Un, calls Kamala Harris a 'North Korea sympathizer'
Read the Washington Post’s full report at this link.