OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrats are once again piling on Vice President Kamala Harris, questioning her “basic political skills” and avoiding outright endorsing her for the presidency if Joe Biden somehow decides not to run next year.
According to Washington Post reporter Cleve R. Wootson Jr., several Democrats have anonymously expressed concern about the potential for her to lead the party or even remain as vice president after 2024, Fox News reported.
In his Monday story titled “Some Democrats are worried about Harris’s political prospects,” Wootson noted that it was based on interviews with “more than a dozen Democratic leaders in key states,” adding that several prominent members of the party have concerns about Harris’ political future based on her VP experience.
“Harris’s 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,” he wrote.
“People are poised to pounce on anything — any misstep, any gaffe, anything she says — and so she’s probably not getting the benefit of the doubt,” said former Cobb County Democrats Chair Jacquelyn Bettadapur, a Harris supporter. She added, “It doesn’t help that she’s not [that] adept as a communicator.”
The story comes on the heels of a radio interview with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who praised Harris personally but refused to endorse her vice presidency in the upcoming election cycle.
“I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team,” Warren said Friday. “I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was an attorney general and I was still teaching and we worked on the housing crisis together, so we go way back. But they need — they have to be a team, and my sense is they are — I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems. I think they are.”
Wootson went on to report that Warren issued a statement on Sunday clarifying her remarks: “I fully support the president’s and vice president’s re-election together, and never intended to imply otherwise.”
Fox News added:
Among other Democrats, however, the article elaborated on the fears that “Americans are simply not willing to elect a woman of color as president” while “Harris herself lacks the political skills to win a national race.”
“And given the increasingly hard-edged tone of the Republican Party, they add, few Democrats are willing to roll the dice,” Wootsen wrote.
There are not the first Democratic criticisms of Harris.
Due to her immense unpopularity, and that of President Joe Biden, there have been whispers of Biden possibly nominating Harris to the Supreme Court and replacing her on the ticket for 2024, or, having someone replace Biden entirely, The Telegraph reported in November.
The news site explained, in a series of tweets, that the rumors, which are still “improbable,” show the desperation of the Democrat Party.
“With Kamala Harris looking unelectable, the Democrats are considering the nuclear option. Whispers in Washington suggest Joe Biden’s camp has a plan to find a more popular replacement ahead of the 2024 battle,” one tweet said. “Democrats desperately scrambling to find a potential successor to Joe Biden in 2024 are whispering about a potential nuclear option that could see Kamala Harris nominated to the Supreme Court.”
“Polls are now regularly showing Mr. Biden’s approval rating below 40 percent. Panic set in at the White House after a recent poll put Kamala Harris at an unelectable 28 percent,” the outlet noted further.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media has begun pushing a narrative of infighting and a potential 2024 shake-up on the Democratic ticket.
In a scathing piece published by The Hill, Douglas MacKinnon suggested that Democrats could be “in a world of hurt” if they don’t “look beyond the current occupants of the White House.”
“About two months ago, I wrote an article suggesting that President Biden should replace his vice president, Kamala Harris, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and then resign, to give Democrats a better chance at retaining the White House in 2024. Though of course, it was not a game plan that Biden would ever entertain, my intent was to ignite a discussion on the viability of a ticket led by either Biden or Harris going forward. And my point still stands: When it comes to picking a presidential ticket for 2024, many people believe — including some liberals — the Democratic Party could be in a world of hurt if it doesn’t look beyond the current occupants of the White House,” wrote MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant.
