You may remember a classic skit from the glory days of Saturday Night Live: “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave.” A couple invites an acquaintance into their home for the evening, and, after politely suggesting over and over that it was time to leave and the guest ignoring the pleas, the couple finally melts down and shrieks in horror at the thing that wouldn’t leave. In the political realm, Hillary Clinton could rightly be accused of refusing to exit the stage, but she was never going to run for president again after 2016. This time around, Democrats writ large are dealing with something far more serious as twice-failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris plans her return to the stage, rested, ready, and eager to reiterate how getting steamrolled by Donald Trump while blowing through $2 billion in 107 days was not her fault.
Like It or Not, She’s Baaaa-ck
In an article entitled “Like It or Not, Kamala Harris Is the Front-runner,” New York Magazine cuts to the heart of the matter, stating, “[M]ake no mistake: Kamala Harris is very much looking like a presidential contender-in-waiting.” But here’s the rub: “It is a prospect that has filled many senior Democratic officials and big-money donors with dread.” When John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore were defeated, they quickly ruled out another presidential run. But some, like Joe Biden, keep trying. Does Kamala Harris fancy herself like her old boss Biden, whose third run for the White House was the charm?
After recently speaking with Harris and coming away convinced that she is running in 2028, one supporter told author David Freedlander: “Her mindset is that I should have won, and I am going to do it my way because my way would have won, and it was all these consultants that were telling me to take this position or that position, and it was their fault.”
The former vice president’s recent schedule – scattered public appearances weeks apart – does not betray a clear plan for 2028. According to the Harris team, she is appearing only where she is invited for now, so as not to step on the plans of her many fellow Democrats testing the waters who will decide whether to enter the race in the weeks and months following November’s midterm elections.
Kamala Harris in a Crowded Field
In addition to Harris, no less than a baker’s dozen of other Democrats have hinted or suggested that they are considering a shot at the ultimate prize. Some are governors: Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Maryland’s Wes Moore, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Rafael Warnock of Georgia, and Ruben Gallego of Arizona are also taking a look. And then there is socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, wildcard moderate and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and another failed candidate of recent vintage, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Will this A-list of Democratic hopefuls be content with stepping aside to allow the party to run it back with the woman who broke their hearts two years ago? Of course not. But with Harris running again, her rivals would be forced to revisit the nightmare of 2024. They will either excoriate her for losing so badly to the monster Trump at the risk of dividing a party ultra-sensitive to protected classes – after all, she’s a black woman – or try to ignore the elephant in the room. Neither is a good look for a party yet to come to grips with its repudiation by the voters the last time around.
The only thing separating this pack of potential candidates from Kamala Harris is name recognition. Having already been a presidential nominee, Harris’ name is quite familiar to the public, for better or worse. Among the rest, only Newsom and perhaps Buttigieg even approach the former vice president in name recognition. Of course, that is not always a good thing, especially for Kamala Harris. It is telling that, while she leads the pack by an average of more than 10 points, according to Real Clear Politics, her average support is below 30%, despite being far more well known than any of her potential rivals.
If Harris decides to run, she will be the immediate focus of the media, sucking up most of the oxygen as she is confronted about her failed campaigns in the last two presidential elections. Democrats – some publicly, most privately – undoubtedly wish she would just leave the stage once and for all and take the word salads with her.
One person willing to go on record with a blunt, cold-blooded assessment in the New York Magazine article was Alex Hoffman, a Democratic strategist who advises several major party donors. Undoubtedly channeling the emotions of countless Democrats across the land, Hoffman said, “I hope she runs … because then she will lose and we will never have to hear from her again. She will never win an election at a national scale. Never.”
