Political strategists say the Vice-President could be integral in reaching out to women, Black and Latino voters
Kamala Harris entered the White House with heady expectations. A former California prosecutor navigating a meteoric ascent through the American political firmament, some foresaw the makings of a rare talent, a combination of temperament and skill likened to Democratic Party icons Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren.
“If Biden’s greatest political challenge this year is remotivating a disaffected Democratic base, she’s by far the best-positioned individual to help him pull that off,” said Dan Schnur, a long-time California political strategist who is a professor at the Institute of Governmental Studies with the University of California at Berkeley.and Republican Donald Trump have both sewn up their party nominations, the general election campaign has effectively begun – one in which Mr.
“When people walk into the voting booth, they are almost exclusively focused on the top of the ticket – who am I going to pick for president – not who am I going to pick for vice-president,” said Jim Margolis, a political consultant who was media adviser to Ms. Harris in her presidential campaign. “These groups are precisely the demographic targets that Vice-President Harris is best suited to move,” he said. “I think you will see her spend the next seven months on college campuses, in Black churches, in the Latino community and with women voters trying to generate enthusiasm” – and raise the risks of a second term for Mr. Trump.Dim evaluations of Ms. Harris as Vice-President, however, raise the question of how effective she is likely to be in such a capacity.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt died, Mr. Truman became president at a crucial time in history, as a new global order was being established.Ms. Harris, he said, “suffered from being successful in the monoculture of California politics,” dominated by the Democratic Party, which faces little meaningful opposition. She is not known for a gleaming charisma nor for being quick on her feet; Republicans once released a video compilation of her discussing Venn diagrams.
Polls have shown Mr. Trump winning new favour among male voters, including Black men. Radio host Charlamagne Tha God, a key supporter in 2020, has publicly distanced himself from her, lamenting to Politico earlier this year that she “kind of disappeared” once entering the White House.