Kamala Harris is no Barack Obama
She is a talented trailblazer and I applaud her recent proposal for monthly COVID cash payments but if we dismiss Chris Dodd’s concerns as “sexism” it could be 2016 all over again.
PERSONAL NOTE: This is a sensitve subject for many people but I am sharing my views regardless of whether people agree with it for one simple reason:
Donald Trump.
I warned Democrats for 8 years that they were making a mistake by neglecting the Obama Movement and thinking they can coast to victory with a candidate who had a 55% DISAPPROVAL RATING on Election Day 2016. Despite being the worst candidate I have ever seen, Donald Trump was allowed to win by actually focusing on battleground states! And the most popular social media platform in the country!
As a result, I made a promise to myself that I would speak even more forcefully in the future in the face of what i consider destructive actions from both the “Democratic Establishment” AND “Progressive Left” that could lead to Trump’s re-election or other major setbacks to killing his ignorant fascist ideology.
This exercise might not change the outcome but I hope to help people break out of their news bubbles and consider the risks of our party’s decisions and potential decisions so we can actually have a dialogue about their merits before we blindly followed them in the future.
So, please read this understanding that I am not pushing an ideology other than WINNING and stopping the further destruction of America. It is time to stop being defensive because we’re worrying about feelings being hurt and focus on using critical thinking to form opinions based on the facts on the ground.
As the VP race comes down to the wire, stories are coming out that at least one member Biden’s search committee, former Senator Chris Dodd, and some other top allies are warning Biden that Kamala Harris might be “too ambitious” to be the nominee. This isn’t be taken well but I think it’s important to understand why this might be happening.
On the surface, it brings up old stereotypes of being afraid of assertive women (especially black women) and the use of the word “bitch” to describe them. Maybe it is true to some degree, but there is a difference between being ambitious and “too ambitious” that can come from legit examples. Personally, I have even more concerns about Kamala Harris than just the famous “I Was That Little Girl” line that haven’t been discussed from what i have seen.
First off, in a contest where most of the top candidates is a woman of color, it turns out most of the beneficiaries of Kamala Harris being attacked are also women of color. And the only other woman who was considered who might be described as “too ambitious” might be Stacey Abrams as she made being available as Vice President her first priority while there are 2 winnable U.S. Senate races with 2 exciting but unproven Democratic nominees running in Georgia this year.
So, Kamala Harris is probably a good senator (i mostly know her from her presidential campaign) but it doesn’t mean she is entitled to be Vice President and immune to ctiticism. Personally, I prefer someone who is tied to the Obama legacy like Susan Rice or Tammy Duckworth who have unquestioned national security credentials and i don’t consider them “too ambitious” because they are women of color.
If you want to get a preview of how Kamala’s image might develop as VP, I would suggest watching Maya Rudolph’s portrayal of her on SNL. She defined Kamala as an attention seeker desperate for her viral moment and I don’t think that is the characture that bodes well for her political career.
But if we go beyond the vibe she gives off and you look at some of her actions like her hypocritical debate stunt, flip flopping messages, poor campaign organization and failure as a candidate then we need to question why she would be an asset to Biden’s campaign.
Here are 6 key examples:
- Kamala has benefited from near flawless media coverage with unearned comparisons to Obama despite lacking consistent values and a vision for the future. She is smart, charismatic and would break down a diversity barrier but those are just attributes that require clear values, message and strategy as well.
More specifically, I don’t recall her taking an unpopular stance on an issue then being proved right. Or her discussing her passion for uniting America and creating a movement for political change with a memorable speech or debate performances.
Her presidential campaign announcement with the slogan of “For The People” showed some potential for big themes but I didn’t see it build from there. Remember that Obama gained momentum and didn’t utter the words “Yes We Can” until his 2008 New Hampshire Primary concession speech.
2. Kamala’s best viral moment is actually a well-rehearsed hypocritical racial attack on the nominee, the last hope to beat Donald Trump, when she knew full well SHE ALSO OPPOSES MANATORY BUSING — an issue she drummed up even though I haven’t even heard anyone discuss it since the 80’s. It represents why there are concerns she might begin her 2024 campaign on Day One and is political gold for dark money TV ads and Russians to spread the clip on social media in October.
Imagine if Obama said at the first debate in 2007, “Hillary, I know you’re not a racist. But there were young black men unfairly punished by the 1994 Crime Bill and felt dehumanized by the way you described them as super predators. And that young black man was ME.” And then imagine if in the spin room afterward he admitted he supported the 1994 Crime Bill because he was concerned about the problem of violent gangs like Hillary offethe next day and therefore negated his whole argument. But he still sold T-Shirts that said “Superman NOT Superpredator” to rub it in.
3. Kamala’s flip flopping and “We should have a conversation about that.” catchphrase response to many easy questions — including whether the Boston Bomber should have the right to vote that Pete Buttigieg slapped down easily. Her campaign lacked a clear message and policy agenda that led to backtracking on Medicare For All as well.
4. Kamala’s lack of a strong rebuttal when Tulsi Gabbard attacked her prosecutorial record which is actually a much more relevant issue for racial progress today. The bottom line is, Kamala thinks marijuana is a joke now and that is disrespectful to people she prosecuted for it.
5. Kamala’s campaign mismanagement that caused her to drop out in 2019 NOT 2020 because her California poll numbers were terrible and she didn’t want to risk the embarrassment of being walloped in her home state. What state does she except to help us win then?
6. Kamala waited 2 months to think about things then decided not to endorse Joe Biden at the critical moment before the California Primary when she had a chance to help consolidate the field like Pete and Amy did by dropping out and supporting him. Maybe she wanted to follow the will of California voters but endorsing afterward showed a lack of commitment to Biden considering the tough decisions other candidates made to ensure he was the nominee even though I never saw her as a Bernie sympathizer.
So, if we look at the key attributes you need from a Vice President like popularity in the kind of states you need to win or even your home state, values, principles, loyalty, judgement, progressive bonafides, managerial competence, I don’t see how Kamala helps Joe Biden much by serving on the ticket. I hope she has learned from the experience but I think developing strong convictions is hard to teach.
So, even though her time in the spotlight helps makes her a popular guest at fundraising events that seems to get along with the donor class, I would keep in mind that whoever Joe picks as VP will suddenly be a popular guest at fundraising events too.
And after 2016, I am not going to be silent about picking someone because they look good on paper at first glance. She won’t be the top name on the ballot but elevating her could undermine the most important electoral moment for Democrats of our generation. This would be a serious issue if she starts actively positioning herself as next in line after the 2022 mid-terms and starts acting like it even sooner.
Joe, when in doubt, stick with who you know.
