The poster child for what not to do when running for president is seeking attention from the Democratic Party's biggest donors. Tapped to headline an elitist event with exorbitant ticket prices on May 6, former Vice President Kamala Harris will be testing her appeal for a possible 2028 presidential run. By all accounts, it is a show-and-tell interview with Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin. A sellout might mean she is still the "it” girl for the progressive voter. Still, someone else is already on the campaign trail wooing the socialist-minded members of the electorate: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
A proposed meeting between Harris and Martin has been brewing for a while – a lesson learned from 2024 when the party allowed a cognitively declining Joe Biden to wait until there was no time to find another candidate. The former veep has teased a decision, which will be made by the end of summer, on what her political aspirations include, unless retirement is on the list of possibilities. Martin knows what's on the line, and if that entails pushing Harris across the line or out the back door, it needs to be settled sooner rather than later.
The event is a typical elitist party powwow in the Big Apple with two levels of participation. Ticket prices for "building the opposition" start at $25,000. The higher tier, dubbed "fighting for the future," costs $44,300.
Does Harris Have the Chops for a Campaign?
Kamala is a dismal campaigner at best and has run two presidential races without knowing how to do it. In 2020, the then-senator from California couldn't get any traction in her state and dropped out before she could call Joe Biden a "racist" twice. She was installed as Biden's running mate because she checked all the perfect boxes for optics. Poor performance and dereliction of duty – for not invoking the 25th Amendment – left her with no time to become a better candidate once Joe was put out to Rehoboth Beach for a long nap.
As we can all attest, Donald Trump beat her handily. Because the Democratic Party was in a free fall, rumors were flying, and Kamala refused to do much to make herself president. After the one debate with Trump, her numbers looked promising. But somehow, Harris campaigned even less than Biden did during the pandemic. This is not how to win the biggest contest of them all.
The former presidential candidate cannot rest on her name ID and laurels – scant as they are. Doing combat with radical progressives who have increasingly caused chaos for the old guard will be the job of the next candidate. It is a matter of time until a leader emerges who can mend the fractured party or do exactly what Trump did when he redefined the GOP as MAGA. Speaker Emerita, as Sen. Nancy Pelosi calls herself, is being pushed out, right along with Sen. Chuck Schumer, as the energy of under-40 radical left voters digs deeper in every election.
Harris Is Slipping
Recently, news outlet The Hill released a list of the ideal candidates for 2028. Kamala was sixth behind California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Topping the list was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Like her, respect her, or hate her, she is exciting in the political arena, and she's gallivanting around with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on the catchily phrased "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. Sanders has anointed AOC to lead the charge as his mentee. Even pollster Nate Silver of now-defunct FiveThirtyEight is interested: "I mean, look, in polls, if she were to run — try to primary Chuck Schumer, she is now ahead in those polls, and New York Democrats are actually a pretty moderate lot."
David Hogg, now the DNC vice chair, is getting tired of the old folks: "We need a better Democratic Party and need to get rid of the democrats in safe seats who do not understand what is at stake right now, who are asleep at the wheel, not meeting the moment, and are a liability now and to the future of our party." Hogg has made noise about shaking things up, and AOC seems to be the woman who can do it. If nothing else, that girl can campaign and fundraise.
Perhaps the DNC fundraiser event will help Kamala move into whatever she would like to do next. It's unclear if Harris will run for anything – well, once bitten, and you know the rest. But remember, this is a test and only a test.
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