After delivering her bubbly concession speech, Vice President Kamala Harris has been sheltering in place with advisors and close friends. But now she’s back. Harris appeared in a short ten-minute video to test the waters and praise her campaign efforts – and now everyone is more confused than ever before.
The rather vague set of remarks sparked concern. Harris appeared worn to the bloody nub, eyes squinty, words slurred, defeated, and somewhat out of it – how ever one defines “it.” She warned: “Don’t ever let anyone take your power. You have the same power you did November 5.” Someone should be fired for allowing that disastrous video out in the public domain.
And it’s very sad that social media has dubbed her “the drunk aunt at Thanksgiving.” One user on X wrote: “Channeling the drunk aunt who's a total mess but chases you down after every holiday dinner to give you unwanted life advice on your way out the door.”
Aside from the awkward struggle to communicate with fans, critics jumped on the fact she didn’t apologize for landing her campaign $20 million in debt and the unceremonious surprise lay-off of loyal DNC staffers – a result of fiscal stupidity. Her campaign spent a billion dollars before Election Day and lost anyway in both the popular vote and electoral college.
Political Options
Harris came close to becoming the first woman to break the glass ceiling that Hillary Clinton bounced off in 2016. Mrs. Clinton slunk off to the woods and has all but retired from politics except for stirring the pot on the weekend political shows. Harris seems to want to extend her career by forming her policy brand in some way, shape, or form for the next decade or so.
“She is not someone who makes rash decisions. She takes, sometimes, a painfully long time to make decisions. So, I would pretty much guarantee you she has no idea what her next move is,” said Brian Brokaw, a former Harris aide and now confidant.
There are rumblings that she may run for governor of California in 2026. It would be the first opportunity on a smaller stage where voters remember Harris as a US senator and California attorney general. Or would the timing be more perfect to launch a 2028 presidential bid to try and oust the conservative/centrist government?
The odds today for the 2028 presidential campaign look positive for Harris. A recent Puck News/Echelon Insights survey found that 41% of Democratic voters would vote for her again. Placing second, California Governor Gavin Newsom came in at 8%.
“She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months.” One former Harris campaign aide told Politico. “The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.”
The Harris Campaign Postmortem Chisel
Few allies are saying that Harris was not up to the task of a presidential campaign – rather, she was set up to lose. The list of point-and-blame players is long and influential. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), instrumental in forcing Joe Biden to step down, blames the president for poor timing on his decision.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) claimed it was a campaign staff that focused on Trump and not immigration. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) hit the nail on the head. "It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party, which has abandoned working-class people, would find that the working class has abandoned them," Sanders said. “First, it was working class, and now it is Latino and Black voters as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they're right."
The final analysis of a campaign gone very wrong is the amount of debt and the insane spending of money the Harris campaign blew on big stars and splashy events. In 100 days, Harris-Walz spent $1 billion. The “event production” line item was $15 million, then there was $4 million in private jets and another million to Oprah’s multi-billion-dollar company. The Harris campaign has been called to answer questions by the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) finance directors as the campaign is $20 million in debt.
Harris may be down, but no one believes she is out. Well, almost no one. Political mega-donor John Morgan does believe Kamala’s political aspirations are absolutely done. “I think this disqualifies her forever,” Morgan said. “If you can’t run a campaign, you can’t run America. She cannot be trusted with the money, and the donors are going to be, like, ‘Where is this money?'” he added.
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