Kamala Harris is in luck. The oft-criticized vice president is still on the ticket with President Joe Biden.
If you watched the three-minute hype video announcing Biden’s run to remain in the White House for four more years, you’d notice that Harris is portrayed favorably and showed up numerous times in footage.
That sigh you hear is coming from the Kamala Harris camp as Biden may have previously looked at scenarios where he could have parted ways with the vice president. But Harris is now definitely the go-to partner in the re-election contest, and she will play a large role in whether Biden returns to the White House in 2024.
The video was slickly produced, and Harris appeared in different settings. She is seen discussing policy with Biden in the Oval Office, walking with him outside the White House, embracing the First Lady, and taking selfies with voters.
Changing VPs is Rare
No president has changed his vice president since 1976 when Gerald Ford dropped Nelson Rockefeller for Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. The gambit didn’t work as Ford lost to Jimmy Carter that year.
People don’t often vote for who is on the ticket for vice president, but a dud of a candidate cannot help election chances. VPs can often take a truckload of criticism.
Vice Presidents Can Be Punching Bags
Vice President Dan Quayle was fodder for naysayers when serving under President George H.W. Bush. Quayle was seen as a lightweight and famously lost a vice presidential debate to Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Quayle looked inexperienced and overmatched by the silver-tongued Bentsen, but the debate embarrassment did not hurt Bush as he defeated Mike Dukakis in 1988.
Harris was steady, but unspectacular, in her own debate against Vice President Mike Pence in 2020. Pence won some significant points, and Harris did not embarrass herself. She has instead made numerous flubs in office. Her trademark cackling laugh is cringeworthy, and it comes at the worst times when levity is not needed. She can slip into the danger zone when speaking to voters – often engaging in nonsensical rhetoric with heaping servings of “word salads” that confuse listeners.
Kamala Harris Is Turning the Corner
The vice president has improved her communications skills lately. She enjoyed a successful visit to three countries in Africa this month where she was swamped with enthusiastic crowds. She has articulated Democrat talking points on abortion and assault weapons on a recent talk show. And she has made no memorable gaffes lately.
But still her critics have been circling for months while predicting her demise. Her approval ratings are not high – usually in the upper 30s or low 40s below Biden. She struggled to run her office with key staff departing and she had no clear role for the first year she was in office. Harris also dropped the ball in live interviews and panels where she flubbed answers to difficult and even easy questions.
Harris is the first Indian-American and African-American vice president. She is talented with loads of potential and an impressive bio. She served as a San Francisco district attorney, as California attorney general, and as a U.S. Senator. But her run for presidency in 2020 was considered a flop and she dropped out soon after getting next to no support from Democrats and running out of money.
Don’t Send Her Packing
Could Biden still make a switch if he wanted to?
If Biden had jettisoned her this year, it would likely have created a firestorm with minorities and women in the Democrat base of voters who need to turnout in numbers if Biden is to be re-elected. The president likely figures the worst criticism is behind Kamala Harris and that she has a high ceiling and can improve her likability.
“I think the VP is a huge asset as we head into this election cycle and re-election campaign,” Jess O’Connell, a Democratic strategist and chief executive of Newco Strategies, told Financial Times. O’Connell said Harris is a great messenger and has the stamina and fortitude for a re-election campaign. “She’s been in some of the toughest fights that we’ve had around democracy and around abortion rights, and those are ongoing.”
If you are a Harris supporter, you are likely glad that Biden still has faith in her. If the vice president can simply eliminate the gaffes and not make glaring mistakes, then Biden can worry about governing and raising money for the campaign, while Harris brings the fight to the Republicans and watches his back. Democrats hope that is the winning role for the VP as she heads into a pivotal time for the ticket as Biden contemplates a re-match with Trump or a bitter contest with whoever the Republicans nominate for president.
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Author Expertise and Experience
Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Foreign Policy/ International Relations.
