Walk down memory lane: Kamala Harris is bad at politics

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Several people in the liberal media are complaining that Vice President Kamala Harris is being labeled a "DEI hire." Perhaps they need a trip down memory lane to remember just how bad Harris actually is at politics.

Among the journalists pushing back on the narrative that President Joe Biden picked Harris to check off diversity, equity, and inclusion boxes are CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere and Semafor's David Weigel, who both insist that Harris is very qualified and credentialed and question why she is being given that label. Aside from the fact that Biden and the Democratic Party made it clear his running mate and his Cabinet would be determined by DEI, the fact remains that Harris's resume is thin and her political talent is nonexistent.

The argument coming from Republicans is Harris—who had served 13 years as DA + AG before 3.5 years in the Senate—was a DEI hire for Biden, while JD Vance—who wrote a bestseller, worked in venture capital briefly & has been in the Senate 18 months was picked because of his resume.
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) July 23, 2024

What qualifications would have been enough for Harris to dodge the "DEI" charge?
Of the 2020 finalists - Harris, Warren, Rice, Whitmer - only Whitmer had won more elections (for state lege then gov).
Her primary bid tanked but so did Biden's in '88/'08. https://t.co/FihJa0jesp
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) July 23, 2024

In politics, as in higher education, credentials are oftentimes unimpressive when you examine how they were earned. Yes, Harris was the attorney general of California and a U.S. senator. She underperformed in that first attorney general race (nearly losing to a Republican in California ) and won her Senate seat against another Democrat. Coupled with Harris bowing out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary before even making it to the Iowa caucuses, despite being seen as a contender back then, her electoral history is unimpressive.

Biden didn't pick Harris for an electoral boost, nor did he pick her for her political talent. Harris's time in the national spotlight going back to 2019 has included embarrassing blunders such as suggesting rural people are incapable of using photocopiers and being unprepared for obvious questions about her few responsibilities as vice president. Harris is famous for her rambling word salad answers that make her sound like a broken artificial intelligence chatbot.

To top it all off, Harris is also a bad debater, despite the liberal media wish-casting that it would be her strength as a former prosecutor. Her 2020 presidential campaign was ended on the debate stage by Tulsi Gabbard, and she was batted away in future debates by both Democrats and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

To recap, Harris is a gaffe machine, is a poor debater, and has an unimpressive electoral history. She also has a terrible record with her own staff, including "low morale, porous lines of communication, and diminished trust among aides." Axios even reported that she had to hold a "mock dinner" before a dinner with journalists because Harris is so inauthentic that she cannot even speak to dinner guests without rehearsing it.

So sure, you can go ahead and argue that Harris was selected based on merits, as Weigel and Dovere have. Just make sure you get back to the rest of us about what those merits could possibly be.