LADY-IN-WAITING Vice President Kamala Harris enjoyed all the trappings of political stardom and youthful appeal and had a rapid rise in California politics from local DA to attorney general to U.S. Senate. But, just like Joe Biden, her advancement to the West Wing was an accident of fate.
the cliché, Biden the punch line, Biden the also-ran, at last became the accidental president. Eventually, the Trump ef-
figies moldered to ash, and the ferocious outrage over the Jan. 6 raid of Capitol Hill abated. Ensconced in the Oval Office was Biden, threadbare and diminished. Down the hall and a heartbeat away was Kamala Harris.
On Paper, a Strong Pick F
or those who never en- countered Kamala Har- ris before she became a
meme, it might be hard to fath- om that she was once praised for her charm, spark, and po- litical promise. While Harris used those
gifts to reach the Senate and the West Wing with swift aplomb, her promotion to the vice presidency was, similar to Biden’s own advancement, an accident of fate. Born in Oakland and raised
in California, Illinois, and Quebec, Harris was educated at Howard and Hastings Law school, and entered the politi- cal arena when she was still in her 20s. Her rise as a prosecutor was
rapid and impressive, and she successfully ran for district at- torney of San Francisco before she was 40. By 2011, Harris was serving as the attorney general of California, and by 2017 she had joined the U.S. Senate, eas- ily winning the seat vacated when Barbara Boxer retired. Harris enjoyed all the trap- pings of political stardom cou-
pled with youthful appeal. She was profiled in glossy maga- zines and hung out with celeb- rities. Her name was on all the lists that mattered. Within a couple of years,
Harris was ready to aim higher than the Senate, announcing in January 2019 her intention to enter the 2020 presiden- tial contest. It was at this time when her shiny public image — powerful, glamorous, and glib — cracked under the reality of her personal limitations. Harris’ presidential run lasted less than a year. As with
Biden before her, her entrance into the race was met with en- couragement. She announced her bid on Good Morning Amer- ica, greeted a crowd of 20,000 at her kickoff event, was re- ceived warmly by donors, and was closely monitored by the media. But she soon found that a
feasible presidential campaign could not be sustained by a slick outer package. Harris did not have a vision for her presi- dential ambitions, no theory of the case. She made rookie errors and
AUGUST 2024 | NEWSMAX 69
P.XX: HARRIS/ KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAGES / THIS PAGE: PLANS/ OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY LAWRENCE JACKSON / OVAL OFFICE/ADAM SULTZ
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
