Jumps in the dark aren’t Kamala Harris’ thing. The time has come for her to take one, though.
When making a decision, the vice president like to take her time. No matter how much information she possesses, she always seems to want more. Review everything at least once more. If further data is found, then verify once again.
As she prepares to meet with prospective running mates at the Naval Observatory this weekend, she will have to make a decision that will affect not only her campaign and the Democratic Party, but also her administration and the nation as a whole.
According to AWN’s reporting, multiple Harris associates express skepticism that the final round of interviews is putting her at ease.
They do, however, concur that this is really one more facet of the shortened and expedited campaign that may work out for the vice president’s advantage by reducing her exposure to the same kinds of problems that have beset her in the past.
“It’s just like an election in Europe!” Someone who was present at the Houston event on Wednesday night overheard Harris making jokes about the race to Election Day while speaking to contributors.
Once chosen, running mates generally take a back seat to other considerations in the campaign. As many Americans are still getting to know Harris, her choice will provide an early and important window into her personality, thoughts, political philosophy, and electoral vulnerabilities, which the Harris campaign is well-aware of.
The selection is already in the planning stages.
If Harris finds herself in the awkward position of not choosing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, her outside advisers have already offered suggestions for how to introduce the choice in a way that keeps the excitement and positive vibes going. This is especially true given that the new ticket is scheduled to make its first stop on Tuesday in Philadelphia, which is miles away from Shapiro’s hometown and the place where he first began his political career. Putting out a video of Joe Biden’s call to tell Harris she was his choice is one possibility. Joe’s 2020 campaign did the same thing. Another possibility is that, once the news leaks, Harris and her selected candidate will make an unexpected appearance.
The running mate’s staff has already been selected, and it includes one of the former Biden staffers who assisted Harris with her own transfer onto the ticket four years ago. Experienced participants joke about it as the “prize patrol,” evoking the TV commercials for Publishers Clearing House in which a group unexpectedly knocks on someone’s home to tell them they’ve won millions.
Whoever they end up visiting depends on Harris and her inner circle of advisors figuring out who among the candidates could help her win and how to fit them all into the bigger, more future-oriented, fresh-start framework that she has laid out for herself over the last two weeks, according to multiple sources familiar with the current process.
“This is a decision that is not just a campaign decision,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an unrelated interview with AWN last week. “The entire nation is ultimately bound by this decision.”
Earlier this week, while speaking to reporters in Pennsylvania, Shapiro avoided directly addressing his personal involvement in the process, similar to Buttigieg and other candidates being evaluated by Harris.
At this particular moment, the vice president must make a decision that touches him profoundly. Those that she would like to compete against. She has chosen her coalition partners for the upcoming government. When the American people need her to make the most difficult decisions, who will be there to support her? He expressed confidence that she will be able to make her own decision at her own pace and in her own time.
Next, on Friday, someone asked Shapiro if he will be in Philadelphia on Tuesday when Harris makes her choice public. Shapiro responded, “I hope to be.”
Seeking an intimate relationship
As she settles on a choice, Harris reflects on the steps that brought her to Biden four years ago. She has been reflecting on the past three and a half years of their relationship, trying to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Since she will soon have to think about whether other people can undergo the same kind of scrutiny that she did as vice president, resilience is a theme that runs through her thoughts. She remembers the horrors that Democrats went through in July when Joe Biden fought and eventually dropped out of the race.
Given that Harris has little in common with any of the remaining six men, she will also be considering romantic possibilities. The only thing connecting these two is a shared experience of being in the same promising young politician fellowship in 2006 or Buttigieg’s role as Mike Pence during her debate preparation four years ago, when they were joking about.
The other contenders don’t spend much time interacting with Harris beyond shaking hands, but in February, she hosted Shapiro, Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and a number of other governors at her home for what turned out to be a gripe session regarding the Biden campaign. Although she and Buttigieg worked together in the Biden administration, their relationship was far from harmonious at times. Even though she was busy running for the Senate during Beshear’s first year as attorney general of Kentucky, she was still the attorney general of California. She had a brief two-week Senate overlap with Mark Kelly of Arizona, which did include January 6.
A lasting impression on Harris came from Biden’s warm reception of her into his family right after she was selected. Given the limited time for interviews this time around, she will rely on her husband, Doug Emhoff, whose input is frequently disregarded despite his important supportive role, to assist her determine who she believes would be a good fit.
Cedric Richmond, a former congressman from Louisiana who has become an informal adviser to Harris and has maintained regular contact over the previous two weeks, said, “I watched her relationship with Biden.” “You need to spend time with someone who, first and foremost, has similar values to your own, but secondly, you need to establish a rapport with – because they’ll be busy with their own activities and you need to have faith that they’re aware of who you are.”
Based on what Richmond observed during Harris’s time with Biden, this is about more than just getting along during possible weekly lunches in the West Wing, according to him.
He assured them that they would carry out his instructions because they are familiar with his voice, priorities, values, and viewpoints. “Having someone with whom you have a wonderful relationship is, thus, extremely important.”