Is there enough energy for Kamala Harris for her to run again?

[CTyankee]

Or was her candidacy too badly handled from the start?

I would hate to see her talent and energy wasted, but I don't see much of her here any more.

[Ocelot II]

1. I like her a lot, but it will be many years before a Black woman, or any woman,

can win the presidency. This country is still too racist and misogynistic and I don't expect that to change for a long time. Her candidacy was not badly handled, by the way. She did brilliantly, considering the huge disadvantage of such a short amount of time for campaigning.

[CTyankee]

4. What I meant was that awful moment in the debate that gave rise to her being our candidate.

I saw a real groundswell for her but it was far too short a time for her to win. I think she did brilliantly too! So do we advance her?

What we need to do is to start NOW getting our next candidate in mind and then in motion. If it is Kamala we have some built in credits in the campaign she laid down for us before. Only this time we have a much longer runway.

I think there is a real political hunger for a woman POTUS. We saw it before and it didn't just go away!

Trump is gonna fuck up royally, based on his past performance. We have to play on that DISGUST while also not just being a party with no one to be FOR.

[yellow dahlia]

34. You're assuming there will be an election in four years.

If there is one, I do not believe there is any reason to trust it will be legit.

We need to figure out how to save our democracy first.

Right now, the Dem who is communicating, and standing up, and doing the work, in the most notable way is Chris Murphy, IMHO. He was on the Senate floor from 2 am to 5 am overnight, during their marathon "debate session", because no one signed up for those hours.

I believe Chris Murphy is also electable, if there is ever another non-rigged election.

There are other reps who I like and who are stepping up, like Jamie Raskin. But we have to be honest. Is this country ready to elect a Jewish person, right now. Bigotry is too prevalent at this moment in history, IMHO.

Chris Murphy and Jamie Raskin are doing a good job of delivering the message regarding the Constitutional Crisis we are in. There are others delivering the message in a productive way, such as Elizabeth Warren. There are other Senators and Representatives standing up and doing the work in crucial ways. "We" need to regain the Separation of Powers. We need to shore up Article 1 of the Constitution.

If they are focusing too much on the next election, they are not doing the work that needs doing, right now...today.

[yellow dahlia]

28. I agree with your analysis.

Some of the reality is indeed painful to reconcile.

[Squaredeal]

29. That was my fear.

Americans would prefer a convicted male felon over any female for President. That was my fear when Hillary Clinton ran and I blame her, her husband and the Obamas for pressuring VP Joe Biden to step aside. He would have just finished his second term if it was the other way around.

[get the red out]

31. Agree

A woman can't win right now. We are going backwards so fast on women's rights that I'm scared we will lose the vote and property rights. Theren't aren't enough men who will vote for a woman for her to win.

[totodeinhere]

39. I agree. We ran Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris last year and both lost.

We can't afford to lose again in 2028. We have to nominate someone who can actually win. And because of the racism and misogyny you mentioned that candidate must be a white man. And my preference would be a progressive.

[cadoman]

58. tfg beat a lot of very powerful men too

This list is nearly 100% white men and I don't see anyone saying we can't run white men because they lost to him.

Jeb Bush - Former Governor of Florida
Ted Cruz - U.S. Senator from Texas
Marco Rubio - U.S. Senator from Florida
John Kasich - Governor of Ohio
Ben Carson - Former neurosurgeon and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins
Chris Christie - Governor of New Jersey
Rand Paul - U.S. Senator from Kentucky
Mike Huckabee - Former Governor of Arkansas
Rick Santorum - Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
George Pataki - Former Governor of New York
Rick Perry - Former Governor of Texas
Scott Walker - Governor of Wisconsin
Bobby Jindal - Former Governor of Louisiana
Lindsey Graham - U.S. Senator from South Carolina
Jim Gilmore - Former Governor of Virginia
Ron DeSantis - Governor of Florida
Vivek Ramaswamy - Entrepreneur and wealth management executive
Tim Scott - U.S. Senator from South Carolina
Chris Christie - Former Governor of New Jersey (ran again in 2024)
Mike Pence - Former Vice President of the United States
Perry Johnson - Businessman
Asa Hutchinson - Former Governor of Arkansas
Larry Elder - Radio host and commentator
Ryan Binkley - Pastor and businessman
Doug Burgum - Governor of North Dakota

Differentiate between the rhetoric and the reality: tfg is a generational candidate for the repukes--essentially the Reagan of this century. He's beloved by low intelligence, toxicly masculine voters and he's comparable to Obama in terms of drawing in new voters and the center.

Don't dismiss quality female and non-white candidates because Clinton and Harris lost. They both were in the margin of error of victory. Biden had an easier path to victory because TFG's COVID response tanked the economy and lost the public trust at the worst political moment possible.

[EndlessWire]

42. I agree

unfortunately, but I think a tipping point must be reached. When rumpy's wholesale destruction of our country reaches a point where everyone can see what he did, then people might say, oh what the hell, anybody else is better than rump or his surrogates. Then, we get a female president, preferably Harris, and we can join modern times.

My brother once told me that he would never vote for a female president, but he knew how that sounded and how much that upset me, so he relented and took it back! I think we can work on the presentation a bit, but Harris didn't have much time in the runup to the election. It was plain that rump et al. didn't quite know how to handle her.

I am wondering if her being Black was actually a good thing, because you can't call that out without being racist. We should try to remember how it went with Obama.
He had quite a ways to go there, but how did people feel overall about it? He had Oprah's endorsement, I remember. Maybe we need to line up endorsers now. I know that the color of her skin is not relevant, except that it is. We still outnumber MAGA, and I think that will only increase, once the fruits of their voting reach them.

We have a lot of quality, qualified females that could run. I still feel bad about Hillary. Now, Harris...would have been proud of either if they had been allowed to live up to their standards.

[karynnj]

53. Agree, also add that even before the debate, it was likely Biden would lose

She had to keep all the Biden support, while gaining all the undecided. This by starting to introduce herself to be seen as a President.

Power shifted between parties in each of the last 3 elections. Polling also showed high unhappiness through that entire period with the direction of the country. It may have been that even if Biden called for a primary after the midterms saying he would not run, that the results would have been the same.

[Nanjeanne]

2. No. nt

[Gore1FL]

3. We typically don't have do-overs. nt

[CTyankee]

5. then who are our women candidates? Here are two women governors to consider:

Kathy Hochal and Gretchen Whitmer. I've seen both in the national press lately.

[Gore1FL]

8. Both would be astoundingly good choices. nt

[Polybius]

17. Definitely not Hochal

She's my Governor.

[CTyankee]

18. How come?

You don't want to lose her as your governor?

[totodeinhere]

40. Fairly oe not, she is very unpopular in her home state even among many Democrats

Last edited Fri Feb 21, 2025, 12:40 AM - Edit history (1)

according to recent polls.

[ailsagirl]

48. I don't believe the polls-- most of them are put out by repugs n/t

[AltairIV]

54. Nope

She would get slammed on the congestion pricing program alone. Huge mistake to consider her a viable option.

[a kennedy]

66. I'm so sorry, but when I see I don't believe the polls, I just quit reading.......

Sorry, been burned way to many times to believe ANY OF THE DAMN POLLS. 🤬 🤬 🤬 Or I could be wrong.

[Tumbulu]

21. it has been proven that women cannot win the US Presidency and the price is too high

to pay taking these risks.

It is not our fault that the world is amped up on misogyny. But it is.

By the way, I believe that Harris/Walz did a stellar job. I thought the campaign was excellent in every way.

The problem is clearly misogyny. Add racism in for extra points.

[mobeau69]

33. The world? There have been numerous female leaders in other countries.

[Tumbulu]

44. Well, that is so true, but the misogyny is far stronger here

quite clearly. Pretending it does not exist is one of the reasons we have failed twice at this.

[yellow dahlia]

35. Right. We have to clear this hurdle first.

One of the most politically informed people I know, who also happens to be genuine feminist, said (reluctantly) we need to keep putting up white men until we can repair what is wrong with the election system. (ie: voter suppression and gerry-mandering)

[Tumbulu]

43. I agree; I just hope that we will have a system to repair....

These are such wild times.

[quakerboy]

6. no.

Barring proof that musk stole the election for trump, there's no room for do overs

[NotASurfer]

7. Leadership inspires people

I think that if she starts criticizing the current misadministration frequently, maybe daily, AND outlining the way government should work, she could act like a de facto shadow President. I mean, the Felon-in-Chief pulled something akin to that for 4 years, inspiring the more twisted angels of human nature. I think it'd take fighting back for the next 4 to inspire the better ones

[cadoman]

11. she seems to have removed herself from the conversation

Maybe she is just taking a break to recharge but she seems to not want to be on the front lines fighting at this moment.

She's earned a break after four great years. Maybe she'll emerge later when the time is good. California will always appreciate her service if she doesn't wish to run for the top position again.

[Intractable]

9. If she wants to go through a primary, I have no problem with it.

If she has the energy and drive to compete and win, terrific.

Personally, I'll bet she won't want to run again. I don't care if it's Kamala or someone else, as long as they are our best.

[Quiet Em]

10. If Kamala Harris wants to run again, I support her and applaud her

Yes, many in this country clearly have a problem with sexism and racism, but that doesn't mean women should completely concede and continue the sexist narrative that only a man, and with the exception of President Obama, a white man, is entitled to the Presidency.

That thought process only helps the creeps and the narrative that gave us the con artist. And the Authoritarian White Supremacy narrative that are forcing on us with the help of spineless major media.

I will never concede women's equality and competence to appease bigots.

[Sober Retiree]

12. To Soon

Bernie , Swalwell, Newsome yea Black Woman not yet to many crazies I mean racists. Love to see her do the Attorney General gig she knows what's up.

[alarimer]

13. I don't think so.

We tend not to give people who lose elections (even if it is not her fault) a second chance.

No, I think Democrats need something far removed from the status quo type candidates.

But bear in mind, that Trump will not be running again (because he'll be dead, I hope) and no one else in the GOP has the "charisma" to appeal to the MAGA idiots out there, so maybe we just need someone who can beat Vance. Should be easier (but I thought Trump would lose easily, so I'm probably wrong about all of it).

[RandomNumbers]

14. Not even close.

This country WILL NOT elect a woman as President any time soon.

Too misogynistic.

It sucks but that's reality.

Obviously if the Dem nominee is a woman again, I will vote for her, unless by some miracle we have gotten RCV or something like that (and still I would vote for the Dem woman over a Repuke any day).

But no way in hell I would advocate for ANY woman to run for President in the U.S.

We need to win. Give me a middle aged white man who is a decent and competent human being with reasonably liberal or at least SANE policies, who can WIN in this effed-up electoral system.

[Tumbulu]

22. agree completely nt

[yellow dahlia]

36. It's the sad but true reality....for now.

[andym]

45. A Republican woman could win

if she could be nominated. MAGAs will not vote for a Democrat, and many will vote for whoever has the R next to their name. Nikki Haley comes to mind.

[LisaL]

15. No.

NT

[Polybius]

16. She could run again, but I don't think she would win the nomination

I'm not sure who would though.

[peggysue2]

19. I read an article last week that indicated . . .

Kamala Harris is considering a run for the Governor's seat in California.

She has been silent but so was Hillary Clinton after her loss. It took HRC a while before reentering the national conversation.

[The Wandering Harper]

20. I'd be hard pressed to find enthusiasm for her again

Getting cozy with Cheneys?!
Yuck.
Giving Liz Cheney credit for resisting the worst, sure,
but

[PennRalphie]

23. No.

There was so much enthusiasm for Kamala Harris and yet she still lost the swing states. No do overs.

We need a candidate who can win a state Kamala Harris didn’t. Probably a candidate from one of those states. My Governor, Josh Shapiro, would win PA, but he wouldn’t make it through the primary.

Kathy Hochul from NY? Which state would she win that Kamala didn’t? Gretchen Whitner I admit to not knowing much about. She’d bring MI into our column for sure.

[Bettie]

24. Unfortunately, we can't run a woman again

because a large number of people in the US will only vote for a man.

A straight, Christian man, specifically.

Misogyny and racism are both virulent and wide spread, but misogyny is more powerful. Heck, I'll be surprised if they aren't trying to figure out how to take the right to vote away from us.

[CTyankee]

25. Well, I thought we would never have a black president but we did. Yet there is still a lot of racism still with us.

If we don't keep on trying, we will always lose. Remember, Hillary won the popular vote!

[Bettie]

37. At this point, if there is another actual, real election

where votes truly count (this is not a sure thing, IMO)....well, highly qualified women lost twice. If there is an election, it is really important that we win.

As a woman, I feel awful even suggesting that we'll never have a woman as president, but the misogyny I see every freaking day tells me why.

[SWBTATTReg]

26. We're not even in the first month or so of tRUMP's administration. Give it a rest, man, and let us all assimilate /

gather ourselves together, and also, dealing w/ tRUMP on an ongoing basis.

Roughly 3 years left to go, give or take, primaries and all. Give us a break.

And, I'm doing pretty damn good ignoring tRUMP and all of his doings, don't even flutter when he comes on the News.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

27. I would like to see Kamala Harris run again

I would like to see a female president

[Paladin]

30. Unfortunately, no. (nt)

[dem4decades]

32. 12 billion dollars, i don't think people would be as interested to donate again.

I donated to her and voted for her but maybe it's someone else's turn.

[MichMan]

38. A lot is going to depend on what she can do in the next couple years to re establish herself.

History shows us that there has only been one sitting VP elected to president in the last 175 years. She won't have that going against her next time, if there is one,

Looking back, it is always easy to Monday morning quarterback, but while no campaign is perfect, there were a few mistakes made by her campaign that were IMO, not helpful. Of course, there was only a little more than three months, so the timeframe was short. As I recall, the campaign had staff with Obama people, Biden people and Harris people all involved in managing the campaign. While all that experience from successful campaigns can be valuable, it can also become a challenge to move quickly, as too many people have to get on board with every strategy decision, and it can become paralysis by committee. In such a compressed timeframe, that becomes even more of an issue.

Sure there was a lot of energy right out of the gate, but I think that was more because people were convinced Joe was likely to lose and all of a sudden there was renewed hope. Was that because of who Harris was, or who she wasn't?

Instead of emphasizing her vast experience as a VP and Senator, most of the ads I heard were about her being a former prosecutor. Not sure how that was very helpful in educating voters who may not have been all that familiar with her resume about her qualifications to be president.

For the first few weeks, just when it was most important to introduce her to voters, her standard answer when asked about the economy (in multiple interviews) was to talk about growing up in a middle class family. Even SNL made jokes about it. The economy was the #1 issue with voters and it was a squandered opportunity to address that issue and set the tone for the campaign.

In that same vein, when asked in multiple interviews what she would do differently than Biden, she couldn't come up with anything. The campaign had to know that question was coming, and yet more than once, they inexplicably failed to prepare her with a good answer. Given that the economy and inflation were the top issues in polls, voters did not want to hear that there would be more of the same. Who would have ever expected that a softball question on "The View" of all places would have been so damaging?

Finally, it appears that a good portion of the record 1.5 billion raised was used ineffectively, if not squandered. Trump got more publicity and PR value from the McDonalds and Garbage truck stunts, that cost almost nothing, than Kamala did from the big rallies with celebrities.

[totodeinhere]

41. Yes, consultants sucked up much of that money.

Too much in my opinion.

[CTyankee]

47. what should she have said on what she would do differently on the economy?

I agree that she should have had an answer, but what do you think would have been the best answer?

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

49. She also shared in the anger people had at Biden for his decisions regarding Israel/Gaza.

While they were not her decisions, she was not in a place to offer significant criticism, if she had any disagreement with them. So, she was painted with that brush, costing her some democratic votes.

I think she would still bear that stigma in a future run.

I voted for her. If she was the candidate, I would vote for her again. I do not know if I would vote for her in a primary. It would depend on her opponents and her own positions.

[Hangingon]

46. No

[DemonGoddess]

50. We can't run a woman

It's unfortunate, but true. The two candidates with the highest qualifications to run in recent memory were women. They lost. There are still too many people who won't trust that a woman can actually lead and do a good job.

[Voltaire2]

51. It's an open primary.

Anyone who can win the primaries can be the candidate.

[pamdb]

52. I hate to say it

Because I worked on her campaign a bit but …no. No more women, no more minorities, ( and as much as I like him, no Peter Buttigieg.) I think we have shown Americans will only vote for straight white men. Preferably christian. At this point, I don’t care as long as there is a D after their name. We are just not advanced enough as a society. Obama was a fluke. Not gonna happen again, not in my lifetime. Hopefully I’ll be dead in a few years but I would like to survive the reign of the orange felon and his merry band of maggots long enough to see democrats back in power, but I’m not counting on it.

[doc03]

55. What is it called when you keep doing the same thing over and over and

expecting different results?

[CTyankee]

56. Maybe it CAN, if in a different way. If she were VP for a longer period of time and took over early in a male prez's

term, perhaps by agreement, not necessarily because he, the prez, gets dies or gets sick as with Biden. If she does a great job, she gets re-elected and then the nation has an experience of a woman president and it becomes widely accepted. That is the only way as I see it now.

[anamnua]

57. There is a perception abroad (not here) that she was a weak candidate.

Last edited Wed Mar 5, 2025, 05:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Not so. She demolished Trump in a the debate -- in a way that Hillary, Biden, or any of his Repub opponents -- to the extent that he chickened out of a second dose. She made the best fist she could of the cards she was dealt and had to hold together a coalition stretching from the Cheneyites straight through to the Bernie bros.
This was not Reagan/Mondale or Bush/Dukakis; she was not routed: losing by a mere 1.5%.
Let’s face it, America was never going to elect a black woman.

[cadoman]

59. there is plenty of energy to support a second Harris run, problem is...

...based on the low profile she's kept after the election--I don't think she wants to.

Most we can probably hope for is her continued presence in California politics.

[LisaL]

60. No.

NT

[Borogove]

61. I would prefer to see someone else.

[Polybius]

62. She'll have enough energy, as she'll only be 64

But the better question is who else will run? There's many other potential candidates that I'd rather see win the primaries.

[pinkstarburst]

63. I love Harris, but I think it is a mistake

to run anyone a second time in the general after they lost. Trump is a rare exception with his cult popularity. The country has already weighed in on Harris, and they said no. It would be a mistake to run her again, just like it would be a mistake to run Hillary again, or Al Gore. We need to move on to a new candidate selected in a full primary process.

[CTyankee]

64. I'm beginning to think you are right. Do you see another prospective candidate on the horizon?

[pinkstarburst]

65. There are lots of people I really like

(just like I like her) and no one that I think is the perfect candidate. My very favorite is Buttigieg, who some say we can't have because bigots won't elect a gay man. For the same reason, they say we can't have AOC or Gretchen Whitmer, who I also really like. I am a huge fan of Newsom, who people say can't win the middle of the country, being from California. Shapiro, they say will have issues with Muslim voters in swing states.

What I am really waiting to see, is who will emerge as a leader in the face of all this fear and chaos. Right now our party is leaderless and silent. I'm waiting for someone to step up. I think that person is going to emerge as our candidate.

[CTyankee]

67. Whitmer might be a good candidate. Midwestern nice. I wonder if she's interested, tho...