Is Kamala Harris Underrated?
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Published 2024-07-05
In 2019, Dana Goodyear wrote in The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/22/kamala-harri…) , “As a Black, female law-and-order Democrat, Harris creates a kind of cognitive dissonance.” The profile Harris inhabited then would be welcome in an election year where disorder is on voters’ minds and the Republicans are nominating a convicted felon. But Harris hasn’t inhabited that political profile for years. And since becoming Biden’s vice president the conventional wisdom on her has shifted: She’s gone from rising star — many thought her “the next Obama” — to political underachiever.
So I’ve had a few questions about Harris. What accounted for the fast fall from grace after she took the vice presidency? What happened to the smart-on-crime prosecutor we once saw? What has the White House done — or not done — to build her profile? And are critics of Harris fair, or is she underrated now?
I’m joined by Elaina Plott Calabro, a staff writer at The Atlantic who traveled with Harris extensively for a major profile (www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/kamal…) last year. I left this conversation with a very different theory of who Harris is, what her politics are and what led to the confusions of her vice presidency.
Mentioned:
“The Kamala Harris Problem (www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/kamal…) ” by Elaina Plott Calabro
“Biden Plunges in Swing States in Leaked Post-Debate Poll (puck.news/biden-plunges-in-swing-states-in-leaked-…) ” by Peter Hamby
Smart on Crime (www.google.com/books/edition/Smart_on_Crime/lTdcxn…) by Kamala D. Harris, with Joan O'C. Hamilton ·
Book Recommendations:
Southerners (www.goodreads.com/book/show/483186.Southerners) by Marshall Frady
The Sheltering Sky (www.penguin.co.uk/books/55501/the-sheltering-sky-b…) by Paul Bowles
The Company She Keeps (www.harpercollins.com/products/the-company-she-kee…) by Mary McCarthy
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast (www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcast) . Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs (www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.…) .
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Elias Isquith. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Carole Sabouraud.
All Comments (21)
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Damn, the Democrats really screwed themselves, huh?
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“Is Kamala Harris underrated?”…. Said no one ever.
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So what was the goal in this podcast? You invited 1 person. You provided no one to challenge the guest’s perception of Harris. So I have to question the goal of this particular podcast. Seems media wants another 45 presidency in its pursuit of clicks and views. Media has literally become his pawn. Journalists are becoming more like content creators just sharing opinions veiled as journalism for internet clout and metrics. Where is the balance in this podcast episode? Are the interviewer and interviewee friends?
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Nobody wants this. Stop trying to make this happen
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No, Americans don't like her for a reason.
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Kamala couldn't muster up enough votes in 2020 to stay in the Democrat primary!😂😂
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NYTimes is now sadly over rated. 😢
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Is the U.S. news media gunna be complicit with the fall of our constitutional republic..they are trying their hardest
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This is a complete joke video.
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She is a joke.
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Talk to the person to discuss why he/she’s not liked? And you expect to have the real answer? We all know the reason: she failed in 2020 primary miserably, because she’s so cringe. And subsequently became a DEI hire which made people dislike her more.
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Watch an interview with Kamala. She just says random incoherent words and laughs.
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She should never been VP. She should be in jail for keeping people in jail longer than their sentences and withheld evidence that would have exonerated a person on death row.
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It's bogus narrative time again.
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My days of not taking the NYTs seriously are certainly coming to a middle. The only thing hated more than harris are journalists.
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This interview is illustrative of why Kamala is so disliked by the electorate. It’s obvious that she’s a husk, an empty shell that has nothing animating her besides ambition. She doesn’t stand for anything, her entire character is malleable, a true political weathervane. It’s worth noting that she was only considered a top-tier candidate by the media who were salivating at her identity. The second she started opening her mouth and voters got a good look at what she is, they rejected her outright. Republican voters didn’t even have an opportunity to weigh in, she was summarily dismissed by Democratic voters. It’ll be perfectly fitting if Biden bows out in the next month, with Kamala taking over, only to get demolished at the ballot box come November.
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She doesn't have a single accomplishment throughout her political career.
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Harris couldn't manage recess at a Kindergarten class.
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Remember when Hillary was running, people were like 'I don't know about Hillary, I just don't like her', how did that work out?
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Didn't every member of her staff quit saying that she's a nightmare to work for?
