Kamala Harris Looks Pretty Darn Electable Now

CHICAGO ― When then-California Sen. Kamala Harris dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, fizzling out after a hot start amid fundraising shortages and behind-the-scenes infighting, a main reason for her struggles was Democrats’ belief she simply could not defeat President Donald Trump.

A poll released the week before Harris’ decision to end her campaign found just 17% of Americans believed she would beat Trump, while 53% said she would likely lose. Even among Democrats, only a third believed she could oust the then-Republican incumbent.

Harris, at the time, was seen as an imperfect fit for the battle against Trump: She was Black, at a time when the party was obsessed with winning back the white working class; a former prosecutor, at a time when criminal justice reform was in vogue and Republicans were trying to use past tough-on-crime rhetoric to discourage Black turnout; and a woman, immediately after Trump had blocked Hillary Clinton’s attempts to shatter the glass ceiling.

Joe Biden, ultimately, was seen as the safe choice, acceptable to white working-class and conservative-leaning swing voters, even if he was less likely to inspire young people or marginal Black and Latino voters. It was a strategy to win back the “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and run up margins in Sun Belt suburbs. And it worked.

Four years later, as it appeared Biden would drop out of the race, the New York Times surveyed its columnists on the options to replace him. They collectively rated Harris as one of the least electable of ten options, saying she “has no demonstrated appeal to swing voters,” a “mediocre politician from a deep-blue state” and a “fundamentally weak candidate.”

Even Trump