‘107 Days’ of a losing campaign

OPINION:

Kamala Harris may have thought she was a loyal vice president to Joseph R. Biden, but her book, “107 Days,” paints an entirely different picture, one in which she explains how she was set up to lose the 2024 presidential race.

“They hide you away for four years, give you impossible, shit jobs, don’t correct the record when those tasks are mischaracterized, never fight back when you’re attacked, never praise your accomplishments, and now, finally, they want you out there on that balcony, standing right beside them,” Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, fumed after first lady Jill Biden questioned her about her loyalty to Mr. Biden.

It was July 4, 2024, and Ms. Harris’ first invitation to view the fireworks from the White House balcony. She usually spent the holiday in California with her husband. She readily acknowledges that socializing with the Bidens was rare during her tenure as vice president because she suspected “Jill hadn’t quite forgiven me for the 2019 primary debate, when I’d gone hard at Joe over his early opposition to busing.”

Seventeen days later, Mr. Biden formally withdrew from the presidential race, throwing Ms. Harris into a tailspin. She categorizes the family’s late decision as “recklessness,” calling the Biden-Harris campaign team briefings, of which she inherited, “dog-and-pony bullshit,” and lamenting that her team had to “elbow their way into the campaign structure.”

According to Kamala, the Bidens were not gracious. In his 11-minute Oval Office address to the nation announcing his stepping down, Mr. Biden waited until nine minutes into it to mention her. When first lady Jill Biden handed the reins to Mr. Emhoff, she sneered, “Be careful what you wish for. You’re about to see how horrible the world is.”

According to Kamala, that world is horrible.

She couldn’t choose her “ideal partner,” Pete Buttigieg, as vice president because it would be too much for America to “accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man,” and a gay man sharing the same ticket.

Democrats didn’t have her back.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer didn’t endorse her right away because she wanted the dust to settle. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker couldn’t commit, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom never called her back because he was hiking.

Kamala writes that she couldn’t focus on the issues she was the most passionate about, such as reproductive rights, the Gaza Strip and climate change, because they were too nuanced and required more than a sound bite in interviews. It was unfortunate that the American public was consumed with pocketbook issues at the time and didn’t understand her plan to tackle the affordability crisis.

Her advance staff let her down in her first major interview with CNN as the top of the Democratic ticket. Tim Walz disappointed her in his debate with J.D. Vance. She wanted to interview Joe Rogan, but he chose to sit down with Donald Trump instead. Elon Musk tried to rig the election against her with his millions of dollars in donations to Republicans. Fox News took her words out of context, and anchor Bret Baier was anything but impartial.

The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times refused to endorse her because their billionaire owners wanted to suck up to Mr. Trump. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters didn’t understand she was the pro-labor candidate.

On ABC’s “The View,” Ms. Harris explained why she could not differentiate herself from Mr. Biden: “I’ve never believed you need to elevate yourself by pushing someone else down,” she said. How heroic. What a terrible position Mr. Biden put her in.

When Ms. Harris was notified by her campaign that she was losing ground because of her liberal transgender policies, she refused to back down. This was because of her “protective instincts” to support the community. She cares about transgender people and wants everyone to know it.

Then there was Mr. Biden and his intentional or unintentional sabotage. While visiting first responders on 9/11, a crowd largely supportive of Mr. Trump, Ms. Harris was uncomfortable and then horrified to see, in real-time, Mr. Biden put on a red MAGA hat.

Just as she was gaining ground on Mr. Trump for insensitive remarks a comedian made about Puerto Rico at one of his rallies, Mr. Biden trampled on her momentum by calling Trump supporters “garbage.”

Despite her fundraising efforts, political savviness, grassroots work in the Black community, successful debate, and tireless campaign events littered with every star imaginable (Oprah, Beyonce, Jon Bon Jovi, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are just a few she name-drops), Ms. Harris acknowledges: “One hundred and seven days were not, in the end, long enough to accomplish the task of winning the presidency.”

In the end, America is better off for it.

• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.