San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Harris may be real face of Biden administration
If the inauguration had been a movie it would have been called, “A CoStar is Born.”
Make no mistake, President Biden is the star of the new administration. But it was our own Kamala Harris in her new role as the multiracial, multicultural, Democratic female power ideal who stole the show on Inauguration Day.
More than one commentator referred to Harris as the “second most powerful person in the world.”
And in case you haven’t noticed, everyone is referring to the “BidenHarris administration,” a joint billing that usually ends once the campaign is over. The question is, how will Harris carry the role? Given that her Senate career lasted just four years, I don’t see Harris being the conduit to Capitol Hill
insiders that Biden was when he was vice president for another relative Washington newcomer, Barack Obama.
Biden has decades of Washington experience. He can handle Capitol Hill on his own. It’s on the outside where he needs help.
For better or worse, Obama and Donald Trump were media phenoms before they became presidents. They brought star power to the White House.
Biden, on the other hand, is plain Joe. A steady hand in an unsteady time.
But the media — and the public — are going to want a rising star. Harris has the smarts, the personality and energy and, dare I say, the glamour to fit the bill.
She can be the “outside” face of the administration. If there’s a program to sell, an issue that needs public attention or a wildfire, hurricane or other disaster to recover from, Harris can be dispatched.
The public will love it, and so will the media. They already do. Her pearls, her sneakers and her laugh are all trending in the pop culture world.
If she is seen working hard in those sneakers and pearls, she will really shine.
The Harris vice presidency is already having an impact among women in general and among everyone here in the Bay Area. After all, she is one of our own.
Each step of her ascent — from San Francisco district attorney to state attorney general to U.S. senator from California to vice president — was a first for women of color.
And there is still one more first to go.
Trump dump: Donald Trump may or may not be barred from running for office in the future, but whatever the Senate’s verdict on his second impeachment, he’s come to the end of his political road.
Maybe not all 74 million people who voted for him in November now believe he’s nuts, but some do. And as for the talk of Trump forming a third party, forget about it.
Fringe groups like diehard Trumpsters have a long history in American politics, but usually a short life span.
Pulling together a coalition for a serious third party challenge would take time, energy and discipline.
Three traits that are sorely lacking in the aging and undisciplined Trump.
Work to do: President Biden’s inaugural address did not soar to the heights reached by Jack Kennedy, Barack Obama or Ronald Reagan. But the message of unity and mutual respect uttered by a common man helped make up for Biden’s lack of charisma.
Make no mistake, however — he has a daunting task ahead, something that was made clear to me on Inauguration Day when I took a cab across town.
I asked the driver how the new day was treating him.
“Not good,” the cabbie said. “Four years ago on Trump’s Inauguration Day, people were going everywhere and money was coming in. Today I’ll be lucky if I make $50 for eight hours of driving.”
That is the state of the union for many people these days.
And finally: After 12 years, this is my last column for The Chronicle.
It has been a fabulous ride from the day Editor in Chief Ward Bushee persuaded me to do Willie’s World.
That was more than 650 columns ago. In that time, I was able to share with you our collective life in this great city.
It has been a ball. Thank you readers, editors, fellow columnists and previous managers of this paper. You all helped to make Willie’s World what it has become.
As for my critics, I’ll see you on the other side.