Despite all the signs, Harris still undecided
Some political strategists, even Dems, say presidenital run in 2020 might be too soon
A trip to Iowa? Check. Fiery televised retorts to President Trump? Check. A fundraising machine, a media blitz and a new memoir that hit bookshelves Tuesday? Check. Check. Check.
But ask California’s junior U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris if she’s running for president, and she says, “I haven’t made up my mind.”
In interviews Tuesday morning on
CNN, NPR and ABC’s “Good Morning America” coinciding with the release of her memoir, “The Truths We Hold:
An American Journey,” the California Democrat elected to her first Senate term two years ago is introducing her story to America.
Raised by her Indian-born mother and Jamaican father, who were active in the civil rights movement when they met at UC Berkeley, she said she was raised to fix problems.
“I was raised that when you see a problem, you don’t complain about it; you go and you do something about it,” she told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday, adding, “I think this is that moment, and I believe for all of us, history will say, and our children and our grandchildren will ask, ‘At that inflection moment, where were you and what did you do in service of your family, your neighborhood, your community and your country?’ ”
If Harris, 54, does indeed decide to run in 2020, her campaign already suffered an awkward moment: Last week California’s senior U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she’s supporting former Vice President Joe Biden, if he runs.
“He has the experience, the drive,” Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times last week, adding, “I have a great respect for his integrity as well as his ability. And I think experience is really important at this particular point, where our world is today.”
While she called herself a “big fan” of Harris, “She’s brand-new here,” Feinstein said, “so it takes a little
bit of time to get to know somebody.”
Even though Harris is clearly laying the foundation for a presidential run — and despite all appearances — it doesn’t mean she will launch a campaign, political experts say.
“She’s actually getting a lot of pushback from her own party really, basically saying, ‘Are you somebody who can beat Trump?’ ” said Barbara O’Connor, a Cal State Sacramento professor
emeritus of communications and former director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media. “My answer is you’re better off with someone from the middle of the country. I love Joe Biden with all my heart, and Elizabeth Warren, but can they beat Trump? That’s the mantra and I think Kamala would have a hard time doing it because she’s a woman, she’s black and she’s from California — and for the middle of the country, we’re anathema.”
Longtime Democratic strategist Darry Sragow said that while political insiders see Harris as someone
with a bright future who has been building important relationships with Democrats across the country, a presidential run in 2020 might be too soon for her.
“The one thing that insiders generally think of Kamala Harris is that she’s brand-new to the U.S. Senate and has a lot of miles to travel just to gain experience, and a run now would be viewed by some as stepping out earlier than she needs to,” Sragow said.
Harris is one of at least four Californians to be mulling a 2020 presidential bid, including Los Angeles
Mayor Eric Garcetti, San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer and East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell.
Warren, the Massachusetts senator, last week became the first prominent Democrat to launch a campaign for the White House.
As former California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney, Harris is the most prominent of the California hopefuls and the only one elected to statewide office. She gained national attention with tough questioning of Trump administration officials as well as Supreme Court nominee Brett
Kavanaugh during his contentious confirmation hearing.
After Harris visited Iowa in October, a poll of likely Democratic caucusgoers put her in fifth place in the state — with 5 percent of support — behind early front-runner Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and now former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke.
Harris earned an early fan in Des Moines Register opinion columnist Rekha Basu, who called her “whip smart, warm, impassioned and, maybe most importantly, someone who embodies the aspirations and struggles of every American.”
Still, on her media tour this week, Harris hedged about her intentions.
“There are a collection of factors to consider … they include my family, they include the need for real leadership in this country and whether I can provide that leadership,” she told NPR’s “Morning Edition.” “So there are a number of factors, but I will keep you posted. But I am not prepared to make any announcement at the moment.”