The Democrat Campaign to Destroy Kamala Harris

Democrats simply do not want Kamala Harris to run for president. After seeing her flub her 2020 presidential campaign, flounder in embarrassing stories as vice president, and — most critically — lose in 2024 to Donald Trump, they’re sick of her. They have adopted in full force the Republican talking point that Kamala Harris is an awful politician.

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A Politico article published yesterday reveals that a full 20 Democratic politicians and strategists have told them that Kamala Harris failed epically at defining herself in 2026. It was, the publication concluded, a “wasted year” for her in which she did nothing to stake out a position in the intra-Democratic Party debates.

Among these 20 is former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges. He said that Harris’ politicking these days “seems like more of the same to me.” That’s a problem, he said, because Democrats want someone who is “fresh, new.” He said, “I hear a lot of talk about that — ‘we don’t need recycled candidates.’”

Even more brutal was Doug Herman, a former political strategist for Barack Obama.

“She totally blew it,” he said of Kamala’s year. “She hasn’t gotten into the mix.”

Kamala Harris has never been a particularly talented politician, especially when it comes to having a coherent vision, giving people a cause to believe in, or associating herself with memorable policy goals.

Look at how many unpopular policy positions she has taken and then awkwardly backed away from. In the 2019 Democratic primary campaign, Harris raised her hand to say she wanted to outlaw private health insurance before walking it back the next morning and claiming she hadn’t understood the question. Also in 2019, she told MSNBC that she thought the U.S. should “probably think about starting from scratch” on immigration laws. Her campaign website, meanwhile, stated, “[W]e must fundamentally overhaul our immigration enforcement policies and practices — they are cruel and out of control.” And yet as vice president and border czar, she made vague statements that immigration was due to “root causes” while allowing it to run uncontrolled, before claiming that she was doing everything she could to stop illegal immigration.

Those aren’t the only policy areas where Kamala Harris has looked hapless. During her 2024 presidential election, Harris decided to make her support for the mass murder of unborn children the primary focus of her campaign. “[M]y first priority is to put back in place those protections and to stop this pain,” she said at one campaign rally. (Apparently the pain children feel in the womb doesn’t count.) This ended up being less than appealing to the majority of Americans; only 14 percent said abortion was their top issue.

When voters look at Kamala Harris’ time as vice president, not much comes to mind when the question of her accomplishments is raised. When Harris was running for president, this was a perennial concern for party officials. Donna Brazil, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, even penned a piece in the New York Times answering to this concern with a bevy of excuses. “A vice president is expected to never disagree with the president in public and must make the president look good without claiming personal credit for accomplishments,” she said. “Yet when running for president, a vice president gets no credit from opponents for administration successes, but instead is blamed for supposed administration failures.”

Worse for Harris, it sounds like the donors are not on her side. They don’t want to put their money behind the woman who lost to Donald Trump.

A “California-based fundraiser” told Politico that there is no one among their circle of donors who wants to support Kamala Harris.

“She probably could raise grassroots money because she has fabulous lists,” the person said. “But there are no obvious big donors that have indicated they want to go down that route.”

Laurie Black, a former Harris donor, publicly told Politico that she’s done with Harris. “I want to support a winner in 2028,” she said, “and I just don’t know if the vice president has the juice this time.”

The Wall Street Journal likewise reported last week that donors have told Harris in no uncertain terms that her campaign would have a hard time winning. They, the Journal reported, “have told her directly that a bid would be a long shot.”

There is reason to believe that Harris will listen to what the donors are telling her and decide to not run for president. “Some people who have known and worked with Harris are skeptical she will ultimately mount another run,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Perhaps Gavin Newsom has insider knowledge that Kamala Harris will indeed not run for president. In a recent interview with Jake Tapper, he said that he won’t run for president if Kamala Harris runs for president — and Gavin Newsom is most decidedly running for president. He himself openly speculated that he could announce his presidential bid before the end of 2026. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said in response to the question of whether he would announce his campaign before the end of the year: “It’s the right question. Honestly, I don’t know. I think this thing’s happening. I mean, you already feel it, right?” (READ MORE: Newsom Performs Another Political Stunt)

There is also what Harris’ husband said about her. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Doug Emhoff “shared concerns with others about another run.” According to Harris’ book, her presidential campaign was a strain on their marriage. It is likely that Democrats who heard this from Emhoff ratted him out to the Wall Street Journal to make Kamala look bad.

Still, even if Democratic party officials want nothing to do with her anymore, Harris does lead early polls of Democratic primary candidates.

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