If Vice President Kamala Harris seems like the answer, you’re probably asking the wrong question

What I would love more than anything is to have two decent options for president, with two different visions for the country from which we could consider and decide upon – and the more boring, the better. 

If Vice President Kamala Harris seems like the answer, you’re probably asking the wrong question.

Since President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance a few weeks ago it seems momentum is building for Harris to take over as the top Democrat in 2024.

She’s apparently polling well and she’s the sitting vice president so it makes sense that some are turning to her as a possible alternative to Biden.

But, like that second piece of cake, it only seems like a good idea – soon you’ll regret it.

In the abstract, Harris generates a lot of hype. Many seem to love the idea of her. The launch of her presidential campaign in 2019 was heralded for large crowd size and the enthusiasm created.

A headline in Politico Magazine read: “How Kamala Harris Won the Rollout Primary.” An ABC News article opined that Harris had had “a launch week that was the envy of several of her rivals” and that “Harris and her team have been in command of late.”

But the fawning media coverage only highlighted the disconnect between fantasy and reality. The same ABC News article also reported that Harris had been polling at eight percent, which, while second only to Biden’s nine percent at that time, did not back up the claim that she was “in command.”

And so it goes with Harris. For all the talk of her being formidable, she was flaming out of the Democratic primary less than a year later. In fact, a CNN poll released days before she officially quit had her in a four-way tie at 3 percent. She had no voter support, no donor support and was plagued by stories about the toxicity of her campaign and inner circle.

Sure, maybe this time is different. After all, most politicians are not like Barack Obama, who went from the Illinois Senate to the U.S. Senate to the White House in approximately four years. Instead, many run several times before their candidacies finally catch on, including Biden and former President Donald Trump.

A few recent national polls suggest Harris would beat Trump in a head-to-head matchup, with one heralding her as “best positioned to win,” above Biden.

But as is often the case with Harris hype, things aren’t adding up. First, polls of national sentiment are always deceiving since Americans vote for presidents as states, not as a nation. Second, other polls have her losing to Trump.

But it doesn’t matter what she’s polling now because it’s all theoretical. If Harris was to actually start campaigning, voters would quickly be reminded of her negatives.

Harris has done little as Vice President that would indicate she’ll be a more attractive candidate now. Her first term as Vice President mirrored her presidential campaign – both were marred by bizarre, insincere moments and tales of a toxic workplace.

In July alone, she had a pre-recorded appearance at the BET awards that was widely panned as “cringe,” as Harris told her interviewer that she was “out here in these streets.” At a Fourth of July event she accidentally called Biden “Vice President.”

If these moments were aberrations, it could be forgivable. After all, Biden was Vice President twice as long as he has been president. But with Harris, these types of moments are the rule, not the exception.

Harris once said Tupac was the best rapper alive, decades after his death. She has often professed her love of venn diagrams, with explanations like: “It’s just something about those three circles, the analysis about where there is the intersection, right?” And she’s been repeatedly mocked for her overuse of her catchphrase: “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”

Lest you feel I’m nitpicking, remember that she regularly finds herself in these moments, many of which are scripted. She comes off as insincere, especially when trying to appeal to a younger, more diverse audience.

Her defenders often turn to the classic defense that the criticisms are sexist or racist or both. Former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said in 2023: “I do think sexism and racism are part of the problem, no question about it.”

Around the same time, Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher said: “[It] shouldn’t surprise anyone that there is going to be a different filter and a different focus put on the first woman to ever be Vice President of the United States, particularly a woman of color.”

There’s different rules for Harris (though Vice Presidents as punching bags is a tradition as old as the country itself).

The best defense against a lie is the truth, so how has Harris’s performance been as Vice President?

Harris was given a portfolio that included top Administration priorities, like illegal immigration and voting rights. The former continues to be one of Biden’s biggest weaknesses in reelection, while the latter has stalled out for years.

Are these failures purely Harris’s fault? No, but they stand out far more than her successes, of which there are very few.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, Trump and Biden are the two worst possible options for president, but Harris is a close third.

What I would love more than anything is to have two decent options for president, with two different visions for the country from which we could consider and decide upon – and the more boring, the better.

Looks like I’ll have to wait until at least 2028, but maybe longer. One thing is for certain though: Kamala Harris is not the answer.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords