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Kamala Harris’s Biggest Challenge Kamala Harris’s Biggest Challenge
(about 2 hours later)
As part of his reporting on Vice President Kamala Harris for a story in the Times Magazine, my colleague Astead Herndon had a revealing conversation with Jamal Simmons, a former Harris aide. As Simmons noted, Harris rose through California politics as a prosecutor. She was either the district attorney of San Francisco or the state attorney general for 13 straight years.As part of his reporting on Vice President Kamala Harris for a story in the Times Magazine, my colleague Astead Herndon had a revealing conversation with Jamal Simmons, a former Harris aide. As Simmons noted, Harris rose through California politics as a prosecutor. She was either the district attorney of San Francisco or the state attorney general for 13 straight years.
To get elected to these positions, lawyers usually do not need to lay out a broad vision of society in the way that governors or members of Congress do. Prosecutors tend to focus on specific policies, while other politicians focus on reflecting — and shaping — the zeitgeist. “Often in the White House, national leaders have to base their arguments on emotion and gut,” Simmons said, “and as a prosecutor that’s not the job.”To get elected to these positions, lawyers usually do not need to lay out a broad vision of society in the way that governors or members of Congress do. Prosecutors tend to focus on specific policies, while other politicians focus on reflecting — and shaping — the zeitgeist. “Often in the White House, national leaders have to base their arguments on emotion and gut,” Simmons said, “and as a prosecutor that’s not the job.”
Harris was an effective prosecutor. As district attorney, she lifted the office’s conviction rate and wrote a book whose title popularized a phrase: “Smart on Crime.” As attorney general, she cracked down on for-profit colleges, mortgage lenders and drug cartels. After winning a U.S. Senate seat in 2016, she used her interrogation skills to confront Trump administration officials and nominees in hearings.Harris was an effective prosecutor. As district attorney, she lifted the office’s conviction rate and wrote a book whose title popularized a phrase: “Smart on Crime.” As attorney general, she cracked down on for-profit colleges, mortgage lenders and drug cartels. After winning a U.S. Senate seat in 2016, she used her interrogation skills to confront Trump administration officials and nominees in hearings.
But Harris still struggles with what George H.W. Bush — one of her predecessors in the vice presidency — once inartfully called “the vision thing.”But Harris still struggles with what George H.W. Bush — one of her predecessors in the vice presidency — once inartfully called “the vision thing.”
She often speaks in platitudes that create grist for mocking Fox News videos. (An example: “It’s time for us to do what we have been doing, and that time is every day.”) When Astead asked her to talk about her vision for American society, she showed little interest. “I think you have to be more specific,” Harris replied at one point, “because I’m not really into labels.”
In some ways, Harris’s much-discussed political problems are simply part of a political truism: The vice presidency can be a miserable job. One of Franklin Roosevelt’s vice presidents, John Nance Garner, said it “wasn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.” Lyndon Johnson loathed the role. Other vice presidents who had otherwise had little in common with one another — including Mike Pence, Al Gore, Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey — have found it to be a career dead end. Joe Biden would probably have joined this list but for the chaos of the Trump presidency that made possible a resurrection.