Vice President Kamala Harris seeks to have it both ways. She wants the benefits of incumbency when it suits her while also being unburdened by President Joe Biden’s record (and her own) when that is what’s politically advantageous.

Several recent events have demonstrated the limits of this strategy. As a hurricane rocked Florida, there was an awkward split screen with Biden and Harris trying to look presidential at the same time. Harris sought to shoehorn herself into the federal response despite playing no obvious role and, in the process, wound up sparring with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a possible 2028 rival.