During a bruising vetting process to name his vice presidential running mate in 2020, Joe Biden wondered whether advisers to Kamala Harris were behind the flood of negative press coverage that engulfed some of her well-placed rivals.
While candidates expect to face heavy scrutiny, the authors of a forthcoming book wrote that “something about this seemed more deliberate, even targeted” as Biden and his advisers searched for a reliable No. 2 who would not hurt his chances in a general election.
The onslaught was “aimed at all of the most formidable Black women under consideration,” wrote Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns of the New York Times. “[E]xcept for Kamala Harris.”
Harris’s team was known for circulating blistering opposition research on other candidates during the primary contest, driving suspicion to the top that it was behind attempts to sabotage the California senator’s rivals, according to Martin and Burns in This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future.
KAMALA HARRIS’S CHIEF OF STAFF QUITTING CAPS A TUMULTUOUS PERIOD FOR HER OFFICE
California Rep. Karen Bass was pressed to answer for her warm remembrance of Fidel Castro and praise for the Church of Scientology as statements and videos circulated in news articles and on social media. Aides to Susan Rice, a White House national security adviser to former President Barack Obama, learned of a dossier that detailed criticism of her tough management style.
The deluge struck many as a tactical move. According to Martin and Burns, “Even Joe Biden wondered aloud: Was Harris’s team driving this?”
Bass had drawn strong support from California Democrats and allies in Washington, including former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, a member of Biden’s vice presidential search committee.
And when the gloves came off for Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee was alarmed.
“Biden was startled by some of the intra-state factional attacks on Harris by her fellow Democrats, including members of the state’s large congressional delegation,” the authors wrote in the book set to be published on May 3.
Prominent California Democrats and political operatives had vouched for Bass when her name began circulating, with some “explicitly” urging her as an alternative to Harris.
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David Crane, a top adviser to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was one powerful voice lobbying for the Golden State representative, who chaired the Congressional Black Caucus at the time.
“In contrast to Kamala Harris,” Crane told Biden’s advisers, “Karen cares about something greater than herself.”
But Crane’s withering dismissal did not hold. Harris had a well-placed supporter, with Biden’s close adviser Ron Klain supporting her early on, believing that she was the best person for the job.
