Kamala Harris’s presidential run flamed out in spectacular fashion, but it was revived on Tuesday when Joe Biden selected her to be his vice presidential candidate.
It may have been inevitable that whoever Biden selected would eclipse him on the ticket, but it was particularly true for Harris. With the exception of Elizabeth Warren, nobody running for president received more glowing praise and media support than Harris did during the Democratic primary.
Given Biden’s advanced age and the fact that he can barely get through his already limited television appearances as is, he should not be expected to run for a second term. This means that if he wins in November, Harris becomes the default 2024 front-runner, and the media will give her the presidential treatment starting the day after the election (if they haven’t started already).
Thus, Harris has turned the flaming wreckage of her abysmal presidential run into a promotion, one that gets her a step closer to what she really wants: the power of the executive branch. It was natural that the ongoing centralization of power would attract wannabe authoritarians, and Harris is looking to fail upward into that post.
The media will now view Harris as the president in all but name, and she views the presidency as an unquestionable, unopposable office. Harris said last year, repeatedly, that as president, she would give Congress 100 days to do what she wants on gun control or she would do it herself by executive order. She also said that gun confiscation is a “great idea.”
Her view is not limited to gun control, either. Harris wants to pack the Supreme Court because it doesn’t render decisions she likes, and she pledged to rewrite immigration law single-handedly in a more brazen and expansive way than even President Barack Obama did with DACA and DAPA. For Harris, the presidency is whatever she wants to be.
With Harris as the public candidate, Biden can continue his basement strategy and avoid as many media appearances as possible. Harris will gladly fill up campaign airtime, and the media will happily oblige. After all, both Harris and the media wanted her to be the president in the first place. With Biden nowhere to be found, it will be as if she never lost in the first place.
