REMEMBER WHEN DEMOCRATS (AND EVERYBODY ELSE) THOUGHT KAMALA HARRIS WAS A BAD VICE PRESIDENT? In the weeks since a group of secretive Democratic powerbrokers pushed President Joe Biden out of the race, the party as a whole has embraced Vice President Kamala Harris with astonishing speed. Now, on the eve of the first, and possibly only, debate with former President Donald Trump, Harris is still riding a seven-week “sugar high” of celebratory media coverage and polls showing increased Democratic enthusiasm for a race many once viewed with dread. Watch a Harris rally and you’ll likely see the audience chant a trance-like KA-MA-LA, KA-MA-LA. They’re in love — for the moment.

But it wasn’t too long ago that many Democratic insiders, and many in the party in general, considered Harris a failure at the job of vice president. Their unhappiness with Harris, which started with disappointment and evolved into something stronger, spilled into media reports and the general political conversation. There was broad agreement that Harris had just not been a very good pick for the nation’s second-highest position.