The race to define Kamala Harris is now well underway. According to Donald Trump and the Republicans, the Democrats’ new champion is “a bum” and “a failed vice president.”
Democrats, meanwhile, hail Harris as the leader of a “fight for the future” and the only thing standing between America and MAGA authoritarianism.
Presidential campaigns, of course, deal in caricatures and exaggerations. And neither side gets it right. So who, exactly, is Kamala Harris?
She can be defined most clearly by who she’s not.
First, she’s not Barack Obama. She doesn’t have the former president’s charisma or natural connection with voters. Obama filled stadiums and inspired millions with the power of his message and the flare of his speeches. He was a transformative presidential candidate. Harris is not.
She isn’t the leader of a great movement, nor does she inspire the multitudes with her riveting oratory. Compared to Obama, she’s rather underwhelming. But she is an astute politician who has succeeded at the local, state and national levels.
While her first presidential campaign was embarrassingly disorganized, if her team stays focused this time around,she will be a strong candidate. With the Democrats’ entire machine coalescing around her, this seems likely. Her favorability ratings have materially jumped since she entered the race.
Second, Harris is not Joe Biden. She doesn’t have the current president’s policy background or deep federal government experience. Biden entered the Senate in 1972 when Harris was six years old.
But she’s not a government neophyte, either. She was San Francisco’s district attorney, then California’s attorney general, then a United States senator, and now the vice president. If elected president, she will likely put together a strong cabinet. She’s been a mainstream Democrat for years and will surround herself with seasoned leaders from within the party.
Finally—and most importantly—Kamala Harris is not Donald Trump. She’s not a shameless propagandist who traffics in personal grievance and constitutional illiteracy. Nor has she tried to reverse a presidential election. And she’s now Trump’s only alternative for the presidency.
Given the domestic dysfunction and international discord likely in another Trump term, that doesn’t just make her a solid presidential candidate. It makes her a compelling one.
Indeed, contemporary American politics is rarely about championing your ideal candidate or favorite policy proposal. Far more often, it’s about discerning your least-worst option. And even if Harris isn’t a generational political talent or a great leader of women and men, she’s exponentially better than the alternative.
Harris, an African American of South Asian descent, would be the first woman president—an astounding personal achievement and momentous national step forward. But she is, at her core, a traditional Democratic politician. She’s not a rock star (like Obama), way too old (like Biden), or a wannabe dictator (like Trump).
She’s smart, experienced and focused. And if she wins in November, she will give America what it needs most from its president: a reversion toward the mean.