Kamala Harris isn’t ready for the biggest fight of her career, taking on Donald Trump. She could have spent four years preparing herself and sharpening her skills. She didn’t.
For someone whose only job the last four years was to be ready, Vice President Kamala Harris may be the least-prepared major party nominee in the history of American elections. Entering the ring against one of the most-skilled political street fighters of our generation, Harris has few weapons at her disposal.
The DNC Convention in Chicago will be designed to obscure her obvious political deficiencies. But a performance before the home crowd will do little to sharpen a candidate who has too long shielded herself from reality.
Harris comes into the race with no road-tested policy agenda, limited practice with unscripted political interactions, egregiously bad political instincts, no private sector work experience and a history of poor staff management. In her role as vice president, she could have spent four years sharpening all of these skills. But instead, she stayed in a cocoon and hid from the press.
On political engagement, she skipped the most important element of a campaign. It’s the retail politicking – the direct interactions with the base – that helps shape a policy agenda and build the grassroots relationships that deepen support.
Before running for Congress, I spent two years meeting with voters, listening to their concerns, and defending my policy solutions. Harris has done none of that.
