This is going to be the Harris Administration with Joe Biden as a figurehead, and it’s a good representation of where the Democratic Party is today.
After all that, Joe Biden went with the obvious choice, one Democrats believe to be “safe”, but also one that brings a number of red flags which will be dutifully ignored by the press. Why does Kamala Harris start so good but wear so poorly? The phrase used for her by one Democratic commentator to me was that “she’s great for the first fifteen minutes”, by another that “you love her on the first date, you like her on the second, on the third you’re done.” That definitely happened for Democratic voters in the primary. We’ll see if it repeats. As of this morning, a few thoughts: 1. This is going to be the Harris Administration with Joe as a figurehead. That is not an exaggeration. Biden chose the most ambitious potential partner, who arrives on the ship and announces “I am the captain now”. She is also the least likely to be a good governing partner who doesn’t want to replace him as soon as possible. This was the whole reason Biden’s inner circle was wary of her. Already both CNN and Vox have run pieces implying heavily it’s an indication Biden will only serve one term. Who will be the first New York Times columnist to call for 25th Amendmenting Joe Biden to replace him with Kamala? In the interim, will she even let Joe do X, Y, or Z, say on fracking or guns or another issue where they part ways? We’ll see. 2. Harris is known for her overly sensitive media team who are thin-skinned and do not have a reputation for dealing well with criticism. Some literally call them “The K-Hive” in California. Monitoring the interactions between corporate media should prove interesting. They will try very hard to sell her, but there’s going to be a lot of gritted teeth and behind the scenes arguments over the smallest critiques. Just remember how much her campaign was hampered by Twitter.
