Democrats

Kamala Harris’s book, 107 Days, came out this week. Various outlets published advanced excerpts, including The Atlantic – go here to read. I’ll admit that I have not sat down and read much from the book yet. I felt the same way in 2017 when Hillary Clinton published her first book after the 2016 election – it simply felt too raw and I didn’t have enough emotional distance from what happened in that election to read Hillary’s recollections. It’s the exact same feeling with Kamala’s book, I was watching it unfold in real time, I know exactly how badly she got screwed over, and I know exactly how badly Americans f–ked up by not electing Kamala president.

While I’m not consuming much from Kamala’s book, I 100% support her right to talk about all of it, from how Joe Biden’s staff treated her, to how she felt forced to dim her shine in service to President Biden, to how tough it was to run a national campaign in that short amount of time. We’re more than three years out from the next presidential election, if we’re even having those anymore. Now is actually the time for Kamala to tell her story. I genuinely hope the book prompts some self-reflection from the Obama bros in particular, as well as Biden’s senior staffers. Win or lose, Kamala’s candidacy should have been a major housecleaning moment for the Democratic party, but it doesn’t sound like any of that is actually happening. Not when some Democrats can run to Politico to bitch about how Kamala’s book is distracting from… something??

Kamala Harris’ media blitz is doing little to temper the frustration bubbling among Democrats over her retelling of the 2024 election. Over the last 24 hours, the former vice president insisted she isn’t burning bridges in her own party, rejected the idea that her infamous interview on “The View” tipped the 2024 election and didn’t rule out another run for political office.

“In an era where Democrats need all hands on deck in the fight to protect the country and the constitution from the lawlessness of the Trump administration, she had a real opportunity to be a critical voice in the resistance,” said Michael Hardaway, a Democratic strategist who served as a senior adviser to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “This book seems to be unhelpful and divisive in a way that makes it hard for her to be the face of the party as we look to the future.”

More than six months after her losing election — and with Harris now back in the spotlight — her book, “107 Days,” has reopened wounds in a party still divided over who or what is primarily to blame for their sweeping losses and President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Harris, for her part, argued on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday that though “there were many factors,” ultimately, “we just didn’t have enough time.”

It’s not the first time a political memoir has prompted eyerolls. Hillary Clinton’s book tour in 2017 triggered a collective groan among infuriated Democrats, including one top donor who told POLITICO at the time “she should just zip it.” Biden, struggling to sell his post-presidency legacy, is expected to release his own White House memoir. Democrats privately worry the parade of scab-picking, backward-looking books isn’t helping the party move on, especially as its brand sinks to new lows in public polling.

“At a time when people are looking for a vision and leadership … and want to see leaders rise to the level of threat facing the country, it’s pretty crazy she chose to write a gossip book that prioritizes the pettiness of her politics,” said an adviser to a potential 2028 candidate granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly. “It’s embarrassing for her, and for all Democrats, considering she was the leader of the party less than a year ago.”

[From Politico]

“…Has reopened wounds in a party still divided over who or what is primarily to blame for their sweeping losses…” The wounds weren’t closed, therefore Kamala isn’t “reopening” anything. Democrats were and are still bleeding, and I see Kamala’s book as a sort of political triage, and a necessary one at that. It’s wild to argue that Democrats are still fighting over the last election, and that’s why the literal Democratic presidential candidate shouldn’t put her two cents in about what went wrong and what Democrats could do better. Kamala understands that you have to actually assign blame to begin to figure out what went wrong – from what I’ve seen, she addresses some mistakes she made, and some of the mistakes the Biden administration made in how they used her. But she’s also just… telling the truth about a stagnated and outdated Democratic political class which is also to blame.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.