Since departing Washington in January, Kamala Harris has hardly spoken up. She addressed Democratic concerns and commended leaders who were speaking up in her first significant speech since then.
Back home in Los Angeles, Kamala Harris sank into the depths of political defeat during the first 100 days of President Trump's new term. She considered running for governor of California, but she notably said very little about the president.
The former vice president didn't return to the discussion until Wednesday night, when she affirmed Democratic grievances in a speech her camp claimed was her longest since she left Washington after losing her campaign for the White House.
She cautioned that if Congress and the judiciary do not oppose the president, or if the president disregards them, the country might face a constitutional crisis.
"Everyone will eventually be impacted by that crisis," she stated. "Because it would mean that the laws that safeguard our basic liberties and rights and guarantee that everyone has a voice in the operations of our government would no longer be relevant."
The old territory that other Democrats have been raising concerns about for months was covered in Ms. Harris' 16-minute speech. Speaking to a group that supports Democratic women seeking public office, she was in the welcoming city of San Francisco, where she began her political career over twenty years ago as a district attorney.
Ms. Harris began her remarks under the chandeliers of a hotel ballroom, saying, "It's wonderful to be home."
It was a well-thought-out homecoming that was made public on YouTube and Instagram. By the end of the summer, Ms. Harris is expected to make a decision about whether to run for governor of California in 2026, a decision that she feels would disqualify her from the following presidential election.
She joked that "everyone's asking me, 'Well, what have you been thinking about these days?'" about her months-long absence from public life. She kept her address on national issues and never once mentioned her desire to become governor or president.
Ms. Harris's political identity has traditionally been defined by her cautious approach; she does not employ the firebrand style that other Democratic leaders have been using more and more to capitalize on the annoyance that people are experiencing following the first three months of Mr. Trump's presidency.
In what was seen as an early shot across the 2028 bow, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called on Democrats in New Hampshire "to fight everywhere and all at once" in a speech this week. In addition to traveling to Republican districts to energize friendly voters, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have drawn sizable crowds to their "Fighting Oligarchy" events in Los Angeles and Denver.
Ms. Harris praised Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Sanders, as well as other Democrats who have been vocal in their opposition to Mr. Trump in recent weeks. If the courts and Congress were unable to limit executive power, she argued, the American people would have to be the last line of defense.
In other parts of her address, Ms. Harris claimed that Republicans were putting the country through the "rapid implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making." She said that since it had always been a part of the plan, there wasn't much commotion.
According to Ms. Harris, "it's an agenda, a narrow, self-serving vision of America where they prefer loyalists, punish truth tellers, profit from their power, and leave everyone else to fend for themselves." "All the while retreating from the world and deserting allies."
Ms. Harris has received calls from Democrats who are thinking about running for office, asking for her guidance while she considers her options, according to her spokeswoman, Kirsten Allen.
Ms. Harris has been extremely private about her political discussions thus far. Ms. Harris is following her own schedule, and no former vice president has returned to California to run for governor since Richard Nixon in 1962.
Although prominent Democratic candidates are scheduled to appear at the California Democratic Party and California Labor Federation conventions, Ms. Harris has not committed to either event. In California, some devoted followers claimed they haven't heard from her in months.
San Francisco-based Mark Buell, a prominent Democratic contributor who has backed Ms. Harris for decades, stated, "I don't think she's made up her mind because I would have heard the drumbeats."
When Ms. Harris competed against the incumbent San Francisco district attorney in 2003 to become the first woman to win that position, Mr. Buell served as the finance chair for her first campaign. In response to the race, Ms. Harris's supporters founded Emerge, a group dedicated to enlisting and preparing Democratic women for political careers. She gave a speech at the group's 20th anniversary celebration in San Francisco on Wednesday.
California, a leader in many ways, is not one of the more than half of the states that have female governors. Several women are competing in the 2026 election, including Katie Porter, the former Orange County congresswoman, and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a longtime friend of Ms. Harris, who also attended her address on Wednesday.
Ms. Porter, who noted late last year that Ms. Harris might have a field-clearing impact among Democrats running for governor, stated, "The vice president will make her decision when she's ready, and I'm sure she'll let us know or not."
Ms. Porter did, however, state that she was available to manage her own campaign "and just make sure I can get all the way to the finish line."
A wide range of candidates have entered the contest to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom, who is prohibited by term limitations from seeking reelection. Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor, and Xavier Becerra, President Biden's health and human services secretary, are among them.
So far, two well-known Republicans are Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News personality Steve Hilton. Mr. Hilton urged Ms. Harris to "stop dillydallying" and enter the race in a statement following her speech.
"You would be defending the catastrophe of a Democrat rule in California; you were a disaster as a presidential candidate," he continued. "I am eager to engage in a substantive policy discussion with you."
If Ms. Harris chooses to compete, she will probably alter the course of the race. Some Democrats may withdraw from the race as a result of her candidacy, but more Republicans may choose to run against the Democrat who lost to Mr. Trump.
0 Comments