Vice President Harris Crumbling In Washington?

The Washington, DC rumor mill is operating on all cylinders today over reports of a crumbling relationship between Vice President Harris and the Biden White House.

Politics
Vice President Kamala Harris was selected to be a trailblazer in her role as a heartbeat away from the presidency.  As the first woman and the first Black American to serve as the 2nd in command in Washinton, the once-popular US Senator from California was eager to assume her role as “the last voice in the room” under President Biden.  She was also anxious to raise her profile under a 79-year-old commander in chief who was uncertain to run for a 2nd term or, God forbid, survive his entire 1st term.

Now, with less than 10 months on the job, things are not going well or as planned for Vice President Harris.

According to CNN and multiple reputable news agencies, the West Wing is already fed up with Vice President Harris and her staff for what they consider to be dysfunction and lack of focus.

In interviews with nearly 3 dozen former and current Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors, and outside advisers, various members of President Biden’s inner circle see Vice President Harris as invisible, ill-prepared, and incapable of stepping into the presidency should the need ever arise. However, Ms. Harris and her own inner circle believe she is not being adequately prepared or positioned but is being sidelined. In fact, Vice President Harris herself has reportedly told confidants that she feels constrained in what she’s able to do politically. Additionally, even hinting at future political ambitions, with Biden’s team highly attuned to signs of disloyalty, would be political suicide for her inside The White House.

The relationship between President Biden and Vice President Harris was supposed to be a match made in heaven.  After squashing political quarrels that arose during the Democratic primaries, Kamala Harris was selected to be less of a vice president and more of a “president-in-waiting.”  At the ripe old age of 78, Mr. Biden was not expected to run for a 2nd term.  Instead, Ms. Harris was to learn the ins and outs of the executive branch and either run to complete Mr. Biden’s 2nd term (with Biden willingly stepping aside) — or get reelected with Biden in 2024 then ascend to the presidency after a Biden resignation.

However, with President Biden’s approval rating tanking at 38% and Ms. Harris’ even lower at an unbelievable 28%, neither scenario looks promising during these early days of the Biden-Harris 1st term.

The President Biden camp believes she hasn’t effectively used her historic role as the first woman and first Black vice president to her advantage.  Additionally, they feel she has failed to present a coherent public message displaying what she’s done (or has tried to do) as vice president

On the other hand, the Vice President Harris camp believes she has been marginalized, has been made invisible among important issues, and has been set up for failure with no outlet to “shine” as a valuable member of the executive team. Additionally, they feel the West Wing has established a love affair with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and are more concerned with promoting his visibility than setting up Ms. Harris for success.

“She’s very honored and very proud to be vice president of the United States. Her job as the No. 2 is to be helpful and supportive to the President and to take on work that he asks her to take on,” said Eleni Kounalakis, the lieutenant governor of California and a longtime friend. “It is natural that those of us who know her know how much more helpful she can be than she is currently being asked to be,” Kounalakis added. “That’s where the frustration is coming from.”

However, many top Democrats both in and outside of Washington believe she is already in such a weak position that they have begun to speculate privately why the White House has allowed her to become so hobbled in the public consciousness — and just how long she will last.
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“An incumbent vice president should be a shoo-in the next time the party’s presidential nomination is open. But guessing who might launch a theoretical primary challenge to Harris has become an ongoing insider parlor game. Other politicians with their own presidential ambitions have started privately acknowledging that they are trying to figure out how to quietly lay the groundwork to run if and when Harris falters, as they think she might.” – CNN

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Unnamed Democratic operatives believe Harris’ problems begin with her staff, which they say have repeatedly failed her and left her exposed. They also blame her family members, who have often had an informal say within her office. Within Democratic circles, Harris’ overly cautious tendencies and staff problems, which have followed her from San Francisco district attorney to US Senate, have left her in a crumbling position that should come as a surprise to no one.

Are the rumors of a faltering relationship between Biden and Harris fact or fictional? Is it far too early to critique the job Vice President Harris is doing after only 10 months on the job?  Is it already too late to repair her reputation and presentation, or should Democrats dispatch a political “guru” to fix the future party leader before Republicans seize the opportunity to their own advantage?

OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
The invisible and faltering Vice President Harris