William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. president, holds the record as the last U.S. leader born under British rule and the first representative of the Whig Party to secure a White House tenure. Unfortunately, his presidency is also marked by delivering the lengthiest inaugural speech on record, taking nearly two hours, and yet fulfilling the shortest term, passing away just 31 days after assuming office, making him the first president to pass away while in office.
Harrison is also the final politician to lose his primary shot at the presidency and recover to clinch victory in the subsequent election. Earlier, only Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson had achieved this feat. Richard Nixon, on the other hand, only achieved victory after a far more extended struggle. In post-Harrison times, interestingly, presidential hopefuls who lost their initial bids were typically unsuccessful in their subsequent attempts.
(Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump are notable exceptions, managing to secure presidency, lose it, and regain it). Candidates who were unsuccessful in their first bid and tried again in the immediate next election cycle typically faced defeat once more. For instance, Democrats like Adlai Stevenson and Republicans like Thomas Dewey both faced defeat in their two consecutive runs.
The inspiring trio of Henry Clay and William Jennings Bryan even braved defeat thrice consecutively. The voting community seems to express an unmistakable aversion to candidates perceived as ‘losers.’ These historical trends do not bode well for Vice President Kamala Harris, whose recent declaration of not contesting for California governorship has sparked rumors about another White House bid on her part.
However, the current unpopularity of the Democratic Party poses a significant challenge for Harris. With their standing at a dismal negative 30 points (almost triple the GOP’s negative 11 points), the Democrats are facing an unfavorable public perception, arguably the worst in the last three and a half decades.
The party’s own members are disillusioned, both by the devastating loss to Trump and the subsequent failure in providing a robust counterbalance to his influence while in office. Kamala Harris, although not entirely responsible, has unfortunately come to represent this deep-seated dissatisfaction within the Democratic ranks.
This discontent, however, is not homogenous. The progressive side accuses the Democrats of not putting up a fierce enough fight, while the centrist segment is disappointed with the party’s advocacy on the wrong fronts, accusing them of leaning too far left with an excessive focus on cultural warfare and identity politics.
Uniting both wings is a shared, intense desire for victory. The only reason Harris was in the running to become the 2024 nominee was due to her representation of diversity, which was the criterion explicitly specified by Biden while choosing a female, and later, an African American running mate.
However, Harris’s problems extend beyond her race and gender; they stem from her inability to resonate with voters in a manner that can strengthen and widen the Democratic coalition. To secure victory, Democrats need a representative capable of swaying Trump supporters.
Harris failed not due to an inadequate Democratic turnout, but due to her inability to appeal to an evolving electorate and the perceived lack of authenticity in her rhetoric, which unfortunately came off as overly academic and focus group-cooked rather than emanating from genuine conviction, thereby alienating potential voters.
To compound her issues, Harris yielded to Biden’s request for her to not distance herself from him, restricting her potential to carve out an independent political identity. Her decision to choose ‘The Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert for her inaugural interview post departure from office further bolstered this perception.
While this might have catered to Colbert’s loyal viewership, Harris failed to capture the attention of the wider audience that the Democrats need to win elections, highlighting a potentially grave strategy misfire.
Given these issues, if Democrats were to propose Harris as their nominee again, she’s more likely to be remembered as the subject of a trivia question rather than the answer to the question – ‘Who was the 48th president of the United States?’
Hence, the example of William Henry Harrison’s political journey, coupled with the unpopularity of the Democratic Party and her individual shortcomings as a candidate, underscore why Kamala Harris may likely face an uphill battle in seeking the presidency once more.
As the party grapples with dissatisfaction from various factions and widespread unpopularity, it is evident that Harris’s positioning as a diversity representative might not alone be enough to rescue the Democratic Party and their struggling quest for office.
The post Harris to have another run? History and Popularity Challenge Her Bid appeared first on Real News Now.
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