The illustrious ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison, remains the last leader to have been born a British citizen. Uniquely, he was the first one from the Whig Party entering the White House. His tenure, however, is remembered for other contrasting exploits: he gave the longest inaugural speech that stretched to almost two hours and had the shortest presidency, tragically dying just 31 days into his term.
Harrison has another notable feat under his belt: he remains the last politician to lose his first presidential election, only to win in the subsequent one. Notably, this achievement was earlier bagged by Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Richard Nixon, however, lost only to clinch victory much later. The only politicians who have managed to win, lose, and then win again are Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump.
The trend has been otherwise quite grim for those who lose the first time and attempt to run again in the next election. Most often, such politicians have faced defeat again. The famous Democrat Adlai Stevenson and Republican Thomas Dewey had contested twice and lost both times. The case of Henry Clay and William Jennings Bryan is even gloomier as they ran three consecutive times and lost in all attempts.
The general consensus seems to be that voters harbor an aversion towards losers. This casts some serious doubts over Kamala Harris’s intentions after she recently announced that she has no plans to run for the governor of California. An air of speculation has since arisen that Harris might be preparing for another shot at the presidency.
The Democratic Party, however, is in disarray and seemingly unpopular, which further challenges Harris’s prospects. With a net favorability of minus 30 points, almost three times more than the GOP’s (minus 11 points), the party is going through one of the most unpopular times in the past 35 years.
There is an apparent resentment within the Democrats against the party’s own-state-of-affairs. Their double fiasco, firstly of losing to Trump and secondly failing to contend him effectively post his office term, has drawn a lot of negative sentiments. Harris, unfortunately, seems to personify this discontentment.
The dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party is multi-layered and can be seen across the board. The progressives contend that Democrats are lacking the aggression required in their fight, while the central wing holds the view that the party’s causes are misplaced, with too much left-leaning emphasis on culture war and identity politics.
One aspect that unites all fractions of the Democrats is their primal desire to win. It is noteworthy that Kamala Harris was considered for the 2024 nomination for primarily being a diversity candidate. Joe Biden had openly mentioned his preference for a female and later an African American running mate.
The issue with Harris isn’t her race or gender, but rather her failure to allure a wider demographic into the Democratic coalition. To succeed, Democrats require a representative who can win over Trump’s supporters. Harris’s defeat was not due to a lack of Democrat voter turnout, but her inability to cater to an evolving electorate.
Harris’s oratorical style is akin to a liberal arts college dean, which, unfortunately, doesn’t resonate with large masses. Her believer stances, except for reproductive rights, seem like they have been steered by focus groups, which is off-putting in an environment where voters seek authenticity.
In a rather disappointing move, Harris chose not to establish her unique political identity and complied with Joe Biden’s directive to align closely with him. Consequently, her first interview after leaving office was with Stephen Colbert for his ‘The Late Show’. While this might appeal to Colbert’s politically aligned audience, it doesn’t cater to the broader electorate that Democrats need to secure.
Such a narrow targeting with heavy ideological undertones does not align with the Democratic need to appeal to a broader base. This raises questions over the prospect of her nomination for another term. If she gets nominated again, it’s likely her name might be remembered as trivia, and unfortunately, it won’t be for sitting as the 48th President of the United States.
The post Kamala Harris: A Persistent Failure in the Making appeared first on Real News Now.
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