The outpouring of fawning media narratives (they can’t even be described as stories), the hundreds of millions spent building an insta-cult of personality through social media and the joy-themed DNC were meant to transform Vice President Kamala Harris from an unpopular number two into Obama number two.
And it seemed to be working.
Even many Republicans acted like Kamala was inevitable. Conservatives in private conversations were worried. The pervasive narrative had gotten into their heads.
And then Kamala sat down to do what she had avoided since the Biden coup… an interview.
Over the brief part of the interview that was aired, which she spoke for barely half of, with Gov. Tim Walz oddly enough by her side, Kamala showed why her people had kept her away from interviews.
Kamala is not Obama. She doesn’t have the charisma, the arrogance, the narcissism and the surefootedness that made him seem like a celebrity. She’s a backbench candidate who stumbled into the front bench. In short, she is the “Veep.”
Instead of assertive, Kamala seemed subdued, overshadowed by Walz, even though he didn’t speak much. Nervous and prone to spouting meaningless word salads that didn’t actually answer the questions.
The media is celebrating that during a softball interview, Kamala didn’t commit any egregious errors. The entire interview, in the friendliest of surroundings, was an error.
Kamala demolished the inevitably that her movement had spent so much time and effort constructing. She came off as fragile rather than inevitable. A hothouse flower who couldn’t be exposed to too much public interaction.
I’ve said before that Kamala is the worst combination of Hillary and Obama. That proved true again.
This time she had none of Hillary’s bravado or assertiveness, but all of her inability to provide meaningful answers. All of Obama’s reliance on identity politics, but little of his ability to turn that into a plus.
Mostly, Kamala came off as fragile, evasive, inarticulate and, even on a visual level, hiding. She kept looking down instead of ahead, hesitated and seemed unwilling to fully engage with what any politician at her level had dealt with ten thousand times.
Anything but inevitable. Donors will notice. And they will not be happy.
