The Kamala Show

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the political career and persona of Kamala Harris, the current Vice President of the United States. It examines the dynamics between Harris and her sister Maya, as well as Harris's approach to politics, which is compared to figures like Al Sharpton and Clair Huxtable. The article also delves into Harris's challenges as Vice President, particularly her struggles with the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border, and her recent resurgence in the political spotlight as she prepares to run for President again.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Kamala Harris's Political Career and Persona

1. What are the key elements of Kamala Harris's political persona, as described in the article?

• Harris's political persona is characterized by a mix of formality and informality, family ties, and a focus on wielding power and influence.
• She is described as someone who is always "musing, in public, on her deep identity—her inheritance, political and familial—and how it might fit with the jobs she's sought and, more often than not, won."
• Her relationship with her sister Maya is highlighted as an important part of her persona, with the two sisters often being seen together and joking about Harris's ceremonial titles.
• The article suggests that Harris's approach to politics is better compared to figures like Al Sharpton and Clair Huxtable, who portray upward mobility as compatible with the demands of justice.

2. How does the article characterize Harris's strengths and weaknesses as a public speaker and orator?

• The article suggests that Harris is not a particularly good orator, as "her persona behind the podium doesn't seem like an extension of her personality away from it."
• When reading from a teleprompter, the article states that "you always feel a gap between the speaker and her text," and that Harris sometimes "wears that role the way a groomsman wears a tux he doesn't like."
• However, the article notes that Harris's "nonverbal gestures—especially that big, bright laugh—is to ask you to trust your eyes more than your ears."
• The article suggests that Harris's strengths as a public figure come more from her ability to "make her real motives show through all the official choreography" in settings like Senate hearings, where she can "be the right person flexing power in the right job, however visible the strain."

[02] Harris's Challenges as Vice President

1. What were the key challenges Kamala Harris faced during her early tenure as Vice President?

• The article describes Harris's first three years as Vice President under Joe Biden as the "low point of Harris's life in public," noting that her 2020 presidential run had "petered out before it even got started."
• As Vice President, the article states that Harris had "another chance to use her presence to effect change, even in a position of questionable worth," but that "the power of a veep is totally dependent on somebody else's whims—so much ceremony without a real hammer to produce results."
• The nadir of this period was an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, where Harris struggled to answer a question about visiting the US-Mexico border, revealing that she "didn't have much freedom to act" on the immigration crisis, even though she was "ostensibly on the hook for it."

2. How does the article suggest Harris has rebounded from these challenges?

• The article notes that Harris now "looks unbounded, emancipated, often genuinely happy" and "seems tickled to have another chance at the Presidency."
• She appears "energized by the prospect of running against Donald Trump and all he stands for," and often looks "overcome by joy, ready to crack Maya up again, this time laughing alongside any Democratic voter who's willing to take the ride."
• The article suggests that Harris is now in her "favorite position, as a politician and as a performer," with "an obvious role to play" in stopping Trump from returning to the White House.
• The article concludes by stating that Harris will have a "chance to tell us how she'll fend off chaos, how she'll wield her power" at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and that "I think she's having fun."