I confess that I am happy that freshman Senator Kamala Harris is out of the race for the Democrat presidential nomination. There was a time when I thought that she would emerge as the Democrat candidate. Her precipitous descent in the polls has reaffirmed my faith in the judgment of the liberal electorate. While it is popular to attribute her failed candidacy to her sex or race … the truth is … Harris was an unappealing candidate. She needs to own that. Kamala’s problem? She lacked authenticity … and that’s fatal for a political candidate. Within such a broad field, the successful candidate will be the one that allows their constituents to see them. Really see them. Kamala didn’t allow us to see her clearly. It wasn’t our political myopia. It was Kamala’s unrelenting, pandering, cringe-worthy-practiced-cool disingenuity. Harris conducted herself as if she didn’t know the difference between being a chameleon and a candidate. She dizzied us with her flip flopping … confused us with moderating the audience specific cadence of her speech … and made us feel silly for believing anything she had told us when she pander-acknowledged her professionally irreconcilable drug use and clairvoyant fan-ship of Snoop-Dog in pursuit of “cool”; argued for slavery reparations having descended from Jamaican slave owners; and opposed ‘The Wall’ while openly and notoriously living behind one.
I'll admit, my relief is tempered by some measure of disappointment. The Harris candidacy presented an important opportunity. But, that opportunity was squandered. Understand, compromise is an important part of the political process. But, our politicians seem to be far more eager to compromise who they are to further their own interests … than compromise with one another to further ours. Kamala’s ultimate failure is rooted in the former with the electorate concluding the latter. In her statement today, she bitterly attributed her failure to others. Above all else … we need politicians who understand the concept of personal responsibility. Inside the belt-way has been a “personal responsibility free zone” for far too long.
I suppose it’s “right” that Harris now returns to Washington. The question is ... has she learned anything and how will it change how she governs herself and the rest of us?