Kamala Harris is one step away from becoming the first female president of the United States because she has always had the drive and courage to take risks and seek higher office.
It is not a common trait among politicians. Too many, at all levels, chicken out and choose to wait for the “right moment” to run for office, but it never comes.
Harris's philosophy: If there is a window open, no matter how narrow, you should try to get through it before it closes and thus get ahead of anyone else who might have the same idea.
Regardless of your opinion of Vice President Harris — whether you think she is qualified to lead the nation or not — it is indisputable that she has boldly taken advantage of every opportunity to climb the political ladder.
That was true when the little-known prosecutor first ran for San Francisco district attorney against an establishment incumbent in 2003 and won. And when she entered the race for California attorney general as an underdog and barely won in 2010. Also when a Senate seat suddenly opened up and she jumped right in and won handily in 2016.
She didn't hesitate to run for president in 2020. But it turned out to be a disaster. Or did it? She was elected to be vice president.
You can't move forward without taking the next step; you can't win a race without running.
It's like the very rare citizen who doesn't just complain about the government, but tries to do something about it. He shows up to speak at city council meetings or helps a favorite political candidate. Maybe he even runs for office himself.
It takes a lot of willpower because politics is full of blows. It is not for the timid or the weak.
“She has a reputation for being cautious in her policymaking when she’s in office,” says veteran Democratic political strategist Darry Sragow. “But when she has the opportunity to run for higher office, she acts very boldly. That willingness to move forward has served her well.”
Harris never shied away from a race for fear of losing, or the hard work required to win, or hoping for better odds in the future.
“Political graveyards are full of people waiting,” says Ace Smith, chief strategist for Harris’s successful campaigns for attorney general and Senate.
“Opportunities are hard to find. People who are always waiting for the right opportunity never succeed.”
A classic example is New York Governor Mario Cuomo, widely considered a potential front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 1992. He teased us with the possibility but never ran. He was ultimately defeated in his bid for re-election to a fourth term.
Then-Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley debates then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris as they competed to become California attorney general in 2010.
(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)
“I take my hat off to people who run, people who go into the unknown with no guarantees,” Smith says. “Sometimes you never know how things are going to turn out.”
For example, in Harris’s campaign for attorney general, she was the favorite against Republican front-runner Steve Cooley, a three-term Los Angeles County district attorney. But during the campaign’s only debate, Times reporter Jack Leonard asked Cooley if he planned to “double-dip” by collecting both his district attorney pension and his attorney general salary, a total of $425,000 a year.
“Yes, I do,” Cooley replied without hesitation. “I’ve earned it.”
Harris's campaign used all its meager cash to run television ads that portrayed Cooley as a greedy politician who sipped on public money. Harris was also helped by the fact that Cooley was a Republican in a Democratic state. She won by a narrow margin.
Harris always announced her candidacy in advance. Instead of being timid, she proclaimed her commitment.
“Basically, the best place to be in politics is to have people react to you,” Smith says. “Get into a race early on. Get endorsements. Get the money. Build up a big base of support. Other people who are thinking about running may pass you by. That makes it harder.”
When Sen. Barbara Boxer announced in January 2015 that she would not seek reelection the following year, Harris announced a few days later that she would run for office.
Harris had wanted to run for governor when Gov. Jerry Brown finished his term in 2018, but the Senate seat was open. Meanwhile, then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom called Harris to tell her he planned to run for governor.
It was no backroom deal, insists Smith, who was also Newsom's chief strategist. Both San Franciscans decided on their own which office they wanted to run for.
But being bold and jumping into campaigns “is a double-edged sword,” Sragow says. “Sometimes candidates run in races that really don’t suit them. They don’t have enough money or an effective message.”
Harris was a classic example in 2020 when she jumped into the presidential race. She had a shaky message and was outflanked by others, but she was smart enough to drop out before the primaries were held and avoided losing in her own state. In the end, Joe Biden chose her as his running mate.
Harris is already a historic figure. The daughter of immigrant parents (a father from Jamaica and a mother from India), she is the first woman to hold multiple offices, both by her ethnicity and by her gender. She could soon be the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.
“She’s presented herself as an underdog before and is used to being underestimated,” says Dan Morain, a former Times reporter who wrote a highly readable biography of Harris in 2020, “Kamala’s Way: An American Life.”
“She runs faster and harder than her opponents. No one will outdo her.”
At this point, I'd put my money on Harris. Donald Trump is showing signs of harboring a political death wish. And she's going to make the most of it.
