Joe Biden has spent approximately 40% of presidency on vacation, and apparently he’s not the only one in the White House who likes to be missing in action. According to a recent exposé from the Los Angeles Times, Kamala Harris is spending more time at her home in California than she has previously. Why? Well, she wants to get away from the “scorn and criticism” that’s coming at her from both sides of the aisle.
"For Harris, the impulse to escape Washington — where she faces Republican scorn and criticism within her own party — for downtime at home has been difficult to satisfy over the last few years,” the article explains. "While President Biden has made a near weekly habit of returning home to neighboring Delaware, the taxpayer-funded, cross-country flight to L.A. is harder to justify unless it includes official business. Harris’ trips home to L.A. are often camouflaged with an event to celebrate a local small business or a stop to raise awareness about one of her policy focuses such as Black maternal healthcare or reproductive rights. The vice president was also anchored to Washington during the first half of her term to cast tiebreaking votes in an evenly divided Senate."
At times, the article reads like a smarmy puff piece about a celebrity showing off her oasis from the paparazzi, with the harsh realities of Harris’s lackluster vice presidency oozing through the cracks. "But the Brentwood home, largely concealed by its verdant surroundings, has become a sanctuary for one of the world’s most visible figures," the article continues. "The four-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot house, less than a mile from Sunset Boulevard and roughly a 10-minute drive from the Will Rogers State Historic Park, is off-limits to reporters. In October, a group of protesters pulled up in cars outside to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, though Harris wasn’t there to hear their pleas."
Next, cue the paragraph that attempts to give the impression that she is important when she is actually in Washington:
As vice president, Harris is briefed multiple times a day, and reporters often follow her from event to event. But at home, Harris can avoid the scrutiny to recharge, cooking and chatting with her family as they watch from the kitchen table.
“Ask anybody who has ever worked in D.C. — in Congress or the Senate or at the White House — the trip from California, it’s not easy. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Air Force Two or on a United flight,” said Brian Brokaw, a former advisor to Harris. “When she’s home, she wants to enjoy that comfort and to the extent that she sees a very small and tight circle.”
The Vice President’s Residence at the Naval Observatory, where she and Emhoff reside in Washington, provides some respite from the well-trodden White House complex where she keeps an office, but friends and aides say she considers it the people’s house — not home. In keeping with tradition of her predecessors, she redecorated the Victorian mansion — adding her own Californian touches — but the residence is on “borrowed time,” said Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), a close friend and former advisor to Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign.
Cry us all a river, right? Such a tough life.
Then there's the smarminess again. The article tries really hard to make Kamala sound like a real family woman, highlighting her most "sacred tradition" of Sunday family dinners. According to the story, Harris starts planning the dinners midweek and stages "a choreographed spread in which everyone has a role."
I guess that's why she doesn't have time to visit the southern border.
The article really tries to paint Harris in a positive light, but it's really hard to get past the fact that Harris is literally hiding out at her Los Angeles home to avoid being mocked by Republicans and Democrats alike. Is that really all that dissimilar from Joe Biden hiding from the public for 40% of his presidency? He's trying to hide his advanced age and cognitive problems, and she's just trying not to be an extra liability to the campaign.
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