Soon after Joe Biden dropped out of the race, he endorsed Kamala Harris as his successor, and within a day and a half, she reportedly had secured support from enough delegates to win the nomination at the Democrats' upcoming convention. I'm not sure if that really means anything anymore, since Joe Biden had earned the necessary delegates democratically through the primary election process, and he's no longer in the race.
Call me crazy, but I won't believe Harris will be the nominee until she formally accepts the nomination. Why? Because there are whispers that Democrats aren't exactly jazzed about her being the nominee, either, and another coup could be in progress as we speak.
Let's look at some evidence.
For starters, the donor class that helped push Biden off the ticket isn't necessarily behind Kamala. According to a report from Bloomberg, big Democrat donors want an open contest, not a coronation, and now at least one big donor won't fundraise for Harris.
“You have to be enthusiastic or hoping for a political appointment to be asking friends for money. I am neither. It’s others' turn now,” Florida lawyer John Morgan said. He also suggested that he believes Harris will lose in November.
But perhaps the biggest indication that a coup is brewing against Harris is that negative stories are starting to emerge. For example, on Monday, Axios had an extensive report about Joe Biden's doubts over Kamala's ability to win the election that was jam-packed with damaging leaks.
"President Biden hesitated to drop his re-election campaign in part because he and his senior advisers worried that Vice President Kamala Harris wasn't up to taking on Donald Trump, according to three Biden aides familiar with recent talks about his plans," Axios reported.
That these leaks are coming from the Biden orbit is very telling, and this suggests that Biden loyalists are hoping to thwart her nomination or even her election.
The story continues by pointing out how tumultuous her tenure as vice president has been. "Harris' time as vice president has been occasionally rocky, defined in part by large staff turnover, retreating from politically risky responsibilities, and mocking from some Beltway insiders," the report explains. "Much of Harris' staff has turned over in the past 3½ years."
Some leaks are even coming from Harris's own former staffers.
Former Harris aides told Axios the high turnover is partly because of how the vice president treats her staff. Some former aides said Harris had high standards that some did not want to keep up with, but others felt that she frequently grilled them the way she grilled Trump officials, such as then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, when she represented California in the U.S. Senate.
Former aides often refer to it as Harris' "prosecuting the staff."
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The relationship between the vice president's office and the West Wing has often been tense. White House aides sometimes felt Harris wasn't a team player and stayed away from any task with risk. But some Harris aides felt that the White House, particularly top aide Anita Dunn, wasn't helpful to the vice president.
At times, Harris aides suspected Biden's team didn't want to give Harris opportunities to shine to avoid her being seen as a viable alternative to Biden ahead of his re-election bid.
But, perhaps the most damning leak of them all details how Harris has been "cautious and reluctant to participate in events that weren't tightly controlled." That nugget comes from both Harris and Biden aides.
In 2022, the White House internally pushed Harris to be the headliner for D.C.'s traditional Gridiron Dinner, but she resisted. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo did it instead.
Harris has faced race-baiting from some conservatives, and at times has focused on critical coverage of her in ways aides have found unhelpful — like when she has watched Fox News' "The Five."
In April 2022, Harris was the guest for a dinner at D.C. news mogul David Bradley's home — a salon-style event Bradley hosts with Washington journalists and newsmakers.
Harris' anxiety about the dinner was such that her staff held a mock dinner beforehand, with staffers playing participants, according to two people familiar with the event. Harris aides even considered including wine in the mock prep so Harris could practice with a glass or two. They ultimately decided against it.
Related: Now We Know How Democrats Convinced Biden to Drop Out. It Was Ugly
These leaks are clearly designed to undermine confidence in Kamala Harris in the same way leaks in the past few weeks have done the same to Joe Biden. After his disastrous debate performance last month, we suddenly got a torrent of stories from Democratic sources about how Biden has been behind the scenes for months, even years. These new leaks have come remarkably quickly, just a day after Biden dropped out, and they are likely to continue.
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