NewsNation political contributor Chris Cillizza cautioned that former Vice President Kamala Harris running for president in 2028 would damage the Democratic Party’s chances of victory during a Thursday episode of “So What.”
CNN reported on Thursday that Harris is set to appear at Democratic events in four southern states in April. Cillizza cited the reporting on his show, saying Harris seemed poised to mount a 2028 White House bid and explaining why he viewed her likely run as a negative for her party.
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“I think this is a bad thing for the Democratic Party that she appears to be moving closer to running,” Cillizza said.
He noted that while Harris chose not to run for governor, she indicated she would not abandon the political arena, leaving the presidency in 2028 as the only logical office for her to pursue.
“I think that she, based on the polling, would start the race as the front runner,” Cillizza said. “Notice I focused on ‘start the race as the front runner.’”
Race to the White House’s polling average shows Harris leading in 2028 Democratic primary polling, Cillizza noted. He said he anticipated Harris would remain the frontrunner because of her name recognition.
“But I think that the Harris people, or Harris herself, will learn the wrong lesson from that — or has already learned the wrong lesson from that,” Cillizza said. “And by that I mean this: she will look at that and say, ‘I’m in first place. Why wouldn’t I run? It’s my nomination to lose.”
The former vice president’s book about her 2024 campaign was also successful. Cillizza argued Harris’ early polling lead and book sales could give her a false sense of popularity, while saying he did not believe her to be “a good general election candidate.”
“[I]n the one general election she ran on the national level, she lost to [President] Donald Trump, a deeply flawed candidate,” he said. “So number one, I just don’t think, in sort of candidate skills when it comes to being able to reach across the aisle and get voters who are not already hardcore Democrats, I don’t think she has a great record of doing that.”
Moreover, Cillizza said Harris would take the spotlight away from other Democratic candidates if she ran. He argued there would be significant focus on former President Joe Biden’s tenure as a result.
“Democrats will spend at least some of 2027, maybe most of 2027, relitigating the Joe Biden years in the White House,” he said. “Because the way that Kamala Harris loses the race — and the way I think she will lose the race — is to not have a good answer for ‘why didn’t you see what was going on with Joe Biden physically and mentally?’ Or ‘if you did see it, why didn’t you say something?’”
“Now, Harris has said repeatedly, ‘Every time I interacted with him he was totally fine. But in retrospect, maybe it was too big a risk.’ There is no way her Democratic primary opponents are going to let her get away with just that … I think two things will happen,” he said. “Harris’ numbers will start to go down. But it will have spent a lot of the energy, time, and money in the Democratic primary fight relitigating 2024 and her role, as opposed to looking forward at what does 2028 hold.”
Harris suggested in February that she may run for president again.
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