Next stop, White House? Anticipation builds for Kamala Harris, other eager Dems
Three years out, the presidential contest is rapidly becoming a full employment project for ambitious Democrats. Already in the mix of The Hopefuls and the Often-Mentioneds are governors and senators, rising stars and the once-were-rising stars. There are Democratic Socialists and centrists, those who vow to battle President Donald Trump at every turn and those who counsel accommodation when it's possible.
The Democratic contenders and maybe-contenders form a disparate group that lacks a consistent political philosophy or a clear plan for victory, in a party that could be described the same way.
That's no coincidence.
One shapes the other. A compelling candidate who emerges at the top in town hall forums, debates and primaries will define the Democratic Party. And a consensus on where the Democrats stand will affect which candidate is seen as compelling.
But not yet. The Republican Party could be clearly defined and immediately identified by the official, glowering portrait of Donald Trump. But without a president, or a presidential nominee, or even a front-runner − or, for that matter, a speaker of the House or majority leader of the Senate − both the Democratic Party and its White House race are at the moment a wilderness.
Albeit a crowded wilderness.
There was a sign of the battles ahead on the Senate floor Tuesday night. When Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto sought to move a bipartisan package funding police departments, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker accused his fellow Democrats of "complicity" with Trump. "I say we stand, I say we fight, I say we reject this," he declared.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar − who, like Booker, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 −rose to object that perhaps he should have shown up in the Judiciary Committee when the bills were being considered instead of waiting for the bigger stage of the Senate floor.
How to spot a presidential candidate
To identify prospects who would like to be president, or at least to be considered for the job, the key often isn't to listen to what they say. The default stance is that they love their job in the Senate or in the statehouse and are committed to it.
Instead, watch what they do.
Gathering chits by campaigning for fellow Democrats in 2025 and 2026? Check. Launching a "listening tour" to hear from voters in South Carolina? Check. Railing on Trump and his policies? Check. Dropping by New Hampshire on summer vacation? Check. Writing a book on policy prescriptions laced with personal anecdotes? Check.
By the way, Harris announced July 30 that she wasn't running for California governor. On Thursday morning, Simon & Schuster announced she had written a memoir, titled "107 Days," chronicling her whirlwind presidential campaign last year.
More: Kamala Harris explores 'drama of running for president' in new book on 2024 bid
The publication date is Sept. 23, less than a year since that Election Day.
In another time, or maybe another political party, Harris would be viewed as the early front-runner.
She is credited with running a credible campaign under difficult circumstances, carrying 48.32% of the popular vote, compared with 49.80% for Trump. The Electoral College count was more lopsided, at 312-226.
But she lost, and Democrats in the past have demonstrated little loyalty to losers. The last Democratic nominee who lost one presidential race and was nominated for another was Adlai Stevenson, in 1956, who lost to Dwight Eisenhower again. That was eight years before Harris was born.
For the record, Republicans seem to be more forgiving. Trump, for one, was nominated in 2024 and won after losing to Joe Biden in 2020. Richard Nixon was nominated in 1968 and won after losing to John F. Kennedy in 1960.
In what may have been an object lesson for Harris, Nixon chose to run for California governor two years after that loss, in 1962, only to lose to Democratic incumbent Pat Brown and declare he was through with politics altogether. "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more," he famously, and prematurely, announced.
Dealing with the legacy of Biden
Harris would face another challenge: the continuing debate over Biden.
The former president's decision to seek a second term, only to belatedly withdraw amid questions about his mental acuity, has contributed to the Democrats' current nadir. She was his vice president and defender.
Now the Democratic field is wide open with the possibility the numbers could rival the 30-something record set in 2020, when a comprehensive alphabetical list included six names before you finished with the "Bs": Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Biden, Booker, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and South Bend (Ind.) Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
More: Tarnished legacy? How Biden's age and refusal to pass torch earlier hang over his exit
For 2028, a noncomprehensive list of those who have signaled interest in the presidential race would start with Biden administration veterans Harris and Buttigieg. Governors Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Wes Moore of Maryland. Senators Booker and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, House members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California.
Whoever prevails faces an uphill climb. In a new Wall Street Journal poll, only 33% of Americans had a favorable view of the Democratic Party; 63% had an unfavorable one.
That's a three-decade low.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Next stop, White House? Anticipation builds for Harris, eager Dems
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Is Hiring ICE Agents to Arrest Immigrants Coast to Coast, Border to Border
Donald Trump is looking to hire 10,000 officers to help carry out his administration's widespread detention and deportation of migrants with tens of billions of dollars in funds from his 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Job postings show that in 25 cities from coast to coast, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is hiring deportation officers who will arrest, detain, and deport migrants, and manage migrants' cases. The listings give insight into where ICE may be ramping up operations. ICE has already been carrying out broad arrests, including at workplaces and courthouses. Agents have been wearing masks and lacking identifying information as they snatch immigrants, sometimes breaking their car windows to drag them out faster. 'Are you ready to defend the homeland?' the job posting reads. 'Launch a dynamic and rewarding career as a Deportation Officer with Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) at ICE! Join a dedicated team safeguarding U.S. borders and upholding immigration laws, playing a key role in defending our nation.' At a time when the U.S. job market is slowing down and prices remain high, ICE is offering $50,000 signing bonuses and $60,000 in student loan repayment with a salary of about $50,000 to $90,000. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already issued 1,000 tentative job offers, the Associated Press reported Friday. A spokesperson for DHS said many of the people offered jobs were 'ICE officers who retired under President Biden because they were frustrated that they were not allowed to do their jobs.' These retired officers are being offered $88,000 to $144,000 along with a $50,000 bonus. An image of Uncle Sam, the ultimate recruitment propaganda, appears on the DHS website with the words 'RETURN TO MISSION.' 'Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration's failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said earlier this week. 'This is a defining moment in our nation's history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.' ICE is hiring in Los Angeles, where Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to lead a militarized crackdown on protests against his immigration raids. Major cities where ICE is hiring include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The agency is hiring in several large cities with large Latino populations including Dallas, Houston, Miami Beach, Phoenix, San Antonio, and San Diego. ICE is also hiring in Baltimore, New Orleans, Newark, Saint Paul, and Salt Lake City. The agency is hiring in El Paso, a city on the Texas.-Mexico border where detentions are reportedly increasing. They are also looking to hire in Detroit and Buffalo, which are on the U.S.-Canada border. ICE is looking to hire in Harlingen, a Texas border city. The deportation flights taking migrants to an El Salvador torture prison and war-torn South Sudan, both in defiance of judicial orders in cases that went to the Supreme Court, took off from Harlingen. DHS is hiring new criminal investigators, or special agents, at salaries of $63,000 to $102,000 with a bonus $50,000. Returning criminal investigators are being offered $105,000 to $171,000 per year, plus the $50,000 bonus. The department is hiring attorneys all over, at field locations in 90 cities. The jobs are being funded with tens of billions of dollars included in Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' the president's first major agenda legislation. The bill also slashes taxes for the wealthy and will force millions of Americans off Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. 'The funding from President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will play a key role in fulfilling his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens,' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, Politico reported. 'Getting 10,000 [new employees] means basically hiring the people who walk in the door because you're trying to hit your quota,' Josiah Heyman, an anthropology professor who directs the University of Texas at El Paso's Center of Inter-American and Border Studies, told The Los Angeles Times. 'Rapid, mass-hiring lends itself to mistakes and cutting corners.' The Trump administration is also looking at increasing their use of the military in domestic immigration enforcement, The New Republic reported Saturday. A memo from Philip Hegseth, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's younger brother, calls on military leadership to 'feel — for the first time — the urgency of the homeland defense mission' and work together with ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents. 'The memo is alarming, because it speaks to the intent to use the military within the United States at a level not seen since Japanese internment,' Carrie Lee, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told The New Republic. 'The military is the most powerful, coercive tool our country has. We don't want the military doing law enforcement. It absolutely undermines the rule of law.' More from Rolling Stone Trump's Admin Is Investigating Jack Smith, Who Prosecuted Him Over Jan. 6 'Grow Up': Conservative Senators, Economists Slam Trump for Firing Labor Stats Chief You May Be Asking Yourself How Did Dan Bongino Get Here Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘No sign' Trump tariffs on Scotch whisky will increase, says Ian Murray
The Scottish Secretary of State has said 'there is no sign at the moment' tariffs imposed on Scotch whisky will increase to 25% as he expressed his 'disappointment' in the current US deal arrangement for the sector. Ian Murray also told BBC Radio Scotland's Sunday Show that Donald Trump's admiration of Scotland should be 'exploited' for the sake of the 'national interest'. The US President has so far agreed a 10% tariffs on UK exports and 15% on EU ones. Across the Scotch whisky sector, there are concerns that this deal - which is believed to be costing the industry £4m a week - will lead to significant harm for businesses. READ MORE: Scotch whisky hopes rise after Trump pledges to talk tariffs Trump talks of 'great love' for Scotland during visit 'Scotland must switch whisky exports from America to Canada' The Secretary of State is currently leading a UK Government delegation to Germany this week to 'increase economic ties' with the EU. Mr Murray said it was important to point out that trade deals with the likes of EU and India, the largest growing economy in the world, will provide a 'great opportunity' for Scotch whisky. Yet, earlier on the programme, Scotland's public finance minister Ivan McKee warned that 25% tariffs could be imposed next year as a deal previously reached with America on temporary duty reliefs could be lifted. Between October 2019 and March 2021, the tariff imposed as a result of the Boeing dispute resulted in £600 million in lost Scotch whisky exports. A deal was eventually reached in 2021 to take the 25% tariff off the industry. However, Mr McKee said: 'That was done on a temporary basis and that runs out next year so it's really important that it is taken out of the picture permanently because when that was in place, that was a significant hamper to Scotch whisky exports. 'As the UK Government concludes the deal with the US Government, we would expect it to be 10% tariffs on whisky which is clearly something we wish wasn't there.' Mr McKee said he would hope this was not re-imposed but added: 'There's nothing but unpredictability when it comes to Donald Trump and tariffs so who knows what's happening.' However, Mr Murray insisted it is unlikely this would happen. Asked how likely it would be for 25% tariffs to be re-imposed on Scotch whisky, Mr Murray said: 'There is no sign of that at the moment.' He added: 'It's 10% tariffs on Scottish whisky. Yes, we would rather that was as close to zero as possible but ten percent is as low as anybody else in the world right now." Mr Murray said the Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been able to 'reset international relationships' to do a deal with the US on tariffs. He said: 'Many, including the First Minister, wanted us to walk away from the US president but it was really important in the national interest and in the Scottish national interest for us to have that relationship to do that deal. '10% is the lowest tariff in the world. We did the first trade deal it saved the steel industry, the car industry. 'Yes, 10% tariffs on Scotch whisky is disappointing and we will continue to champion the cause for the really unique position of whisky. "We don't want it to be subject to historic trade wars as it has been in the past. It is a really thriving industry.' Speaking about the US president's visit to Scotland, Mr Murray said it was a 'great privilege' to when he landed in the country last week. He said he was in 'no doubt' of Mr Trump's 'great love of Scotland', adding: 'That is something we should exploit in the national interest.' During his visit to Scotland, President Trump promised to 'take a look' at tariffs on Scotch whisky during his meeting with Starmer as he said he wanted Scotland "to thrive". Since then, however, no changes have been made to the current arrangement. Speaking on the radio today, the Secretary of State also said Mr Trump suggested he should join him at the press conference beside Air Force One when he arrived in the country, however, the Secretary of State declined. Mr Murray said: 'He did tap me on the shoulder and said, 'let's go and do this press conference together' which I declined…because it's not for me to do so. 'I don't think it was for me to speak to the American press pack who is travelling on Air Force One with the President of the United States.'
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Latest Trump tariffs unlikely to budge, top negotiator says
(Reuters) -The tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump imposed last week on scores of countries are likely to stay in place rather than be cut as part of continuing negotiations, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday. Ahead of a Friday deadline, Trump set rates including a 35% duty on many goods from Canada, 50% for Brazil, 25% for India, 20% for Taiwan and 39% for Switzerland, according to a presidential executive order. In trade talks since Trump returned to office, the White House has lowered some rates from levels initially announced, including halving import duties set last week as part of a deal with the European Union. Greer told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, however, that this would not be the case on the most recent round of tariffs. "A lot of these are set rates pursuant to deals. Some of these deals are announced, some are not, others depend on the level of the trade deficit or surplus we may have with the country," he said. "These tariff rates are pretty much set." Greer also said recent trade talks with Beijing had been "very positive" and were focused on the supply of rare earth magnets and minerals. "We're focused on making sure that the flow of magnets from China to the United States and the- and the adjacent supply chain can flow as freely as it did before ... and I'd say we're about halfway there."
