Is Kamala Harris Underrated?
About this episode
The central question: could Kamala Harris replace Joe Biden atop the 2024 ticket and beat Trump? Elaina Plott Calabro, who spent extensive time with Harris for an Atlantic profile, traces Harris's arc from 'female Obama' prosecutor and California attorney general to a vice presidency where she never established a governing vision, took on orphaned portfolios (immigration, voting rights, AI), and was damaged by staff turnover and episodes like the Lester Holt interview. Calabro argues Washington's verdict on Harris was set early and may be unfair: she is magnetic in small rooms, was picked in 2020 as a pragmatic post-George Floyd law-and-order figure, and could prosecute a post-Dobbs case against Trump. But, she cautions, replacing Biden would demand Harris sell herself to a national audience in a compressed window — something she has never had to do, and a very big ask.