Democrats are still licking their wounds after Trump decisively defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. They’re trying to figure out what went wrong, pointing fingers at anybody who can be blamed, and apparently learning little from their mistakes. A lot has been speculated about what Kamala’s future will be, and some have floated her name for governor of California.
But the most hilarious thing I’ve heard this week is that a plurality of Democrat voters want Kamala Harris to be their presidential nominee in 2028. Yes, after blowing $1 billion on a losing campaign in 2024, Harris is somehow still the frontrunner for her party’s next presidential run.
The poll, conducted by Echelon Insights, surveyed 1,010 likely voters between Nov. 14 and 18, with a 3.5% margin of error. Among the 393 Democratic-leaning respondents, 41% said they would vote for Harris if the 2028 primary were held today.
And it wasn’t even close. Kamala is literally the only potential candidate to get double digits. Her closest competitor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, trailed far behind at just 8%. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro came in third with 7%, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tied at 6%.
#New 2028 DEM primary poll
— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) November 19, 2024
Kamala Harris - 41%
Gavin Newsom - 8%
Josh Shapiro - 7%
Pete Buttigieg - 6%
Tim walz - 6%
Echelon pic.twitter.com/8za4jyDUiZ
While it’s easy to look at this poll and figure that Democrats just haven’t figured that Kamala Harris is a horrible candidate, Kamala’s dominance in this poll is more likely a reflection of her name recognition advantage than genuine enthusiasm.
I mean, come on, her political career has been marred by repeated failures.
Her 2020 presidential bid flamed out before the first votes were cast. Many party leaders, including Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, wanted someone besides Kamala as their party’s candidate because they knew she was weak. And sure enough, she suffered a humiliating loss to Donald Trump despite enjoying the full backing of her party, a fawning media, and a justice system weaponized against her opponent. Her candidacy was so bad that she squandered over a billion dollars on a losing campaign that wasted millions on celebrity endorsements and PR stunts but couldn’t deliver results at the ballot box.
To put it bluntly, Harris has no future in presidential politics. She may be fresh in her party’s minds right now, but her party won’t make the mistake of nominating someone who ran such a disastrous campaign. Hillary Clinton would have had a better chance against Trump in 2020 than Kamala Harris will have against the Republican presidential nominee in 2028.
Of course, Kamala hasn’t publicly commented on her post-vice presidential plans, but a new poll conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies suggests she may be well-positioned for the California governorship.
“Nearly all voters in this state have an opinion of her, and that’s really the big advantage that she brings to an early poll,” poll director Mark DiCamillo told the Los Angeles Times, which co-sponsored the poll.
The poll found that nearly half of California voters were either “very or somewhat likely” to support Kamala if she decided to throw her hat into the ring, but victory would not be guaranteed.
Still, the poll suggests that Californians could be less supportive of Harris running for governor compared with her run for president this year. Forty-six percent of likely voters were somewhat (13%) or very (33%) likely to support her for governor in 2026, the poll found. As of Tuesday, Harris had won 59% of the presidential race votes counted in California.
I guess we'll have to wait and see what she does in California, but her party won't risk nominating her for president again.
