For some, this summer will be a time to relax: picnic, barbecue, vacation. For others, there is a crazy fight between work and swimming games, baseball games or shopping before shelves is exposed, and Trump tariffs are priced beyond everything.
For Kamala Harris, it’s time to decide.
The former vice president is expected to spend a variety of options in a small portion of the summer — whether it’s retirement after more than 20 years of seeking elected positions, whether it’s bidding for California governor in 2026 or making its third attempt at the White House in 2028.
According to some of the people who spoke to Harris, she was indeed unsure, confused about the pain between her hometown and the desire to become president.
Of the three options, the most urgent thing is whether to compete in the competition to replace her Democrat, the restricted Gavin Newsom, as governor.
The competition has gone well – so far, 10 serious (broadly) candidates have announced their candidates. Harris’ near-world name recognition and national fundraising base make her wait longer than others, but a serious governor bid will take more than a few months to get on.
This forces decisions and public announcements sooner rather than later.
If she does run, one thing Harris must avoid at all costs is arrogance, entitlement or a commitment to just 100% as governor. It is not difficult to imagine one of her first words as a candidate would commit to a full four-year term and vow not to use the office as a temporary step in bidding towards another president.
If you don’t, voters have good reason to send Harris packaging. California doesn’t need another governor with hovering political eyes.
Another top priority for Harris is to provide compelling reasons Why She wants to be governor. The reason for seeking an office is the same reason climbers want to solve Mount Everest – because it is there – cannot be done.
History provides a lesson.
In November 1979, Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy was preparing to propose an emerging bid to the president against the unpopular incumbent Jimmy Carter. He conducted a TV interview, which was so frightening that he became a subject’s course no Start exercising.
When asked why he was president, Kennedy paused for a long time and showed up. He then canceled a long, fixed, two-minute reaction, referring to natural resources, technology, innovation, productivity, inflation, energy, unemployment and the economy, and others. His answer is sober as a fog bank and inspiring as a celery stem.
“Kennedy is on the rockets,” said Dan Schnur, a senior communications strategist and professor of political science, who made the Kennedy interview part of his courses at USC, Pepperdine and UC Berkeley. Carter is in a terrible state, and Kennedy is a political royal whose passion for his candidacy at the grassroots of the Democratic Party “looks like the nomination that swept him over his.
“Then he did an interview and he couldn’t answer the most basic questions,” Schnur recalls.
Despite the arduous challenges that Kennedy eventually brought to Carter, he never fully recovered from the terrible impression.
Harris should be careful.
A recent poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times and UC Berkeley gave her a 50% approval rate among California voters, which is not a number to beat the band. Still, she will be in the governor’s game as a favorite, at least under the state’s top electoral system. If Republicans take second place, Harris will win in November given California’s strong Democratic tendencies.
But, again, Harris became governor, either.
Some people close to the former vice president want to know she really wants or will like the job.
In 2015, when both the governor and U.S. Senate seats were open, then state Attorney General Harris chose to seek the latter. Given a Senate platform and opportunity, her reasons are both personal and involve family considerations and professionals.
In short, Harris never became the governor of California.
This made her explanation of her more important–clear and persuasive–why she wanted to be elected.
“She has to give some affirmative reasons why she is running and why it is good for California voters,” Schnur said. “It’s not just a matter of structuring a few words into sentences.
“For someone as smart as Kamala Harris and her team, it’s time to make a well-tested lab test phrase.” “The challenge is not to enter a sentence. It is developing a core purpose that can then be explained in the sentence.”
Harris can look inward and figure it out all summer long. If she can’t, California voters should choose someone else for the next governor.
