Is Kamala Harris 'electable'?

But first, tonight's high-stakes interview of President Biden by ABC's George Stephanopoulus

I gave a talk last week (mere hours before the infamous presidential debate) at Buffalo’s Saturn Club. After I spoke with journalist Michelle Kearns, we turned to questions from the audience, written on small cards.

We ran out of time before I could answer them all, so I gathered up the cards and said maybe I’d discuss them here. One (you can see an image of it at the bottom of this post) asked: “What is the possibility that the Dems (or GOP) will nominate another candidate for president?”

My answer changed significantly after the debate. As you know, President Biden’s disastrous showing has prompted endless discussion that he may not be — or at least should not be — the Democratic nominee.

Of course, whether Biden chooses to step away is a big if — and somewhat dependent on his high-stakes interview with George Stephanopoulus, airing at 8 ET this evening on ABC. (An early look will come during ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” at 6:30 p.m. ET.)

If Biden does drop out, the logical up-next candidate is vice president Kamala Harris. In the Guardian, Mehdi Hasan explained why he has — reluctantly — come around to thinking this is the right path forward in order to defeat Donald Trump.

Kamala Harris introduces Joe Biden at campaign rally in Philadelphia on May 29, 2024. Some are now calling for Harris to take over at the top of the ticket / Getty Images

But is Kamala Harris — here’s that troubling word — electable? Is she, or is any woman candidate for president, more acceptable to American voters than in the recent past?

For perspective, I turned to Ali Vitali, who published an insightful book on this subject in 2022, “Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet.” Vitali is an NBC News correspondent covering Capitol Hill.

I asked her if we are closer to that elusive yet. And what about Kamala Harris specifically?

Ali Vitali of NBC News

Vitali on Kamala Harris:

“When I was writing Electable, the conversations around skipping over Harris as the next nominee — whenever that time came — were hushed. ‘Oh well, how would we do that?’ or ‘how would it look to pass over the first Black and female VP?’ On the one hand, it was progress that they knew there would be public backlash for passing over a history-making woman of her stature. On the other, it spoke to the ease with which the criticisms of her — both fair and unfair — had become the unchecked conventional wisdom for her political acumen. 

Now, I hear just as much consternation about Harris as I have in the past (and we’ve all seen the videos going viral) but I also hear more openness to her, too, after the last two years of leading on reproductive access and upholding democracy. After the debate, amid the freak-out, the bright spot for Dems I talked to was the VP carrying the message.” 

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Vitali on the broader question of electing women (the emphasis is mine):

“Data shows American voters are, and have been, open to electing women, including to the presidency. That was true in 2016, and more true in 2020. But we also know something funny tends to happen when specific women’s names are put on the dotted line. That’s when the gender intangibles — their laugh, their voice, their authenticity — are called into question and impact their ultimate electability.”

Exactly. It’s that all-too-familiar sentiment: “Of course I would vote for a woman — just not that woman.” Vitali ends her book by quoting the woman who got closest to grabbing the brass ring, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who won the popular vote in 2016 — and whose success was hindered by foreign interference and media malpractice.

On a woman in the Oval Office, Clinton told Vitali “I would love to see it in my lifetime.” She added, with her distinctive laugh, “And I would love to be able to stop saying that.”

I want to hear what you think about these questions, and whether you believe President Biden should step away or carry on.

Thank you very much for your interest and support. I deeply appreciate it. I hope you’re enjoying this Fourth of July weekend, and keeping your chin up about American democracy, as I urge in my Guardian column of yesterday.

Here is the Saturn Club question. The answer remains unknown, at least on Planet Earth.