Dem
47
GOP
53
Kamala Harris, who never really stopped her presidential campaign after losing in 2024, has taken note of the wins by anti-Israel candidates in NYC and now Colorado. In true politician style, Harris, who has long supported Israel, seems to have chucked her previous positions in the recycling bin and is now test driving a switch to the other side. Her actions suggest that her thinking is something along the lines of, "Well, if that's what the voters want me to believe, it behooves me to believe it."
Harris called NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week and has scheduled a meeting with him. She has also met with Abbas Alawieh, a cofounder of the Uncommitted Movement, who is running for a seat in the Michigan state Senate. She has also met with James Zogby, a member of the DNC and long-time Palestinian activist, and other leaders in the pro-Palestinian movement.
Some Palestinian activists don't trust her, though. They see that this is just a political move to help her presidential campaign and she hasn't had a change of heart and doesn't mean it at all. They are also well aware that her husband is Jewish and switching sides might gain her some votes but would also lose her pro-Israel votes, not to mention branding her as an opportunistic flip-flopper, which no one likes.
Harris is often among the frontrunners in polls, but that is merely because she is well-known nationally and people like Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) are not. Once things get going, that will change quickly and she will take fire from all sides. Some candidates will say: "Why back a known loser?" Others will say: "The voters want someone new and exciting, not an old retread." Still others will point out that women are 0 for 2 in presidential elections and 2028 is too important to run another experiment to see if they strike out.
Harris' policy record is mixed. She ran as a progressive in 2020 and was wiped out almost immediately. Then, when the Democratic nomination was dumped in her lap in 2024, without her having to lift a finger to get it, she became a moderate. She will be 64 on Inauguration Day 2029. Is this the person the Democrats who voted for three DSA candidates in NYC and two in Colorado are waiting for? Switching sides on the Middle East might impress them for a minute, but most of them are unlikely to believe she really means it. That said, desperate candidates use desperate measures. There will be so many candidates in 2028 that Democrats won't have to settle for second or third best, and few people believe that what the country is hungering for now is an older Black woman whose positions keep changing. (V)