In her new book “107 days”, Former Vice President Kamala Harris talks about her 2024 presidential race which is in candid detail and focuses on her loss against Donald Trump in what seems to be her first interview in a long time since the defeat. The book has stirred within some Democratic circles and gained a fair bit of controversy and sympathy. While Harris tries to define the politics of her post defeat timelines shifts the book in focus.
As the divide in her own party becomes wider, the timing of the publication holds a hefty amount of importance. Some party members believe Harris should be the first in line to take over Biden’s heritage whereas, on the other hand, some do not support her ambition which is clouded with a defeat.
In her book, the part that perhaps focuses on the tensions in the relationship with the Biden family is the part in which her supposed loyalty is told over and over. Kamala Harris claims that “his staff over the years has softly triaged the president’s tiredness which I think is acceptable. I do not, however, que stion the president’s thinking faculties” and that silence on Biden’s emulsion era is better than over.
One very informative anecdote tells us how Jill Biden during the turbulent times of the campaign pulled aside Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff to ask whether they were standing with the Bidens. Harris observes how this irked Emhoff. On another instance, Biden – not wishing Harris luck, called her to ask if she was in the habit of bashing him to “power brokers” right before a very important debate.
Kamala Harris recalls how in the impossible position she was in when Biden’s possible chances came under scrutiny after a very poor debate performance. “He would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty, even if my only message was: Don’t let the other guy win,” Kamala Harris writes. She does now recognize that this hands-off approach was “recklessness” when she said, “I have and had a certain responsibility that I should have followed through on.”
The Person You Picked Dilemma: The Story Behind Selecting Harris’s Running Mate
Specifically, within this book, the section that details the selection of Kamala Harris’s running mate is the most controversial:
First choice is Pete Buttigege: Harris tells Buttigege that he is a “master of communication” and, therefore, would have made an “ideal mate” and running partner. However, Harris did have hesitations on whether the Americans would accept a ticket with a Black woman and a gay man, and thought whether that would be “too risky.”
Settling on Tim Walz: He was the Minnesota governor, and the person that Harris, along with everyone else, thought was the best choice because he claimed the candidacy was “no goal of mine.” However, he does poorly against JD Vance, and constantly repeating “What is happening?” is asked when he supposedly is too nice with his opponent.
Harris tells of how he was the Pennsylvanian governor and made too many “I can do this for you’s” for the position, and tells how she passionately details him asking how many rooms the VP residence contains and how he can get work from Pennsylvanian artists showcased there.
Harris has faced backlash from some of the people that she criticized. Buttigieg suggested that she undersells the voters, while a spokesperson for Shapiro dismissed her interpretation as “just silly.”
Dissertation – The ‘Structural’ Challenges: The Uplift Struggles for Kamala Harris
Harris Kamala keeps repeating, with 107 days to campaign as the Democratic nominee, the challenge of her being the last was one she has never faced before. “Three and a half months before the election, the sitting president of the United States decides not to run for re-election. The former US vice president, with 107 days left, has to face the US president who has been campaigning for 10 years,” she remarked during a book event in New York. “And he was running for 10 years.”
It has been pointed out, despite the timeframe, Harris’s campaigning was criticized the most because it was when she was most likely to perform. This, critics noted, was an effortless assumption. A review by The Guardian in ‘107 Days’ stated her campaign was underestimated by, “the lack of boldness and firmness,” while lacking “the willingness to take deeply held, principled positions.”
Kamala Harris’s reconnissance for immigration and inflation serves to policy more communicative defeats. Concerning borders, she says, “None of us could gaslight the people who felt that way by denying the problem.” Concerning the problems of the border, she acknowledges, “We did not succeed in making a passionate case for a complete immigration overhaul.” The same way in, she sighs trying to sell people on “transitory” inflation while buying groceries and paying for child care.
Democratic Divisions: Kamala Harris Being More Spoke Doesn’t Elicit Confidence
The book illustrates deep fractures in the Democratic party regarding the future of Kamala Harris:
Voices of Dissent
Faiz Shakir, who helmed the campaign of Bernie Sanders in 2020, stated the book “affirms concerns people had about Kamala Harris” and claimed, “It is a sign of weak leadership to just start blaming these kind of outside actors for your own shortcomings. The Democratic Party needs to do better.”
The book seemed to Ashley Etienne, Harris’s former communications spokesperson, as a “missed opportunity” for not concentrating on Harris’s legacy as the first female Vice President and accomplishments from the Biden administration.
It is not uncommon to hear people voicing the same opinion that Kamala Harris resembles the Democratic party’s “one and done” practice by comparing her to former candidates Walter Mondale and Al Gore.
Devoted Fans
Some people might still hold on to their criticism of Kamala Harris but they disregard the standing ovations that her audiences give her on her book tour events. Harris’s supporters tend to think her campaign loss stems from issues in her strategy, commenting, “based on what we know, we want to suppress women, and she was a victim of that.”
Supporters have warmed to the Kamala Harris book tour, attending events and telling campaign stories while drinking the specialty “Madam VP cocktail.” For these loyal supporters, Kamala Harris is still a source of motivation and admiration, and the results of the November elections do little to change that.
The Road Ahead: What is in Store for Kamala Harris?
The end of a book tour is usually followed by a long period of silence from the authors, something Harris is not used to. She is still quite controversial and Robin has stated, Harris is still trailing the other Democratic candidates in a potential New Democratic Primary along with Pete and Gavin in 2028 all while holding only 11% support from her home state of California.
The memoir reminiscences on encouraging Democrats to build ‘our own blueprint that sets out our alternative vision for our country’ instead of tracing out her ambitions. She talks about investing in Gen Z education as central to this vision, but there are scant details regarding how the party should deal with contentious issues such as Gaza or the rights of transgender individuals.
Kamala Harris still enjoys high name recognition and an expansive fundraising network, and these factors, coupled with her greatly diminished standing, leave some supporters hopeful about her latent prospects. CNN commentator Bakari Sellers says “she possesses great talent, and 2028 could be her moment,” and adds that she has options for either 2028 or 2032.
Conclusion: Crossroads for Kamala Harris
For Kamala Harris, “107 Days” is more than just a campaign memoir. It is an attempt at recalibrating her political narrative in order to claim relevance in a fractured Democratic party. The book highlights her brief presidential campaign and the external and internal strife that came with it.
It is debatable if Kamala Harris can transform this shines of achievement to assist in a political relaunch. History implies that Democrats’ party has a track record of rarely awarding nomination to a person who has previously lost a bid, and ample evidence of discontent in her own party signals considerable obstacles. However, the positive response to her book tour has shown that there is a loyal and passionate constituency for Kamala Harris who continues to see her as a pioneering inspirational leader.
While Democrats have the tough dilemma of thinking of a future path to take, Harris is among the most well known and controversial people in the party. Whether she can mend the party’s internal rifts, respond to accusations of lacking substance, and reconcile with the people she worked to move away from, will most probably, decide if the book is her last or the first step of a political revival.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/29/politics/kamala-harris-107-days-profile
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