On Tuesday, California Sen. Kamala Harris announced that she was ending her campaign for president.
According to John King, CNN’s chief national political correspondent, despite a strong opening after she first announced her presidential bid, Harris struggled to craft a unifying narrative for her campaign.
“What is Kamala Harris? I think that was part of her problem in the race,” King said during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Tuesday.
Harris initially branded herself as a devout progressive who was ready to utilize her experience as a prosecutor to bring order to a dysfunctional Washington, D.C. Over the course of her campaign, Harris “rebooted” her campaign several times to focus on varying themes built around simple slogans, such as “truth and justice” and her commitment to focusing on problems that kept voters up at night, which she dubbed “3 a.m. problems.”
Despite a minor surge in national polling following a break-out moment at the first presidential debate — when she challenged former Vice President Joe Biden about his record on federally mandated school busing — Harris remained in the middle of the crowded field of Democrats running for the nomination.
Though Harris failed to stand out in the 2020 race, King said that he was impressed with Harris’ campaign, and said that he expects her to be a highly sought-after vice presidential candidate.
“There’s a ton of potential in there,” King said. “She did not distinguish herself as a candidate. However, she will be on a list of any Democratic vice presidential potentials.”
