Now the question has become: “Who do you like — Kamala Harris or Donald Trump?”
We all know it’s not necessarily the issues that determine who wins elections. Most of us need to find our comfort level with a presidential .candidate in order to vote for them.
And we definitely need to like them more than their opponent.
That’s why one of the biggest tasks for their campaigns is image-making. Of course, for the Republicans, everybody already has a set image of Donald Trump, so there’s not much to be done about that.
Democrats, by contrast, have an opportunity to introduce us to Kamala Harris and they are essentially starting with a blank slate.
And although she comes from here, most of us in San Francisco probably don’t feel like we know her very well either.
Her rise in local and state progressive politics has paralleled that of Gavin Newsom, but as politicians the two could hardly be more dissimilar. Almost everybody around here has their Gavin Newsom story but precious few people have Kamala Harris stories.
Most of us first became aware of Harris in 2003 when she was an assistant district attorney in San Francisco running for D.A. That same year Newsom was running for mayor.
They both won and the next time around they were both re-elected. Harris then was elected as California’s attorney general (2010), then as its senator (2017), before being selected for the V-P position by Joe Biden (2020).
During all of these years of her rise politically, Harris remained something of an enigma, virtually untouched by the press. She was scandal-free and largely uncontroversial.
Newsom, by contrast, was always in the public eye, as mayor, then lieutenant governor, and finally governor of California. He was often at the center of dramatic events — being the first public official to approve same-sex marriages, negotiating strike-ending deals or getting into trouble with scandals including a messy sexual affair. He also faced down a major recall effort as governor.
Harris studiously avoided the limelight, even as vice-president. Compared to Newsom, she has always been (my term) No Drama Kamala.
Like many others, I’ve had any number of personal interactions with Newsom over the years, all memorable and positive, but no interactions at all with Harris. He was always accessible; she seemed aloof.
Given all this, it’s not surprising that many San Franciscans expected Newsom to run for president some day and we still do. Fewer thought that of Harris — until 2020.
So while Newsom was stealing the limelight over the past two decades, Harris was quietly preparing in her own way for the moment that has finally arrived.
Now she is at center stage it’s time we got to know her.
HEADLINES:
Harris makes presidential campaign debut in swing state of Wisconsin (Reuters)
Trump’s New Rival May Bring Out His Harshest Instincts (NYT)
What are Kamala Harris’s chances against Donald Trump? (Financial Times)
Harris gets a dream start, but the task ahead is monumental (CNN)
Historians say Biden’s withdrawal shows American democracy is working (WP)
Project 2025’s Plan to Eliminate Public Schools Has Already Started (Time)
World recorded hottest day on July 21, monitor says (Guardian)
Secret Service Director Resigns Amid Anger Over Trump Shooting (WSJ)
U.S., Israel and UAE held a secret meeting on Gaza war "day after" plan (Axios)
Palestinian factions including rivals Hamas and Fatah agreed to form an interim national unity government during negotiations in China. (Reuters)
Google makes abrupt U-turn by dropping plan to remove ad-tracking cookies on Chrome browser (AP)
Open Source AI Is the Path Forward (Meta)
Target Employees Hate Its New AI Chatbot (Forbes)
Large language models don’t behave like people, even though we may expect them to (MIT)
A.I. Can Write Poetry, but It Struggles With Math (NYT)
Democrats Panic After Kamala Harris Ages 40 Years In Single Night (The Onion)
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