Six months after leaving Washington to make way for Donald Trump, her opponent in the presidential election, Kamala Harris has broken her silence. In a carefully orchestrated publicity rollout, the former vice president showed that she intends to stay on the national political stage, though she stopped short of answering the central question for the Democratic camp: Will she run again for the White House in 2028?
Pushing back against assumptions and expectations, Harris announced on Wednesday, July 30, that she would not seek the position of governor of California at the end of the current Governor Gavin Newsom’s term (Newsom is unable to run for re-election in 2026). After all, many within the Democratic party are not especially eager to witness another national campaign run by a candidate who lost to Trump by nearly 2.3 million votes and who failed to galvanize minority voters. “I love this state, its people and its promise,” Harris said in a statement. But “for now, my leadership – and public service – will not be in elected office.”
The next day, she announced on X the release of her new book, titled 107 Days, a reference to the 107 days of her campaign – “the shortest presidential campaign in modern history” – which suggests that she attributes her defeat largely to the way she was suddenly thrust onto the stage when Joe Biden finally decided, on July 21, 2024, not to seek re-election. Published by Simon & Schuster, the memoir will be released on September 23. “What the world saw on the campaign trail was only part of the story,” she said, promising a “behind-the-scenes look” at her experience at the front lines of the anti-Trump left’s hopes.
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