She’s taking it well, channeling her inner team player, but this must hurt. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was grossly unqualified to be president and was walloped by Trump in 2024, remains committed to helping her party win the 2026 midterms. In that regard, that means shutting the hell up and staying out of sight. 

In Alaska, Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola outright rejected her endorsement. Yes, it’s not shocking that rural red-state Democrats want her to stay away, but it must sting to know that other prominent Democrats, like Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, are welcomed with open arms in some of these places. We know what Kamala sucks, and, like Joe Biden, the chance of a gaffe or aberrant on-stage incident occurring and then that becoming the center of attention- all of it bad- just wastes time (via Politico):

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is revving up her involvement in the midterms. While some Democrats are eager to embrace her, others want her to steer clear.

[…]

Harris had kept a relatively low profile so far on the campaign trail. Some Democrats prefer it that way.

Iowa’s two most prominent Democratic candidates have said they do not want Harris to campaign for them. Alaska’s Democratic Senate nominee rejected a fundraising solicitation Harris sent on her behalf. And a swing-district Democrat in Wisconsin and a long-shot Senate hopeful in Kansas both told POLITICO they would prefer Harris keep her distance.

“I received 9,000 more votes than Harris in 2024,” Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in western Wisconsin, said in a statement when asked by POLITICO. “I don’t need anyone to come and campaign with me in my district. I do the work of building relationships — including across the aisle — on my own.”

[…]

“In Kansas, you’re trying to reach 45 percent of the state who are Republicans and a lot of really good people who are Republicans, but their vantage point or their worldview may be a bit different than Kamala Harris’,” Kansas Democratic Senate nominee Adam Hamilton told POLITICO. “What I’m looking at is I’m really mounting a very Kansas-centered campaign, and I’m out speaking, I tell people I’m running as an independent-minded Democrat.”

Hamilton is running an uphill battle in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. The state is seen as potentially somewhat in play amid the ongoing war in Iran, trade wars with close allies and a persistent cost of living crisis that have cut especially deep in agricultural territory.

But that doesn’t mean a coastal Democrat like Harris would play well in the conservative heartland.

“Having somebody from California come in and try to tell Kansans who they should vote for is a pretty bad idea,” Hamilton said. Harris has not endorsed in the race.

Cooke is the one who’s accepted an endorsement from Sanders and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Mayor Pete. 

God, I hope she runs again.