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So, What Are Kamala Harris’ 2028 Plans?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  December 20, 2024 2:45 PM

It's been just over six weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and the president-elect will take office once again following his inauguration one month from now. It wasn't just Harris who faced losses – in the Electoral College and the popular vote – Democrats also lost control of the Senate and failed to win back the House. Ever since, there's been speculation about Harris' political future and even another potential run for president. It looks like that chatter isn't going anywhere. 

Even with the 2028 election so far away, there have been polls released showing who Democratic primary voters say they want to be their nominee. FiveThirtyEight even has a section on 2028 Democratic Primary polls. Surprisingly, it says Democrats still want Harris, though many are undecided, which was the next highest vote-getter. The second popular person is often Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). While polls have been released since last month, just weeks after Harris lost, more continue to come.

On Wednesday, McLaughlin & Associates released a poll that asked about the 2028 Democratic primary and whom Democrats would vote for if the primary were held today. Harris enjoyed 35 percent support, while "undecided" had 19 percent. The next highest voter-getter wasn't Newsom, who enjoyed 7 percent, but rather Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who had 12 percent. 

Nevertheless, the poll still showed her with a net -7 favorable rating, with 44 percent of voters having a favorable view of Harris and 51 percent having an unfavorable view. This is down from when she was at +1 last month and still lost to Trump, with 50 percent having a favorable view and 49 percent having an unfavorable view. 

The poll included 1,000 general election voters overall, while that specific question included 428 likely voters. It was conducted December 11-16. 

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Of course, it's worth reminding that Harris enjoyed plenty of support early on in the 2020 cycle, only to then drop out in December 2019, before any primary contests were held. She was installed as the Democratic presidential nominee for 2024, despite having never won a single primary vote, in 2020 or 2024.

While Democratic primary voters may say for now that they'd choose Harris, that may be because she is perhaps still fresh in most Democrats' minds. It remains to be seen if the DNC is on board. Reactions look to be mixed, though there are those airing out grievances, and very vocally at that.

Mia recently covered an interview that Lindy Li did with "Fox & Friends" over the weekend. Li is a DNC National Finance Committee member, who also served as a Harris campaign surrogate. 

Li's remarks were as blunt and as despondent as could be, including for the future of the party. As Mia highlighted:

Li, on behalf of disappointed Democratic voters, has been speaking out about the party's missteps. She previously lamented that no one in the Harris campaign ever took responsibility for blowing through more than a billion dollars in funds and losing anyway to Trump.

Li said she witnessed "no sort of postmortem or analysis of the disastrous campaign" during a "self-congratulatory" call with top Democratic donors.

"It was just patting each other on the back," Li told NewsNation. "They praised Harris as a visionary leader, and at one moment during the call, she was talking about her Thanksgiving recipe."

She had hoped someone would address how they misspent a fortune on a nearly 110-day campaign, ultimately with nothing to show for it. However, there were no mentions of what the party could have done differently or what lessons they learned.

Li called the Democratic Party's leaders "detached from reality."

"They failed to mention that hundreds of millions of dollars went to them and their friends right through these consulting firms. These consultants were the primary beneficiaries of the Harris campaign, not the American people," she said.

If the DNC can't explain "as to what happened with the billions of dollars and why hundreds of millions went to consultants, ice cream, private jets, celebrities, I don't think donors are going to be willing to give again," Li forewarned.

Is Li the exception or the norm?

Bonchie, at our sister site RedState, highlighted a POLITICO report amusingly titled, "Are Democrats coconut-pilled? Some want to see Kamala Harris run again." The common theme, as Bonchie pointed out, includes how DNC members gushed over working with Harris and that they'd do so again. The Democrats sure did like to make excuses after their loss last month, and it looks like they'll keep doing so, mainly regarding how they supposedly didn't have enough time to run a proper campaign after President Joe Biden was forced out in late July. And yet, it's still his fault, per many fellow Democrats.

As the report mentioned [emphasis added]:

Senior Democrats aren’t ruling out Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate for 2028. But not all of them are fully endorsing the idea, either.

For party leaders, it’s a delicate balancing act. Some want to show respect for the outgoing vice president — but also share a sense of skepticism about her future prospects. For others, they have genuine enthusiasm for her candidacy and believe she lost because President Joe Biden simply exited the race too late.

...

Biden only stepped down after a disastrous debate with Donald Trump in June forced him out of the race. That left Harris with only about 100 days to run a campaign.

Harris’ allies argue that the shortened time frame left her without a real chance to introduce herself to American voters. The former senior Harris aide said she didn’t “hit her ceiling” of support because of that.

...

Harris is expected to mull her next steps with family over the holidays, people in her inner circle previously told POLITICO. She also wants to conduct her own personal autopsy of the presidential race as she determines what to do next, said a person familiar with her thinking.

In some ways, it’s not surprising that party loyalists are at least entertaining the prospect of endorsing their most recent standard-bearer for president again. But the possibility of another Harris campaign poses a conundrum for Democrats after the vice president lost every swing state, the popular vote and key parts of the party’s base to Trump. She is also part of an unpopular administration that is widely associated with inflation and a border crisis.

That some Democrats are warm to the possibility of another Harris candidacy anyway underscores that a contingent in the party blames Biden — or ephemeral global anti-incumbent forces — more than Harris for her loss.

Such gushing over Harris, and those excuses, certainly line up with what Li warned about. As for Harris wanting to do her "own personal autopsy of the presidential race," color us skeptical at best. 

The DNC still could get it together in time for 2028. In some ways, they already have looked to keep Harris from running again. Last month, just before Thanksgiving, the official DNC X account released a clip of a post-election video address from Harris in which she looked and sounded intoxicated. This led to the speculation that the timing was purposeful. There are also remarks from Democratic strategists, who have made clear they don't want her to run. 

While Republicans no doubt will likely want their nominee to face Harris, given how easy she was to beat and could be again, the DNC might not let that happen. Never forget, they made it very difficult for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who ran for president as a Democrat in 2016 and 2020, only to fail to win the nomination to the more establishment picks of Hillary Clinton and Biden. 

Speaking of Biden, who the media has increasingly admitted has not had his mental faculties, he actually spoke about Harris on Sunday at the DNC's holiday reception, calling it "an incredibly honor" to have served with her, as he said she is "of immense character that she demonstrated through her entire career."

He also tried to emphasize, "I knew what I was doing when I asked her to be my vice president," adding he "trusted her" and that "she always served this country with purpose and integrity, and she always will." Those are curious remarks, given that Harris memorably went after Biden on race during the 2020 primary debates, and First Lady Jill Biden appears to be none too thrilled with her. That animosity continues to this day. 

"And you’re not going anywhere, kid, because we’re not going to let you go," Biden also said about laughter and applause from the audience. "You’re not going anywhere."

Regardless, Harris may not run for president after all. There continues to be chatter that Harris might run for governor of California in 2026, where she's also served as a U.S. senator and attorney general.