Kamala Harris Faces Democratic Doubts Over 2028 as Allies Say She Has Squandered Her Chances

Maria Cardona, an adviser to Kamala Harris, Responds to Democratic donors and strategists who say the former vice president blew her chance to reinvent herself.

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As former Vice President Kamala Harris considers another bid for the White House in 2028, a longtime adviser is hitting back at Democratic strategists and donors who argue she missed an opportunity to reinvent herself politically after losing the 2024 election.

Veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, a foreign adviser to Harris, defended Harris' policy proposals and campaign activities in the face of criticism highlighted in a new Politico report, as Democrats debate whether the former vice president deserves another shot at the White House. Cardona argued that the story was "infuriating in its stupidity."

The report, based on interviews with nearly 20 California-based Democratic aides and strategists, underscored growing skepticism among some party members about Harris' political future and whether he has done enough to differentiate himself from his failed 2024 campaign.

Longtime Democratic strategist Doug Herman, a veteran of former President Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns, told Politico that Harris "totally blew it ... He's not in the mix."

Former Gov. Jim Hodges of South Carolina, a leading state on the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating calendar, told Politico: "I don't see anything different myself. I think it's more of the same."

But Cardona, a veteran of the Bill Clinton administration, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama presidential campaigns who currently serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee, disagreed that Harris had failed to convey what he had to offer Democrats anxious for change.

Harris, the nation's first black vice president, has also said that blacks should be "trading voters" instead of automatically supporting Democratic candidates.

"Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't," Cardona said. And added that Harris "is still the most qualified person for the presidency of the United States to be mentioned as a possible candidate for 2028."

Harris has traveled the country this year, first on a book tour for her best-selling campaign memoir, "107 Days," and now to support her fellow Democrats running in the midterm elections.

While Harris has teamed up with Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abd al-Said and congressional candidates in his home state, some Democratic candidates running in red states have made headlines in recent weeks by asking the former vice president to run against them.

But Cardona said, "Harris has been talking non-stop to young voters, to women voters, to black voters, to Latino voters, and many candidates have asked him to come and campaign with them. He's focused his energy on winning the midterm elections. Can you imagine the backlash if he's there to focus on himself and how he can rebuild the Democratic Party?"

Harris replaced Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after ending his re-election bid after a disastrous debate against President Donald Trump. His short three-month presidential campaign ended in defeat for Trump, with Trump taking control of all key battleground states while retaking the White House.

If he runs for president for a third term, Harris will have instant name recognition and plenty of goodwill from within his own party. But he will also face a Democratic base trying to move past the 2024 election defeats and will likely be part of a very crowded and competitive 2028 primary field.

But longtime Democratic strategist Michael Serraso said advisers "are not voters."

Serraso noted that it took three rounds of elections for Biden to win the White House.

"The third time was the charm, and when Biden ran for the third time, everybody said to him, 'Why are you running,'" he said. "Why can't Harris look at that pattern and say, 'That could apply to me, too.'