Unpacking Kamala Harris's Complex Legacy: Principle and Opportunism

Kamala Harris's political career is marked by a balance of principle and opportunism, much like her predecessors Lyndon Johnson and Joe Biden. While serving as vice president, Harris displayed no unique priorities beyond those of the administration, but her earlier professional life reveals a more nuanced story. Harris's decision to become a prosecutor, as outlined in her 2009 memoir "Smart on Crime," was initially seen as an odd choice, but it reflects her genuine attempt to combine justice reform with crime-fighting. However, her actions sometimes contradicted her objectives, and her goals were not as contradictory as they seemed.

Key Takeaways:

• Harris's decision to become a prosecutor in 2004 was motivated by her conviction that safety is a fundamental civil right, as expressed in her memoir.
• Her work as a prosecutor was marked by a commitment to justice reform, but she also infuriated liberal groups by challenging San Francisco's reformist DA, Terence Hallinan, in 2003 from the right.
• Harris's Senate record is characterized by a mix of left-liberal and more conventional stances, with criticisms of her actions on certain policy issues, such as the 2012 bank settlement.
• Her predecessors, Lyndon Johnson and Joe Biden, demonstrate that individuals with questionable early records can grow into principled leaders, with Johnson's civil rights legacy and Biden's 2021 pivot to progressivism serving as examples.
• Harris's ability to seize the moment and display a coherent narrative and program remains to be seen, with some indications that she has the strength of character and principle to do so.

Statistics:

• $18 billion: The amount of funding for homeowners secured by Harris in a 2012 settlement with banks.
• 3: The number of great civil rights acts signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, who later became a champion for completing the New Deal.
• 1950s: The decade when Johnson served as Senate majority leader, during which he failed to advance civil rights.
• 2021: The year when Biden became the most progressive president since the pre-Vietnam Lyndon Johnson.
• 2024: The year when Ezra Klein wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times about Harris and Biden.

Sources:

• Robert Kuttner, "Kamala Harris," Prospect, [no date]
• Kamala Harris, Smart on Crime, Amazon.com
• Ezra Klein, "The Biden-Harris Partnership," The New York Times, July 23, 2024