| | | | |  | | By Charlie Mahtesian | |  Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an event honoring NCAA winners at the White House on July 22, 2024. On Sunday, President Biden announced that he would not seek the nomination for the Democratic Party in the 2024 election, and that he endorsed Vice President Harris. | Stephen Voss for POLITICO | HISTORY LESSONS — Joe Biden. Richard Nixon. Lyndon Johnson. Harry Truman. All of them served as vice presidents before ascending to the Oval Office. Yet that record of upward mobility obscures a thorny reality confronting Kamala Harris. While nearly half of the last 14 presidents prepped for the White House with a stint as veep, only one incumbent vice president — George Herbert Walker Bush — has been elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836. In the modern era, vice presidents have been promoted to the presidency through death (Truman and LBJ, both of whom went on to win their own full terms), resignation (Gerald Ford, who then lost his 1976 bid for a full term) or after a brief hiatus out of public office (Nixon and Biden). But nearly all of those who ran to directly succeed the president they served with — Alben Barkley, Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and Al Gore — fell short. The lone exception was Bush in 1992. Since Biden indicated Sunday that he intends to serve out his term, Harris falls into that latter category. That’s a bad omen for the Democratic Party, which appears to be on a trajectory to rally behind her as the nominee in November. While there’s no single, readily identifiable reason that explains why those in Harris’ position fail so often, one common denominator is that the president they served under was no asset to their campaign. Barkley’s 1952 candidacy to succeed Truman was a dead letter — at 74 years old, the party viewed him as too old for the presidency. Truman thought the same. In a note that year, he wrote, “[Barkley] can’t see, he shows his age … My good friend Alben would be dead in three months if he should inherit my job!” Truman’s successor in the White House, Dwight Eisenhower, torpedoed his own vice president in 1960 when asked in a press conference to provide an example of one of Richard Nixon’s major ideas that he had adopted. “If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don’t remember,” he answered glibly. John F. Kennedy’s campaign ended up cutting the clip into a campaign ad, undermining Nixon’s attempt to leverage his eight years of experience as vice president against the young senator. Every vice president has discovered that while the office has been transformed in recent decades into a position where real power can be exercised, their fates are nevertheless entangled with the presidents they serve. It’s not only difficult to carve out a political identity that’s distinct from the president, it’s almost impossible to achieve separation when it’s politically advantageous. Humphrey and Gore found their political fortunes intertwined with presidents whose shortcomings played a role in their defeats. The very nature of the vice president’s job — which demands discretion and loyalty, among other traits — prevented both from escaping the blast radius of presidential misjudgment. Johnson’s unpopular war in Vietnam helped sink Humphrey. The sex scandal involving Bill Clinton and a White House intern served as the awkward backdrop of Gore’s presidential bid, forcing the vice president into an unwanted role as a defender of the president in the runup — at one point in 1998, Gore went so far as to refer to Clinton as “a man I believe will be regarded in the history books as one of our greatest presidents.” In 2000, on the day of his official campaign announcement, Gore was still answering for Clinton’s affair in a nationally televised television interview. As a result, he made the decision to diminish Clinton’s role on the campaign trail. Now it’s Harris’ turn. While the conditions surrounding Harris’ late emerging candidacy are unusual, she’s already facing a well-worn template. At the Republican convention, she was pilloried as Biden’s “border czar” — a point of particular weakness for the president in the polls — and she will soon be pressed to address the delicate question of his mental acuity and fitness. It’s a no-win situation for Harris, who will be forced to defend the president’s vigor not only out of duty and loyalty, but out of necessity. The basic mechanics of this trap will be familiar to past vice presidents. To concede the president is diminished in any way undermines Biden, but the act of denying any diminishment at all means every future Biden stumble will accrue to her political account. A former vice president himself, Biden made an important gesture Sunday to make things easier for Harris. In announcing his withdrawal from the race, the president delivered a gift that Barkley and Nixon would have appreciated. “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” he wrote on the social media platform X. “And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.” And by bowing out so late in the race — there are just 106 days until Election Day — Biden may have spared Harris the slow bleed that afflicted other aspiring presidents like Humphrey and Gore for months on end. Still, the curse of the incumbent vice president won’t be easy to shake. Republicans are betting on it, and already have an attack line for the occasion: “What did Kamala know and when did she know it?” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie.
| | | | Breaking News Briefing: How Kamala Harris’ Policies Could Differ from Joe Biden’s — Where does Vice President Kamala Harris stand on key policy issues? Where does she differ from President Biden? Join POLITICO Pro’s specialist reporters for a detailed discussion of what her track record as vice president, U.S. senator and attorney general of California tells us about her policy instincts and allies. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | — Top Oversight Dem joins GOP chair in calling for Secret Service director to resign: Top House Oversight Democrat Jamie Raskin told Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that he believes she should resign, capping off an hourslong hearing into security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. “I don’t want to add to the director’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but I will be joining the chairman in calling for the resignation of the director, just because I think that this relationship is irretrievable at this point,” Raskin (D-Md.) said, referring to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.). — Lindsey Graham offers strong praise of Biden: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, offered strong praise of President Joe Biden — perhaps the strongest yet among Trump’s supporters. Today, he said in a statement that “I understand and respect” Biden’s decision not to seek reelection. “While we have political differences, I appreciate his lifelong service to our nation, which he dearly loves,” Graham said. “He has devoted his entire life to public service for the people of Delaware and the United States, and I wish him and his family well as this chapter in his life comes to an end.” — A DHS report on Jan. 6 could drop soon. It could be bad for the Secret Service: As the Secret Service fields a barrage of investigations on the Trump shooting, it is also set to face the release of a report on another bruising episode: its response to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Investigators in the Inspector General’s Office for the Department of Homeland Security — the Secret Service’s parent agency — have finished a long-awaited report on the violence that day and shared it with the Secret Service to review, a standard practice. The report, which could cast light on a series of embarrassing security lapses for the agency, could be released as soon as this week.
| | | |  David Plouffe speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on May 10, 2016. | Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch | BULLPEN CALL — David Plouffe, a leading adviser to former President Barack Obama, has been approached by allies of Vice President Kamala Harris to join a hybrid team of consultants at the top of her organizational chart, according to two people familiar with the outreach. Plouffe’s admirers are encouraging him to accept a position in the Harris campaign, believing she needs more proven hands who offer a voice from outside both the Biden and Harris orbits. The addition of Plouffe to Harris’ team would immediately inject A-list talent in the most senior ranks of the operation as they work to reintroduce Harris and ensure she’s on solid footing ahead of her biggest first decision: whom to select as her vice presidential nominee. Plouffe would also provide a conduit to top donors and leaders across Silicon Valley, said a third person who wants him to join Harris, where he’s worked on policy and strategy for the likes of Uber after exiting his role with Obama. POURING IN — Vice President Kamala Harris has received endorsements from prominent Democratic elected officials across the party, effectively clearing the path for her to become the new presumptive nominee. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw her weight behind Harris, as did essentially all of Harris’ potential serious rivals for the nomination. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stopped short of outright endorsing Kamala Harris — but in a joint statement today, they said she is “off to a great start” in her candidacy and are preparing to meet “shortly” with her in person. COVETED SLOT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that she will be the co-chair of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, while also waving away speculation about potentially joining the ticket. In a post on X, Whitmer said “Today, not only am I fired up to endorse Kamala Harris for President of the United States, I’m proud to serve as a co-chair of her campaign.” STADIUM CONFERENCE CALL — Within hours of President Joe Biden’s bombshell news Sunday that he would not run for reelection, tens of thousands of Black women across the country — including many in New York — launched an ambitious organizing effort for Vice President Kamala Harris. State Attorney General Tish James and New York-based consultants Lupe Todd-Medina, Amelia Adams, Tyquana Henderson-Rivers and Rachel Noerdlinger were among the Empire State women on Sunday evening’s “Win With Black Women” virtual call, according to a list of names provided to POLITICO. The organization formed in 2020 to support Black female candidates for elected office. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE — Exactly one month before Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, a Donald Trump campaign staffer distributed a document to top Trump campaign aides. The subject line: “Nominating An Alternative Democratic Presidential Candidate.” The 11-page memo, labeled “CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT” and obtained by POLITICO, outlined the ways in which another candidate besides Biden could become the nominee. The scenarios included: “Biden step[ping] aside,” an “insider rebellion,” and an “act of God.”
| | EUROPE’S KAMALA QUESTION — Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the U.S. presidential election gave European politicians an urgent new question: What would Kamala Harris be like? Speaking candidly, centrist European politicians and officials suggested Harris has yet to convince them she can beat him. Isabel Schnabel, an executive board member of the European Central Bank, was caught on a hot mic earlier this year criticizing the vice president as “invisible”, and predicting that she would never win. The Democratic Party selection process “is a failure,” Schnabel said in comments reported here for the first time. Speaking privately — though not on a hot mic — other people familiar with Harris’s style of diplomacy criticized her speeches, recalling that she tended to read from a prepared text in a stilted manner. OUT OF THE HUMANITARIAN ZONE — The Israeli military today ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip it had designated a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants there, reports The Associated Press. The order triggered a new flight of Palestinians, many of whom had taken refuge there just in the past weeks. Thousands of Palestinians, many carrying backpacks and accompanied by children, walked down dusty roads under the scorching sun. Dilapidated cars with belongings tied on top maneuvered past buildings flattened by previous strikes. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel’s air and ground campaign. “We do not know where we are walking,” said Kholoud Al Dadas, as she clutched her children. “This is our seventh or eighth time we have been displaced. While we were sleeping in our homes, they started shooting at us, bombing from everywhere.” Moments later, she collapsed in exhaustion. Reflecting the shrinking space for Palestinians, the new evacuation order reduces by some 10 square kilometers (4 square miles) the 60-square kilometer (23 square mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to escape its offensives. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS — A Russian court has convicted Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced her to 6.5 years in prison after a secret trial, court records and officials told The Associated Press today. The conviction in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s central region of Tatarstan, came on Friday, the same day a court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison in a case that the U.S. called politically motivated. Kurmasheva, a 47-year-old editor for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir language service, was convicted of “spreading false information” about the military, according to the website of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan. Court spokesperson Natalya Loseva confirmed Kurmasheva’s conviction and revealed the sentence to The Associated Press by phone in the case classified as secret. Kurmasheva was ordered to serve the sentence in a medium-security penal colony, Loseva said. “My daughters and I know Alsu has done nothing wrong. And the world knows it too. We need her home,” Kurmasheva’s husband, Pavel Butorin, said in a post today on X.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRI | | | | | | | | | | $150 million The amount that Future Forward, the flagship super PAC blessed by President Joe Biden, announced it had received in new commitments from major Democratic donors in the 24 hours since the president announced he would step aside from the race. | | | | A BRENTWOOD STORY — Growing up, Harmony Holiday’s father — the R&B singer Jimmy Holiday — was a passing acquaintance of O.J. Simpson. As the younger Holiday recalls it, they would wave at one another from similar looking cars in the same neighborhood in Los Angeles, both Black men with white wives living in a largely white, wealthy area. The similarities didn’t stop there — Jimmy Holiday was almost a professional boxer, and his daughter wonders how repeated hits to the face might have affected his moods when she was growing up. Simpson’s family has refused to allow his brain to be scanned for potential signs of CTE, a condition found often in athletes who have been hit in the head a lot that has led to mood swings and suicide. In a personal essay combined with a reported piece for The Paris Review, Holiday examines her own childhood and how it intersects with bigger stories about American culture.
| | |  On this date in 1992: Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton wave to the crowd in Vandalia, Illinois. The Democratic presidential candidate ticket stopped in Vandalia on their bus campaign across the Midwest. | Greg Gibson/AP | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
