Kamala Harris in Paris: Biden’s star faded in one year in office – The HuffPost

POOL New via Reuters

UNITED STATES – The Kamala Harris Ghost. The American vice-president arrived in Paris this Tuesday, November 9 for a five-day visit. She will meet Emmanuel Macron at the end of the afternoon on Wednesday, thus hoping to complete the reconciliation after a severe quarrel between Paris and Washington about an Australian submarine contract.

Propelled to center stage during the 2020 presidential campaign, the former California attorney general was presented as Joe Biden’s flagship asset. To dust off his image, he relied on having a young and dynamic woman from a minority as vice-presidency.

But a year after the victory of the democratic duo facing Donald Trump and Mike Pence, Kamala Harris stands in the shadows, in the background. According to the director of the journal The National Interest Jacob Heilbrunn, quoted by theExpress, “Biden’s team is wary of Kamala Harris. The ‘team’ Biden did not digest his words during the primaries, when they implied that ‘Joe’ had, in the past, been in favor of racial segregation ”. An idea shared by Nicole Bacharan, political scientist specializing in American politics and author of the novel The great days that changed America (Éditions Perrin), interviewed by The HuffPost.

Over the past year, Kamala Harris seems to have gotten little attention. Is it a feeling from France linked to the distance or is the vice-president really behind?

It’s not just an impression. At the moment Kamala Harris is non-existent in this presidency. Certainly, we see her alongside Joe Biden during certain speeches when he presents or defends its two major programs on infrastructure and social, but it is held back, masked, and necessarily mute.

As for her work, it is not even clear what files she was responsible for, apart from that of immigration from the border with Mexico. This one is extremely difficult, so it’s normal that she doesn’t get spectacular results. But all the same, we really don’t see what she’s doing there. Also, she did not often have the opportunity to vote in the Senate to tip the scales for Democrats.

In fact, for the moment, his profile is very low. She is very self-effacing and doesn’t seem to weigh heavily in the game.

Why leave it so much behind after highlighting it during the campaign? Would there be tensions with Joe Biden?

It is difficult to provide an answer to that. There were indeed difficult moments between the teams of the president and the vice-president. This had been the case during the primaries with Kamala Harris’ comments on Joe Biden and racial segregation. But the page has probably been turned, necessity rules.

On the other hand, it is common knowledge that there are big management problems in Kamala Harris’ team, with a lot of disagreements. In fact, there is a loss of efficiency in making the link with the White House. It must play.

Have we ever seen a vice-president fade away so much before?

Yes and anyway, historically, the role of vice-president is very thankless because constitutionally he has only one mission: to be there if the president dies or is unable to perform his duties. In history, vice-presidents have had very little weight during presidencies and they have generally experienced it very badly. Presidents generally kept them away since they embodied the possible succession in case of misfortune. But starting with Bill Clinton, the vice presidents started to have more weight and more missions.

And after a year in office, do Americans consider Kamala Harris to be up to the task?

Not really. No one has the feeling that she would be ready to assume power if necessary tomorrow. Does she know everything? It is not the impression it gives. Does her voice really matter in the White House? We do not know. As for her experience, she was a prosecutor and a senator, but on the two main aspects of the economy and foreign policy she did not seem particularly prepared during the campaign. So no, that’s not very reassuring.

Can his coming to France help him assert his image?

Yes and it is important for his international profile. It needs to meet international leaders, to forge links. For once, it’s something that will raise its profile, because it does not yet have the international experience in hand. She will show that she plays a more important role, that she can do more, because this is her first visit to Europe as vice-president, she will finally make her introductory tour here. Showing that she knows how to do can only help her come out of the shadows.

See also on The HuffPost: Kamala Harris wore a very symbolic outfit during her victory speech