She’ll have plenty of company. Former Vice President Kamala Harris closed the door on a campaign for California governor next year, keeping open the door for a White House bid in 2028.
Three years out, the presidential contest is rapidly becoming a full employment project for ambitious Democrats. Already in the mix of The Hopefuls and the Often-Mentioneds are governors and senators, rising stars and the once-were-rising stars. There are both Democratic Socialists and centrists, those who vow to battle President Donald Trump at every turn and those who counsel accommodation when it’s possible.
The Democratic contenders and maybe-contenders form a disparate group that lacks a consistent political philosophy or a clear plan for victory, in a party that could be described the same way.
That’s no coincidence.
One shapes the other. A compelling candidate who emerges at the top in town-hall forums, debates and primaries will define the Democratic Party. And a consensus on where the Democrats stand will affect which candidate is seen as compelling.
But not yet. The Republican Party could be clearly defined and immediately identified by the official, glowering portrait of Donald Trump. But without a president, or a presidential nominee, or even a frontrunner − or, for that matter, a speaker of the House or majority leader of the Senate − both the Democratic Party and its White House race is at the moment a wilderness.
Albeit a crowded wilderness.
There was a sign of the battles ahead on the Senate floor Tuesday night. When Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto sought to move a bipartisan package funding police departments, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker accused his fellow Democrats of “complicity” with Trump. “I say we stand, I say we right, I say we reject this,” he declared.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar − who, like Booker, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 −rose to object that perhaps he should have shown up in the Judiciary Committee when the bills were being considered instead of waiting for the bigger stage of the Senate floor.
How to spot a presidential candidate
To identify prospects who would like to be president, or at least to be considered for the job, the key often isn’t to listen to what they say. The default stance is that they love their current job in the Senate or the statehouse and are committed to it.
Instead, watch what they do.
Gathering chits by campaigning for fellow Democrats in 2025 and 2026? Check. Launching a “listening tour” to hear from voters in South Carolina? Check. Railing on Trump and his policies? Check. Dropping by New Hampshire on summer vacation? Check. Writing a book on policy prescriptions laced with personal anecdotes? Check.
By the way, Harris announced she wasn’t running for governor on July 30, Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Simon and Schuster announced she had written a memoir, titled “107 Days,” chronicling her the whirlwind presidential campaign last year.
More: Kamala Harris explores ‘drama of running for president’ in new book on 2024 bid
The publication date is Sept. 23, less than a year since that Election Day.
In another time, or maybe another political party, Harris would be viewed as the early frontrunner.
She is credited with running a credible campaign under difficult circumstances, carrying 48.32% of the popular vote, compared to 49.80% for Trump. The Electoral College count was more lopsided, at 312-226.
But she lost, and Democrats in the past have demonstrated little loyalty to losers. The last Democratic nominee who lost one presidential race and was nominated for another was Adlai Stevenson, in 1956, who lost to Dwight Eisenhower again. That was eight years before Harris was born.
For the record, Republicans seem to be more forgiving. Trump, for one, was nominated in 2024 and won after losing to Biden in 2020. Richard Nixon was nominated in 1968 and won after losing to John F. Kennedy in 1960.
In what may have been an object lesson for Harris, Nixon chose to run for California governor two years after that loss, in 1962, only to lose to Democratic incumbent Pat Brown and declare he was through with politics altogether. “You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more,” he famously, and prematurely, announced.
Dealing with the legacy of Biden
Harris would face another challenge: The continuing debate over Biden.
The former president’s decision to seek a second term, only to belatedly withdraw amid questions about his mental acuity, has contributed to the Democrats’ current nadir. She was his vice president and defender.
Now the Democratic field is wide open with the possibility to numbers could rival the 30-something record set in 2020, when a comprehensive alphabetical list included six names before you finished with the “Bs”: Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Biden, Booker, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and South Bend (Ind.) Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
More: Tarnished legacy? How Biden’s age and refusal to pass torch earlier hang over his exit
For 2028, a non-comprehensive list of those who have signaled interest in the presidential race would start with Biden administration veterans Harris and Buttigieg. Governors Gavin Newsom of California, J.D. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Wes Moore of Maryland. Senators Booker and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, House members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California.
Whoever prevails faces an uphill job ahead. In a new Wall Street Journal poll, only 33% of Americans had a favorable view of the Democratic Party; 63% had an unfavorable one.
That’s a three-decade low.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Next stop, White House? Anticipation builds for Harris, eager Dems
