Kamala Harris has opened up about the challenges and decisions during her campaign for vice president in her new book titled “107 Days.” This title alludes to the short-lived campaign period that she took over from presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden. In her book, Harris opens up about the process of choosing a running mate. In making her decision, she includes Tim Walz, Arizona’s Senator Mark Kelly, and Josh Shapiro. She shares the story behind why Pete Buttigieg was her initial pick to be the transportation secretary. At the time, he was Biden’s transportation secretary.
107 Days also explores the intricacies of picking a running mate, as Harris admits that Buttigieg wasn’t blindsided by his lack of selection. And she had an itch that Walz could be a serious contender. She wanted him to be, as she envisioned it, “the closer,” in any general election rematch with his Trumpy Republican replacement, J.D. Vance. That debate, held on October 1, was hosted by CBS News in New York. It became a crucible for her reflections.
Harris elucidates about her senior staff’s ardent support for Walz. Among those who had died were her sister, Maya, and her 17-year-old godson, Alexander. Still, she had concerns about how he would react to pressure. She recounts one particularly irritating exchange in the debate. Walz floundered on an important follow-up regarding his presence in Hong Kong amid the Tiananmen Square protests. Rather than answering the question about human rights concerns in China, he changed the subject completely to promoting biking in Nebraska.
The stakes were high for Harris, who had suffered acute and aggressive assaults in the past from Vance. She expressed dissatisfaction with Walz’s approach to Vance’s strategy, stating, “You’re not there to make friends with the guy who is attacking your running mate.” In a moment of rage as she saw the debate shake out, she turned to her husband Doug and said, “What the hell is going on?
Harris reflects on her internal conflicts regarding the selection of Buttigieg as her running mate, saying, “He would have been an ideal partner – if I were a straight white man.” She acknowledged the significant risk involved in asking America to accept a Black woman as a vice-presidential candidate alongside a Jewish man.
The debate’s fallout did not end at activism and statehouses, it bled into popular culture. It helps that Saturday Night Live aired a sketch with Harris and her husband watching Walz’s performance from their couch. Harris joked that the next weekend, Saturday Night Live was just running his sketch. In it, actors reenacted Doug and himself as they must have looked that night, sitting on their couch, watching the debate. Though I didn’t actually spew wine, it was otherwise prophetic in its depiction of our night.