Interview
Salon editor Andrew O’Hehir: Harris nomination means uncertainty for progressives
‘Bernie and AOC now believe they have lost an ally and must embark on an uncertain and possibly contentious new relationship.’
Kamala Harris' candidacy seems to have galvanized the Democratic base, and she has the support of the radical left as well. We spoke about it with Andrew O'Hehir, executive editor of Salon.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders supported Joe Biden to the last. As a left-wing observer of American politics, why in your opinion did the radical left support him so much?
Regarding AOC, Bernie and others of the "Squad" disposition: I've asked myself that question and I'm not confident I know the answer. But I believe many of them had come to see Biden as a reliable partner. Not in the sense of being an ideological ally, since he clearly isn't, but in the horse-trading sense. Biden or his inner circle had come to understand that building a relationship with the progressive left and younger voters was important, and was prepared to give the left faction some of what it wants (never all of what it wants, this is politics!) for their unwavering support. Their side of the deal was clearly to offer that support as long as Biden required it, and to delay or suppress any left challenge to his leadership or the party mainstream until, one supposes, the 2026 and 2028 elections.
If we assume AOC is sincere in her concern about invoking the law of unintended consequences — in the event, and now the eventuality, of a Biden withdrawal — then I think Harris counts as one of those unintended consequences. I don't think the left has any particular relationship with her, and there's not much love lost. She is hard to categorize in ideological terms, but lacks Biden's long experience as a deal-maker and negotiator. So I think Bernie and AOC now believe they have lost an ally and must embark on an uncertain and possibly contentious new relationship.
The Democratic left has gained a lot of space in recent years, the last two platforms were written with Sanders' cooperation: will the honeymoon continue with Harris?
Harris made vague gestures toward the left when she began her ill-fated 2020 campaign, but by the time she withdrew was running as a neoliberal moderate with identity-politics credentials, which I suspect is a fair way of categorizing her. She was not well liked on the left during her California career, and during her brief tenure in the US Senate seemed cozy with the party's wealthy donor caste.
Harris is clearly more comfortable on the terrain of civil rights and reproductive rights than Biden ever was, and will be a forceful spokesperson on the issue of abortion in a way he could never be. But in terms of a larger alliance with the left, or an openness to core issues of economic justice, we are clearly starting from scratch and there are good reasons to be skeptical.
It's too early, not to mention overly simplistic, to describe this as an internal coup or power grab staged by the DNC's dominant centrist faction. That clearly was not the principal factor here, or the conscious intention. But I have already heard that opinion, and it may wind up looking that way in retrospect.
Yet Harris' candidacy seems to elicit enthusiasm, as if she had never been part of this administration. Why is she not perceived as “genocide Harris”?
As for the surge in support for Harris, that has everything to do with relief that Biden's evident vulnerabilities are off the stage, and pretty much nothing to do with ideology or policy. She is every bit as supportive of Israel as Biden, but perhaps will handle the issue with more diplomacy and will not flat-out describe herself as a Zionist. I have no idea whether younger voters, more left-wing voters or Arab-American voters driven away by Gaza policy will come back, but the Democratic Party's calculation all along has been that those voters don't matter. They believe Harris will drive turnout among Black voters, especially Black women, and among liberal or moderate white women. That's undoubtedly true, but I have no prediction as to whether that makes up for the votes of white men she will surely lose.
What do you think are the biggest obstacles Harris will face with the base and the party?
Harris at this moment has no liabilities with the “Democratic base,” thanks to the aforementioned relief that Biden is off the stage. As I just said, the equation of voters she gains versus those she loses is impossible to calculate at the moment. (Biden's increased vote margin over Trump in 2020, relative to Hillary Clinton's in 2016, was largely a function of winning a much larger share of the white male vote, although well short of a majority.)
It's already obvious there will be no "open convention," or any sort of contentious spectacle, much as the world's media (and our own) might crave such a thing. Harris as the nominee has been done and dusted, as the Brits say, within 24 hours. The DNC will be presented to the political world as a spectacle of unity and resolve — and I expect it to be at least somewhat effective on that front.
During the RNC we witnessed a sect of fervent believers rather than a party with supporters. What do you expect from them now?
Trump's entire campaign was calibrated on running against Biden. His team will of course adjust the message as rapidly as possible, but they've been caught on the back foot.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/i-progressisti-vedevano-in-biden-un-partner-affidabile-harris-e-centrista on 2024-07-24