Democratic strategist David Axelrod on Wednesday said former Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be preparing for another White House bid after last year’s November loss, following her announcement that she will not run for California governor.
Harris released a statement on Wednesday saying she had “given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their Governor,” but ultimately decided against it.
Axelrod, appearing on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” said “it‘s clear that you read her statement, that she is setting herself up to run.”
“She will begin as the polling leader in any race for president just by dint of having been the nominee the last time,” he added.
“But a lot of Democrats want to turn the page on all of that and look forward, and so it‘s not going to be easy for her,” he added.
Harris, in her statement about staying out of the governor’s race, said she’d remain involved in efforts to elect Democrats to office.
“I have extraordinary admiration and respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service—service to their communities and to our nation. At the same time, we must recognize that our politics, our government, and our institutions have too often failed the American people, culminating in this moment of crisis,” Harris said.
“As we look ahead, we must be willing to pursue change through new methods and fresh thinking—committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook,” she added.
Axelrod, who served as a top adviser to former President Obama, said Harris “wouldn’t have been a slam dunk in a governor‘s race either.”
She would have faced Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who also served as former President Biden’s secretary of Health and Human Services, for the Democratic nomination. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is term limited.
Axelrod told host Kaitlan Collins that for Harris, “losing a governor‘s race would have been the end of her political career.”
On an optimistic note, he added the former vice president had come within a “point and a half of the presidency” last November.
Harris is expected to appear on CBS’s “The Late Show” on Thursday in her first postelection interview.