Former Vice President Kamala Harris, by publishing a memoir with strong statements about many political leaders she has worked with, is likely burning her bridges, making it highly doubtful that she will ever again hold public office.
History records that once a Presidential nominee has lost election to the White House, the odds are extremely high that such individual will never be President.
There are only six cases of a defeated Presidential nominee going on to be elected President–three before the Civil War, once in the Gilded Age, once in the mid 20th century, and finally, Donald Trump.
Two of the cases–Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump– won the Presidency, then lost, and then returned, so unusual and special cases. In the case of Cleveland, he won in 1884, lost in 1888, and won in 1892. Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won in 2024.
The three before the Civil War were Thomas Jefferson, who lost in 1796 and won in 1800; Andrew Jackson, who lost in 1824, and won in 1828; and William Henry Harrison, who lost in 1836 and won in 1840.
Finally, Richard Nixon lost in 1960, but then won in 1968 and 1972.
So the odds of Harris coming back are very low, but additionally, by being critical of Joe and Jill Biden and the Biden Staff, and stating her reasons for not selecting Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttigieg as her Vice Presidential running mate instead of Tim Walz, has caused controversy and a sense of anger by those individuals and others.
And it is generally well known that Kamala Harris was not an easy person to work for, losing staff regularly in the Senate and the Vice Presidency.
One gets the feeling from her appearance on Rachel Maddow, and on “The View”, that she does not seem to have the “fire in the belly” to compete in another strenuous Presidential campaign.
It would have been easier for Harris to have run for California Governor, with assurance of an easy victory, and a major role in the largest state’s impact in reaction to Donald Trump and the Republican Party, just like Gavin Newsom is now waging.
So it seems clear this is the end of any serious “comeback” by Kamala Harris to national politics.
Instead, she is on a major speaking tour to promote her book, and to spread the argument of strong opposition to the horrors of Donald Trump, but not a formal national or state role in that effort.