In a preview of former Vice President Kamala Harris's book, "107 Days," obtained by the Guardian on 18/9, Harris admits Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wasn't her first choice for running mate.
Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance engaged in a 90-minute debate hosted by CBS News on 1/10/2024. This was the final debate of the 2024 campaign, and Harris hoped Walz would gain an advantage for their campaign.
However, Vance, who had previously launched harsh attacks against Harris, appeared calm and expressed a desire to find common ground with Walz.
"When Tim fell into the trap, starting to nod and smile at JD's faux bipartisanship, I groaned to my husband, 'What is happening?' I looked at the TV screen and said, 'You're not there to make friends with the man attacking your running mate'," Harris wrote.
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Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at a campaign event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in October 2024. Photo: AFP.
Instead of attacking his opponent, Walz spent most of his time defending his record as Minnesota's governor. He also struggled when the debate moderator questioned him about past misstatements.
"The following weekend, Saturday Night Live did a skit of my husband and me on the couch watching the debate. I didn't actually spit out my wine like in the skit, but it pretty much captured our evening," the former vice president added.
According to the book, Walz "felt bad" for not performing better, although Harris consoled him that the debate wouldn't decide the election's outcome.
Harris revealed that then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a close friend and openly gay, was her initial choice for running mate.
"He would have been the ideal partner if I were a straight, white man (the traditional candidate profile easily accepted by American voters). But we were already asking a lot of America to accept a Black woman married to a Jewish man. We understood the risks, and Pete did too, so we were both sad," she added.
"107 Days," scheduled for release on 23/9, chronicles Harris's brief presidential campaign last year. In an excerpt revealed on 10/9, Harris affirmed Joe Biden's competence as president but considered his decision to seek re-election last year "reckless."
"The risks were simply too high. One person's ego and ambition should not decide such a thing. It should have been an impersonal decision," the book states.
Biden withdrew from the presidential race on 21/7/2024 after facing pressure from numerous Democratic leaders due to his unconvincing performance in the first live debate against Donald Trump. Harris subsequently became the Democratic nominee but lost to Trump, failing to win any battleground states.
Huyen Le (Guardian, Hill)
