Former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is reportedly once again drawing attention for her self-congratulatory rhetoric, telling The New York Times that she is a “historic figure” whose legacy is already cemented—complete with what she described as a future “marble bust” of herself in the U.S. Capitol.
The remark surfaced in a New York Times profile that, while not overtly hostile, cast significant doubt on Harris’s political direction, messaging, and overall strategy.
In the report by Shane Goldmacher, Harris is portrayed as a politician far more focused on selling books than selling her own political vision. “Ms. Harris is busy selling books — a lot of them. She is not yet selling herself,” Goldmacher wrote, noting that former advisers—both allies and those who have distanced themselves—are openly puzzled by her approach. They “squinted from afar” at her book tour, questioning whether a strategy exists at all.
Goldmacher made clear that Harris has done little to distinguish herself from former President Joe Biden, aside from recently admitting it was “recklessness” on her part not to have discouraged him from running again.
Absent, he said, is the kind of “strategic repackaging” commonly seen from candidates attempting a political reset—the refining of strengths and the sanding down of weaknesses. Instead, Harris appears content to avoid reshaping her public image.
According to the Times, Harris shows no signs of concern about polling, pundit chatter, or the media’s rankings of political prospects.
She insists she does not “feel burdened” by such assessments and says she enjoys being freed from the “transactional” nature of campaigning. Her focus, she suggested, is on enjoying this period rather than preparing for a comeback.
Her sense of her own place in history, however, appears firmly intact. “I understand the focus on ’28 and all that,” she told the Times. “But there will be a marble bust of me in Congress. I am a historic figure like any vice president of the United States ever was.”
The profile also noted that despite Harris benefitting from a wave of goodwill following last year’s campaign, she has done little to leverage it. Goldmacher wrote that “in the year since [her loss], she has not capitalized on” the positive political capital she accumulated and has instead “mostly been a bystander in the Democratic Party’s raging debate over its direction.” For a former nominee, the lack of engagement stands out—particularly as Democrats continue grappling with internal divisions and an uncertain future.
In one of the profile’s most revealing moments, Harris attempted to frame her political outlook in earnest, if somewhat awkward, terms. “This sounds really corny,” she said. “But we have to stand for the people. And I know that that sounds corny. I know that. But I mean it. I mean it.”
The Times piece paints a portrait of a politician who speaks confidently about her legacy while offering little clarity on her future. Whether Harris believes her status as a “historic figure” is enough to carry her forward remains an open question—one the Democratic Party appears increasingly unsure how to answer.
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