Former Vice President Kamala Harris is still trying to process her election loss to Donald Trump. And she’s seeking counsel from the only source who can vaguely relate to the humiliation — Hillary Clinton.
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While the two share the struggle of coming to terms with spectacular defeats in their own rights, it’s clear Harris, at least, is still eyeing a political future. Perhaps even the presidency.
On that, there is little surprise. Reports have already surfaced indicating Harris has been actively instructing her advisers and allies to keep her political options open. That includes the possibility of a 2028 presidential run or a bid for the governorship in California in 2026.
What is news, however, is how intensely she’s sought counsel and advice on how to cope with her loss. Harris’ movements post-election have been chronicled in a new report from New York Magazine.
“Not long after the election, Harris privately began talking with family, longtime friends, and her most devoted aides about the path ahead,” reporter Gabriel Debenedetti describes.
The woman who has spent 35 years in public service seems shell-shocked that she is not sitting in the Oval Office on this very day. She is rumored to be both “frustrated and befuddled” by her loss.
And who better to share in the grieving process than Mrs. Clinton?
A Glass of Wine, a Board Game, and a Huge Grin. Is Kamala Harris Relieved She Lost?
The shared kinship between Harris and Clinton began when the former First Lady and her husband, President Bill Clinton, became two of the first to publicly endorse her after the Democrat Party forced Joe Biden out of the race. They immediately shared the experience of being a female Democrat candidate trying to beat Trump.
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Their relationship picked up pace in the waning days of her vice presidency. Because they now had the shared experience of being a female Democrat candidate who lost to Trump.
“In her final weeks as VP, as Harris heard unsolicited advice from donors, she reached out to some carefully selected allies to hear their thoughts, too,” the New Yorker writes. “Among them was Hillary Clinton, the other would-be first woman president who lost to Trump and who also famously wrestled with how to manage life after her campaign.”
Managing life sessions continued, even resulting in some meetings in which the descriptions by the magazine make them seem clandestine.
Since November, Harris and Clinton have spoken on multiple occasions about their exceedingly rare shared experience and about how to think through the future; in December, Harris quietly slipped out of her official residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington and over to Clinton’s home a few blocks away to chat and celebrate at a private reception for the former secretary of State after Biden awarded her the Medal of Freedom.
What did they celebrate with? One can only imagine it involved “a glass of wine, a board game, and a huge grin.”
Harris was famously photographed just days after her election debacle with a tall glass of wine (likely not her first or last that day), playing a game of Connect 4 with her nieces.
It was a cute enough photo, but judging by the measurement of her smile, the wine had been flowing.
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The smile of a woman whose life got dramatically simpler in just a few days pic.twitter.com/vitJmSRX9H
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) November 10, 2024
As Tucker Carlson once said, Harris is essentially “a low-I.Q. wine mom” and “a dyslexic poet with a limited vocabulary.”
With Clinton, Harris is most likely hearing what she wants to be told. Having someone who managed to stay in the spotlight (much to the dismay of the bulk of America) as guidance probably helps. The alternative, according to New York Magazine, is this …
Some advisors have suggested she sink into the background politically to “become some sort of portfolio-free stateswoman, or an above-the-fray adviser to Democrats in search of policy or political guidance, or simply a very rich member of many corporate boards.”
“Other Democrats have less sparing advice,” they add. “Maybe she should just go away.”
If anybody can relate to people begging for them to go away, it’d be Hillary Clinton.
