Authors of the recently re-emerged book, “The Truce: Progressives, Centrists, and the Future of the Democratic Party,” from a leftist perspective, have expressed criticism towards Kamala Harris for her failure to articulate a clear political agenda and for heavily relying on her personality.
The book was originally published prior to Harris’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention and has gained renewed attention eight months after its initial release.
“It was rotten from the start. A lot of us, at least folks that I was friends with on the campaign, all realized that: ‘Yeah, this person should not be president of the United States,’” a top aide from her 2020 campaign told the authors.
Insiders’ comments on her unsuccessful 2020 campaign depicted Harris as a shallow and ineffective leader lacking a clear political identity or vision for governing the nation.
Staffers pointed to tensions between Harris’s sister Maya, the campaign chair, and Bearstars Strategies’ Juan Rodriguez, the campaign manager.
Their animosity led to divided headquarters and separate staff meetings. In addition, mismanagement of funds was cited as another significant issue by the staffers.
“She cared less about how much money I was raising for her and more about what I was doing to create a good inclusive workspace,” one of the consultants told the authors.
In a letter leaked to the New York Times, Kelly Mehlenbacher, the state operations manager for Harris’s 2020 campaign, expressed that the staffers under her were mistreated.
“This is my third presidential campaign, and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly,” she said.
The authors of the book emphasized that the cases of toxicity were not simply anecdotal examples, but rather widespread.
They noted that reports of toxicity came from staffers who worked with her in San Francisco, the Senate, her presidential campaign, and as Vice President.
They wrote that the complaints “came from sources who signed up to work for her and, at least at one point, wanted her to succeed. It’s impossible to dismiss all of their critiques as entirely the result of prejudice.”
