Kamala Harris Fades Into the Background

Mark Barabak: “That’s because a main job requirement is stepping away from the spotlight, except when cheerleading for the president and his agenda.”

“This requires varying degrees of sycophancy. After four years of emasculation, Mike Pence didn’t seem to mind that his boss, President Trump, wasn’t at all upset that some of Trump’s supporters wished to kill Pence for refusing to illegally overturn Biden’s election. Pence, whatever else he accomplishes in life, has managed to set new standards for tolerance and self-abasement.”

“But there were different, heightened expectations for Harris, chiefly because of her groundbreaking election. No one like her — the first woman, first Black person, first Asian American elected vice president — has ever moved through Washington’s uppermost reaches. Her every move would be unprecedented and surely, it seemed, merit special notice and great amounts of news coverage.”