Some of the loudest cheerleaders for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ “107 Days” book tour aren’t Democrats at all.
They’re Republicans who see her as an early Christmas present.
Every stop on the book tour is another chance, in their eyes, to spotlight the Biden administration’s missteps, replay her infamous word salads and dust off Trump-era lines of attack that worked so well against her last year.
“We should do more than promote it,” Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist and CNN commentator, said of the Harris book tour. “We should pay her to do more.”
He added, “Every time she makes a public utterance, it reminds Americans why they kicked out Democrats in 2024.”
Rep. Byron Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign in Florida offered the latest reminder, shining a bright light on the fact she’s in Miami on Thursday to promote her new memoir about her short-lived presidential bid.
“Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s policies devastated families with crushing inflation, open borders and a radical agenda that weakened our country,” Ryan Smith, chief strategist for the Donalds campaign, said in a statement, trolling the former vice president.
The Donalds campaign leaned into President Trump’s old messaging, contrasting Ms. Harris and the Florida Democrats running for governor as “for they/them” while declaring, “Byron Donalds is for you!”
After lying low post-election, Ms. Harris has splashed back onto the scene in recent months.
The 61-year-old has been crisscrossing the country, dropping into key states to revisit the whirlwind of her short-lived presidential campaign.
Along the way, she’s sharpening her attacks on Mr. Trump and teasing a possible Kamala comeback in 2028, telling BBC, “I’m not done.” She has also pointed to Democrats’ recent off-year wins as proof that the political tide could be turning.
“We are on a roll, guys! You saw what happened in the last Tuesday election, right?” she said during a recent stop in Nashville, Tennessee, where she received a raucous ovation. “Let’s keep it up!”
The Harris book tour got off to a rocky start over the summer.
Critics hammered her for seeming unprepared to defend book passages that said she didn’t choose Pete Buttigieg as a running mate because he’s gay and for her digs at former President Joseph R. Biden, which upset some Democrats.
Also, pro-Palestinian protesters jeered her over the Biden administration’s support for Israel.
Still, she is drawing crowds.
More than 4,000 people turned out to see her in Chicago, and 2,000 were in Nashville.
Plus, recent polls show her ahead of other likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidates, such as Mr. Buttigieg and Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Harris is testing her political muscle, trying to do her part to keep Democrats’ off-year election momentum going.
During her stop in Nashville, she appeared at a get-out-the-vote event on behalf of — but not with — state Rep. Aftyn Behn, who is running against Republican Matt Van Epps in a Dec. 2 special election in the 7th Congressional District.
“There are some powerful forces that are trying to suggest that folks are alone and without power — powerful forces that are trying to divide us and to tell folks that they don’t matter and their needs don’t matter,” Ms. Harris told voters.
“Well, we need to let them hear our voice and let them know they are going to have to be responsive,” she said. “This is a moment where we reclaim this, our country.”
Mr. Epps is the clear front-runner, but the race is getting extra attention following the Democrats’ recent landslide victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, the California redistricting battle and contests for Georgia’s Public Service Commission.
The Republican National Committee was delighted to see Ms. Harris in Music City, pointing out how badly she lost the district last year.
“Aftyn Behn is choosing to campaign with Kamala Harris, who is so unpopular in Tennessee she lost the district Behn’s running in by 22 points,” the RNC posted on X. “Great pick!”
