After Washington exit, Kamala Harris plots next move
Kamala Harris’ plum role has just ended and she lost the top job to Donald Trump – and yet salt was rubbed into the wound one more time.
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It may have been barely noticeable, but it was a sign of one final humiliation for Kamala Harris.
In a New York store, towards the back hanging on a wall, was a stack of tote bags with a portrait of the smiling former Vice President.
Beneath the portrait it said ‘Kamala Harris, 2024’, clearly in reference to her presidential bid.
All very glowing until you looked at the sign directly above the totes.
“Kamala merch,” it said. “50 per cent off, tote was $12.95”.
The face of the woman who was once the second most powerful person in the US, and who almost half the country wanted to be the most powerful, can now only shift a tote if it’s on sale for a mere $6.50 ($A10.40), and that’s at half price.
Add to that, the election was in November and more than two months later the totes still haven’t shifted. They may have to give it away soon.
MORE: Harris’ secret plan after White House exit exposed
It wasn’t just in New York.
In Washington DC gift shops, ‘Kamala’ hats and ‘Harris Walz’ water bottles were on a shelf beneath a large ‘sale’ sign.
Compare that to the seemingly hundreds of Donald Trump merchandise sellers in Washington DC who were raking in the cash on inauguration day, and the difference is stark.
One woman told news.com.au that one customer paid $500 ($A800) in a single transaction as they swept up most of her stall selling Trump and inauguration souvenirs.
The Trump merchandise industry is in overdrive. T-shirts, scarfs, woolly hats, badges, shot glasses, and even bullets with his name on were dotes on stalls all over downtown Washington during Inauguration weekend.
The classic red MAGA hat cost $20 a pop ($A32), meaning you could get three Harris totes for the price of one MAGA hat.
Admittedly, Ms Harris, is unlikely to ponder the economic fate of unofficial merch bearing her image for too long.
But since her electoral loss to Mr Trump, she has had to grit her teeth and bear it through a series of events that must cut deep considering her loss.
Much of this has been due to her role as vice president. A presidential candidate that had any other role could have quietly slunk off to a tropical island and sunk margaritas in the sun while the victor took the oath.
But not the actual Vice President.
That position meant Ms Harris had to be present at much of Mr Trump’s inauguration day jamboree.
She welcomed Mr Trump as well as her soon to be successor JD Vance to the White House on Monday morning, she had to watch on as Mr Trump became President and then listen to him slam her and Joe Biden’s legacy.
She remained stoic throughout.
But it was earlier this month that Ms Harris could be forgiven for being at her lowest.
On January 6, in her capacity as Vice President, she oversaw a combined meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Here she had to officially certify her own loss and Mr Trump’s victory.
Ms Harris listened as the results for each state was painstakingly read out one-by-one, including the swing states, all of which she lost.
She then officially announced the votes for herself, receiving a standing ovation from Democrats.
And then declared Mr Trump the winner to elation from the Republicans.
Beforehand, Ms Harris had said she would “perform my constitutional duty as Vice President to certify the results of the 2024 election”.
“This duty is a sacred obligation – one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and unwavering faith in the American people”, she said.
After Monday’s inauguration, Ms Harris and husband Doug Emhoff departed Capitol Hill for Joint Base Andrews in nearby Maryland.
There an all-female crew flew the pair to her home state of California.
Immediately after she departed her flight, Ms Harris was due to head to a fire station to thank firefighters for their work in tackling the Los Angeles wild fires.
It’s been reported she will then take some time to rest, reset and organise her life after two decades in politics.
But Ms Harris has big decisions to make. Key is whether she continues to seek election.
“There is a debate among her advisers right now about whether she should pursue any offices and if so, which ones?” a Harris ally told political website The Hill in recent weeks.
That could see her run for governor of California in the 2026 election. In the generally Democrat state she would have a solid chance of stepping back into a major political role.
Then there’s the 2028 presidential election when Mr Trump will no longer be eligible to stand. There have been persistent murmurings that Ms Harris might decide to give the Oval Office another stab.
Or she could leave public life and perhaps return to being a lawyer.
However, after a few lie-ins, its likely Ms Harris’ first order of business will be to write a book about her time in office,
“Kamala Harris is poised to land the biggest book deal of any vice president in history,” said Keith Urban, the president and a co-founder of the literary agency Javelin, reported US network NBC.
“But the real question isn’t the advance — it’s whether the book can redefine her for 2028.”
Originally published as After Washington exit, Kamala Harris plots next move
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