Analysis: Kamala Harris looked out of practice in first sit-down interview

Kamala Harris waited 39 days to face the scrutiny of an interview and if she wants to win the election, she needs to keep fronting up, says Tom Minear.

When Joe Biden dropped out of the election and was replaced by Kamala Harris, Democrats could finally breathe.

No longer did they have to watch his every public appearance and wait for him to make yet another mistake that would be yet another blow to his flailing campaign.

Then Ms Harris waited 39 days to face the scrutiny of an interview.

In the end, it was fine – no killer lines, a few stumbles, no disastrous mistakes. She was lucky, though, because the delay turned it into the kind of high-stakes moment her party had finally hoped to avoid.

Kamala Harris in her first sit-down interview. Picture: CNN

An interview or a press conference should be a normal part of an election campaign, not a long-awaited prime-time special.

Ms Harris’s reticence to face the media is understandable, given she has been riding a wave of momentum that she did not want to put at risk in a situation that is out of her control. But it put far too much pressure on her chat with CNN.

While she avoided any major gaffes, she looked out of practice handling obvious questions.

Ms Harris did not have a memorable answer on what she would do on her first day as the president, and she did not have a valid explanation for why the Biden-Harris administration waited so long to tackle the record influx of illegal immigrants, a key election vulnerability.

CNN journalist Dana Bash had limited time to follow up, giving the Vice President an easy out several times.

She will not have that luxury when she goes toe-to-toe with Donald Trump in their first debate on September 10.

His review of her interview came in one word: “BORING!!!”

For Ms Harris, if that was the worst thing her rival could say, she would take that as a victory.

Nevertheless, if Ms Harris wants to win the election, she needs to keep fronting up and finding ways to be more interesting.

Originally published as Analysis: Kamala Harris looked out of practice in first sit-down interview