Séamus Ahearne: 107 days – Kamala Harris.
Kay Burley was on The Panel BBC 1 Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg at 9. Burley has retired from Sky after 36 years.
There was a shortened version of the interview done by Keunssberg with Kamala Harris (for the BBC) as part of the programme. Burley’s response was: “She was as cold as a winter’s day in Wigan.”
I saw that interview. I have read various comments on the book and some reviews. I haven’t read the book. I could make sense of Kay’s retort but wouldn’t fully agree.
That book – 107 days, does attempt to explain the political campaign. Kamala Harris makes the point that she didn’t have enough time. She blames herself too for not speaking with Joe Biden and telling him to withdraw earlier. However, she makes a distinction: he was fit to be president (and therefore continue) but not fit for the campaign. (so she said). This was an interesting but rather unusual point.
Harris appears to believe that the short campaign was the undoing of her. She also notes that she didn’t sufficiently distance herself from the Biden administration, in which she was Vice President. She was clear too that what she had said throughout the campaign has in fact, happened. Trump would ride roughshod over everyone and everything. He would be vindictive. He would take revenge. He would scuttle the independence of the judicial system. Democracy was unsafe with him and his cronies in the billionaire class.
What surprises me is that she doesn’t appear to blame herself. There are hints from her – that being a woman and being a coloured woman, also went against her. But her mistakes? What about them?
She hasn’t mentioned the fact that Trump should have been beatable. His personality. His dismissal of the election. His interference in the election results. His business problems in court. His conviction for sexual assault. And of course the January 6th riot at the Capitol. His fickleness of character. His dalliance with fake news. Somehow, Kamala Harris didn’t convince the electorate. That part didn’t come across in the BBC interview and seems not to have emerged in the book. I just wonder – does Kay Burley have a point? Did the electorate see her as cold?
Self-awareness and insight are essential for Kamala Harris and are essential for all of us. Might that not be a better way of approaching confession? We have damaged the sacrament so badly over the years. Might Kamala and the rest of us do well to read the Confession of St Patrick and Augustine’s Confessions? Kamala Harris’ book appears to miss the point that possibly she wasn’t the right person to oppose Trump. (I know. I haven’t read the book!) That she didn’t realise her limitations or wasn’t able to read the electorate? Should she think somewhat more (than what the book and interview has said) before considering running again?
Séamus Ahearne OSA 28th October 2025.