There’s an idea taking hold on the left that former Vice President Kamala Harris is a viable choice for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. She isn’t. And even if she somehow won it, she'd be a certain loser in the general election.

A recent New York magazine piece by David Freedlander was headlined “Like It or Not, Kamala Harris Is the Front-runner.” Her advisers now treat it as an article of faith that the compressed campaign cost her the chance to define herself in 2024.

If anything, it did her a favor. The 107 days between President Joe Biden’s exit and Election Day, the same "107 Days" she titled her memoir after, meant no real primary and less time having to defend an unpopular administration. She got to run as a blank slate instead of a scrutinized nominee. The thing her team calls a handicap was actually her cover.

She’s leading early primary polls by a wide margin. One recent survey had her at 36%, more than triple her nearest rival. But that’s mainly about name recognition.

Prediction markets, where people put real money on the outcome instead of just answering a pollster’s phone call, have her far lower.

Kamala Harris' problem, in one sentence

In Freedlander’s conversations with Democratic insiders, the stale metaphors arrive early, which is never a good sign. “You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that right now we need leaders........

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