海角大神

It was a signal moment, two months after inauguration. Before TV cameras in the State Dining Room of the White House, President Joe Biden unveiled Vice President Kamala Harris鈥� biggest assignment to date: stemming migration from Central America to the southern United States border.聽

What the vice president didn鈥檛 realize, President Biden joked, was that by promising she鈥檇 be 鈥渢he last person in the room鈥� before big decisions are made 鈥� a sign of her central role in his administration 鈥� 鈥渢hat means she gets every assignment.鈥澛�

Indeed, Vice President Harris鈥� remit has only grown since then: She鈥檚 now also the administration鈥檚 point person on voting rights, COVID-19 vaccination, workers鈥� rights, the digital divide, and the National Space Council.聽

Five months into the Biden-Harris administration 鈥� a double-barreled label that intentionally includes her name 鈥� Ms. Harris鈥� position as the highest-level elected woman, and woman of color, in American history can be described as nothing less than a high-wire act.聽

That鈥檚 not a value judgment on her performance. It reflects the reality of her situation. Her status as Mr. Biden鈥檚 political heir apparent, including potentially topping the Democratic ticket in 2024, trains the focus on her even more sharply.聽

In short, it鈥檚 safe to say that no new vice president has faced such intense scrutiny from Day One. And the stumbles have been well publicized. Most recently, her snappish responses to TV interviewers on why she has yet to visit the still-besieged U.S.-Mexico border have privately frustrated supporters and handed fodder to her detractors.聽

Longtime allies argue that Ms. Harris has done as well as can be expected, given how far and how fast she has risen 鈥� from district attorney of San Francisco (2004-2011), to California attorney general (2011-2017), to U.S. senator, to vice president.

鈥淟ook at her trajectory 鈥� it鈥檚 been as meteoric a rise as anyone, probably with the exception of [President Barack] Obama, at least in my lifetime,鈥� says Brian Brokaw, who managed her successful campaigns for state attorney general and advised her Senate campaign.聽

鈥淲ith every step she鈥檚 taken, there鈥檚 a learning curve,鈥� Mr. Brokaw adds. 鈥淓very job she has ascended to has greater responsibilities, a wider array of policies, a whole cast of characters to get to know 鈥� not to mention the level of scrutiny, which has increased exponentially. There鈥檚 not much room for error.鈥澛�

As a woman, Ms. Harris has to parry critiques on everything from her mannerisms to her shoes. 鈥淲hen鈥檚 the last time someone commented on Mitch McConnell鈥檚 footwear?鈥� Mr. Brokaw asks, referring to the Senate GOP leader and alluding to the Converse sneakers the vice president sometimes favors.

At times, however, being a woman in high places has its advantages. On Tuesday, Ms. Harris hosted a dinner for the Senate鈥檚 female members 鈥� 21 out of 24 came 鈥� at the vice presidential mansion. It was a rare moment of bipartisan sisterhood, as seen in a tweet from Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Some suggest it could lead to more such gatherings, and the potential for problem-solving, as Senate women have done in the past.聽

Still, Ms. Harris鈥� critics lurk, ready to pounce. Fox News has devoted coverage to her habit of laughing in high-profile public moments, at times awkwardly, suggesting it鈥檚 a 鈥渄efense mechanism鈥� in moments of uncertainty or discomfort. The border crisis is 鈥渘o laughing matter,鈥� Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel piled on in a column.聽

Ms. Harris has also faced darts from fellow Democrats. Days after inauguration, centrist Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia complained when the vice president appeared on a local West Virginia TV station to promote the administration鈥檚 massive COVID-19 relief package without giving him a heads-up.聽

She has faced criticism from the left, too, as when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, jumped on the vice president鈥檚 statement from Guatemala last week exhorting potential migrants: 鈥淒o not come.鈥澛�

No matter that that鈥檚 been the administration position from the start, and that the overarching policy goal is to address the root causes of migration northward from Central America. Still, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez saw her opening, and tweeted that the vice president鈥檚 message was 鈥渄isappointing,鈥� seeking asylum is legal, and the U.S. bears blame for destabilizing the region.聽

The mere fact that two women of color could dominate debate on a major policy question is itself a victory of 鈥渞epresentation.鈥� But that doesn鈥檛 necessarily make it easier for women in high places.聽

鈥淭here are still terrible double standards out there for women. How strong, for example, can they be?鈥� says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. 鈥淪he鈥檚 vice president 鈥� she can鈥檛 overshadow Joe Biden, she can鈥檛 disagree with him. She鈥檚 just in a very difficult spot.鈥澛�

Ms. Walsh also notes that Ms. Harris has taken on two of the toughest issues of the day: the border and voting rights, the latter of which she requested. But if she were given an easier portfolio, the reaction would be, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e giving her softballs so she looks good.鈥澛�

There have also been suggestions that Mr. Biden is giving her the toughest assignments to shield himself. That鈥檚 unlikely, says Joel Goldstein, a scholar on the vice presidency.聽

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e president, as Harry Truman said, 鈥楾he buck stops here,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淚f things go south, people won鈥檛 say it was Harris鈥� fault and 鈥楤iden, you鈥檙e wonderful.鈥� He won鈥檛 escape responsibility.鈥�

An unusual vice presidency聽

In recent decades, Americans have frequently elected outsiders as president, with an experienced Washington hand as vice president. The Biden-Harris team is an anomaly, with a former vice president and six-term senator as president and a vice president who came to the Senate only in 2017.聽

But Mr. Biden is still following President Jimmy Carter鈥檚 model of involving his No. 2 deeply in policymaking and foreign policy. Ms. Harris, in fact, called President Carter鈥檚 deputy, Walter Mondale 鈥� credited with establishing the modern vice presidency 鈥� in April, the day before he died.聽

Mr. Biden telegraphed well in advance that his running mate would be a woman, and it came as no surprise when he selected a woman of color 鈥撀燼nd the daughter of immigrants, with an Indian mother and Jamaican father. Overall, the Biden watchword in building his government has been diversity: In his first 100 days, more than half of agency appointees were women, 18% were Black, and 15% were Hispanic.聽

鈥淭here has never been an administration that has made such an effort to be inclusive of traditionally excluded groups in its composition as this one,鈥� says Mr. Goldstein, a law professor emeritus at Saint Louis University. 鈥淸Ms. Harris] personifies that.鈥澛�

Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris do have an important r茅sum茅 point in common: presidential campaigns that failed spectacularly, only to see their political fortunes resurrected by joining an ultimately successful ticket.聽

Ms. Harris鈥� well-orchestrated presidential rollout proved to be the peak of her campaign, which was riven by internal staff conflicts and poor fundraising. She dropped out in December 2019.聽

In 2020, Mr. Biden chose Ms. Harris in a competitive process, despite her attack on him in a Democratic primary debate over his opposition to busing in the 1970s. The Bidens were taken aback at the time, but Ms. Harris later dismissed the skirmish as just politics and Mr. Biden let it go.聽

It鈥檚 no coincidence that most of Ms. Harris鈥� current staff didn鈥檛 come from her campaign or Senate office, says a source familiar with the vice president鈥檚 operation聽who requested anonymity to speak freely.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a well-run presidential campaign,鈥� says the source, noting that the Biden team didn鈥檛 want people who orchestrated that debate attack in his White House. The goal was 鈥渢o make sure they had a unified operation.鈥�

The president and Ms. Harris often receive the president鈥檚 daily intelligence brief together, and they have lunch weekly. Ms. Harris also reportedly has a weekly one-on-one meeting with White House chief of staff Ron Klain.

By many accounts, Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have a warm relationship, going back to her connection to Beau Biden 鈥� the president鈥檚 late son, who served as attorney general of Delaware when Ms. Harris held the same position in California.

Parallels with Obama

The fact that Mr. Biden loyally served eight years under President Obama, the first Black president, also looms large. Goodwill among Black voters was key to both Mr. Biden鈥檚 nomination and election 鈥� and his elevation of Ms. Harris as the first Black vice president fits his model of inclusion.聽

The parallels in the Harris and Obama life stories are striking. Both are mixed-race children of immigrants, raised by strong single mothers, and both spent periods of their youth in foreign countries. Both also speak of how they made conscious decisions to embrace their Black identity. Ms. Harris attended the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C.聽

Now, in the upper reaches of American politics, Ms. Harris also benefits from the path forged by Mr. Obama, who walked his own tightrope when addressing racial matters 鈥� guarded at first but, over time, more comfortable and willing to speak out.聽

鈥淥bama especially, but even Kamala Harris to a degree, has been able to capitalize on identity,鈥� says LaFleur Stephens-Dougan, a political scientist at Princeton University. 鈥淭hey can help build bridges and cross cultural divides.鈥�

Unlike Mr. Obama, Ms. Harris begins her time on the national stage during a period of racial ferment. That, in a way, made Mr. Biden鈥檚 selection of a Black running mate all the more logical, as he sought to show voters he鈥檚 serious about inclusion and making sure that when decisions are made, there鈥檚 diversity in the room.聽

But like Mr. Obama, Ms. Harris tiptoes carefully when asked to discuss race in America, notes Professor Stephens-Dougan. Last April, after Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina 鈥� the Senate鈥檚 only Black Republican 鈥� asserted that America is not a 鈥渞acist country,鈥� Ms. Harris was asked to respond.聽

鈥淣o, I don鈥檛 think America is a racist country,鈥� she said on ABC鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning America.鈥� 鈥淏ut we also do have to speak the truth about the history of racism in our country and its existence today.鈥�

Ms. Harris鈥� background as a prosecutor, and her tough-on-crime approach, has also forced her to walk a fine line on a racially charged subject. Many progressives believe she was on the wrong side of efforts to reform the criminal justice system. But for the nation鈥檚 vast political center, that element of her r茅sum茅 helped frame her as a more moderate Democrat, like Mr. Biden.聽

Progressives in Congress are hopeful that through genial persuasion 鈥� and the occasional jab, as with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez 鈥� Ms. Harris can be an ally.聽

In an interview, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a deputy whip in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says he wants Ms. Harris to help push a $15 federal minimum wage through Congress, as well as climate change measures, cancellation of student debt, and a scaling back of 鈥渕assive defense increases.鈥澛�

But he also empathizes, as the son of Indian immigrants, with the challenges she鈥檚 navigating.聽

鈥淚 understand the scrutiny as an Indian American, but I imagine in her case it鈥檚 100-fold 鈥� being vice president, being a woman, being African American as well,鈥� says Congressman Khanna, who first met Ms. Harris in 2003. He鈥檚 also confident that 鈥渟he will continue to conduct herself with dignity and grace.鈥澛�

Then he throws out an invitation: 鈥淚鈥檇 love for her to come talk to the Progressive Caucus.鈥澛�