Harris details blunder, tensions in 107 Days

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris writes in her new book, 107 Days, that a split-second moment during her 2024 bid pulled the pin on the campaign: an aide peeled 'Madame President' from celebratory cupcakes before staffers were served following the results. Harris recalls the moment of disbelief, asking, 'My God, my God, what will happen to our country?' The book chronicles a hyperspeed campaign launched after Joe Biden stepped aside and culminates in a loss to Donald Trump.

Not a traditional memoir, 107 Days is structured as a countdown to Election Day, offering an inside, if unflinching, portrait of the campaign. Harris writes about Biden's age and how it sometimes showed in physical and verbal stumbles, noting that 'at eighty-one, Joe got tired' and that his inner circle 'should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.' She describes the debate in Atlanta, where she sensed Biden wasn't at his best, even as aides urged moving forward with a messaging line that 'JOE BIDEN WON.' The narrative also reflects on the tension around the decision to replace Biden atop the ticket, and the arguments embedded in that decision, while making clear it is not a full memoir but a tightly wound chronology of events leading to Election Day.

Among the more revealing passages are tensions within Harris's circle and her relationship with Biden. She recounts how after Biden urged unity following calls to drop out, Jill Biden pulled Harris's husband aside to probe loyalty, and Emhoff publicly pressed back against perceived doubts about loyalty. Harris describes considering Pete Buttigieg as a running mate but says she was worried that picking a gay man might complicate the message of a Black woman president; she ultimately chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, whose own debate against JD Vance drew a resounding reaction from her. She also writes that Gavin Newsom texted after Biden ended his reelection bid, 'Hiking. Will call back,' but did not reconnect, and that Tony West maintained the 'Red File' to prepare for a possible power transfer. Biden’s own plan to endorse Harris a day later, she writes, would have left her in a weaker position; she urged him to endorse immediately, and the endorsement followed soon after his decision to exit.

Harris also writes about the campaign's surreal moments. She hired a professional voice coach to refine her convention delivery, with the team running through 'hums, grunts and trills' to build a more forceful presence. The book also covers the running-mate search, including a late-night call with Trump on the campaign trail, where, despite past attacks, Trump offered compliments and flattered his opponent, telling Harris that Ivanka was 'your big fan.' Harris writes that such exchanges underscore Trump's knack for turning on charm when it serves his political aims. The passages contribute to a portrait of a campaign chronicled in near real time, with shifting loyalties, intense media scrutiny and the pressures of steering a nation through a volatile election cycle.

Publication is scheduled for this week, and Harris's account aims to illuminate aspects of a campaign that unfolded at breakneck speed and under constant public glare. The book does not promise policy prescriptions or a blueprint for the Democratic Party's path forward; rather, it offers candid, sometimes piercing, observations about leadership, accountability and the personal strains that accompany a national bid. In the broader context of US politics, 107 Days adds to the record of a presidency-in-waiting and a party seeking to recalibrate after a divisive, high-stakes contest.