The writers address whether Vice President Kamala Harris is fading as a political leader.

Point: Chris Talgo

At the outset of the Biden administration, Vice President Kamala Harris was a media darling, portrayed as the heir apparent and always willing to make a public appearance.

In fact, the White House was so high on Harris in the early days that it instructed media to, “Please be sure to reference the current administration as the ‘Biden-harris administration’ in official public communications.” That was then, this is now.

For the last few months, as the Biden administration has tried to juggle multiple crises, Harris has kept a very low profile.

As an avid news observer, I cannot recall the last time Harris sat down for a hard-hitting interview or held a news conference of any substance. In fact, ever since President Joe Biden declared Harris “border czar,” the vice president has been almost absent from the public eye.

Perhaps that is because as border czar, Harris has failed miserably. The American people are fully aware that the southern border is a sieve. In 2021, on Harris’ watch, more than 1.7 million immigrants have illegally crossed the southern border. Drugs, especially fentanyl, are pouring over the border in record amounts.

Human trafficking is also running rampant along the U.s.-mexico border. As border czar, Harris has been an absolute debacle. To date, she has made one token appearance at the border, when she complained about “rhetoric and finger-pointing.” Instead of dealing with the fraught situation at the border, Harris said she would rather focus on the “root causes” of the problem. However, months after becoming border czar, the situation is becoming worse.

Given her abysmal record as border czar, it makes sense that Harris would abstain from the media spotlight. Even though it is far-fetched to believe the mainstream media would press the vice president on her terrible tenure as border czar, it seems as if Harris and her handlers would rather avoid possible inquiries. Yet, there likely are a few more reasons for Harris’ seclusion during these trying times.

Harris, like any politician, does not want to be associated with the problems facing the Biden administration. From inflation to the supply-chain crisis to vaccine mandates, the Biden administration is drowning in difficulties. And Harris, who is a consummate politician, would rather lie low than face the scrutiny.

Of course, that is the opposite of leadership. Leaders address issues head-on, they do not hide from them.

Another possible reason behind Harris’ hibernation could be her pathetically low poll numbers. Politicians like Harris are hyperaware of — and hypersensitive about — their poll numbers. Harris’ poll numbers are cratering. According to a recent poll, just 28% of Americans approve of Harris’ job as vice president.

Because her poll numbers are so low, Harris is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Does she step into the spotlight in an attempt to revive her lagging approval rating? Or, does she sit on the sidelines, hoping that her poll numbers rise in the absence of any new gaffes or hysterical laughing fits? It seems that Harris has chosen the former over the latter. And who can blame her?

Aside from her struggles to relate to everyday Americans, Harris also lacks expertise and experience in fields relevant to her new position. Harris, unlike many of her predecessors, is not known for her ability to reach across the aisle and forge friendships with those in the opposing political party.

Less than one year into her four-year tenure as vice president, Kamala Harris seems bored with her job, unwilling to enter the fray, and annoyed when asked simple questions.

This does not bode well for her political future.

Counterpoint: James Rosen

There is little doubt that Kamala Harris’ star is fading.

There’s also little doubt that her decline has almost nothing to do with her and everything to do with the position she holds.

On paper, as the cliche goes, the U.S. vice presidency is “the second most powerful position in America.” In reality, historians, politicians and Washington insiders have always understood that claim to be a bunch of bunk.

The kind of criticism Harris is facing for her political evanescence is as old as our nation. With a few exceptions — led by Dick Cheney and Richard Nixon — vice presidents historically have been so powerless that many have joined their detractors in a form of self-mockery, both sad and hilarious.

As vice president to the charismatic John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson regularly mocked his role, often in profanely colorful terms, and complained that he’d held much more real power as Senate majority leader.

Johnson succeeded Kennedy in November 1963 on one of the darkest days in American history, and the position of vice president was left vacant. In the 1964 presidential campaign, Johnson chose Hubert Humphrey as his running mate. It didn’t take long for the former Minnesota senator to learn that the post was largely honorary, especially under a personality as strong as LBJ’S.

Some of the nation’s most powerful pols have become vice president, among them a number who had themselves sought the presidency. Yet the post has inevitably been the graveyard for their political ambitions.

Joe Biden became the first vice president to reach the Oval Office via the ballot box in 32 years with his election in November 2020. His success was partly thanks to his predecessor, Barack Obama, who had weekly private lunches with Biden, gave him important assignments, and otherwise made the former Delaware senator a key figure in his administration.

Part of Harris’ weakness is tied to her biography. While Biden had served 36 years in the Senate before becoming vice president, Harris served only four.

And Harris, the first woman and the first person of color to hold the post, has made some stumbles.

Asked in June why she hadn’t visited the U.s.-mexico border, months after Biden put her in charge of handling the flow of migrants from Central America, Harris retorted: “And I haven’t been to Europe.” She told NBC News’ Lester Holt, “I don’t … understand … the point you’re making.”

Democrats and Republicans alike criticized her cavalier response to a serious problem.

Biden, Cheney and Nixon enjoyed unusual power as vice presidents. Cheney’s clout as No. 2 to George W. Bush in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks became so great, he became known as “Bush’s brain.” Dwight Eisenhower dispatched Nixon abroad for meetings with foreign leaders, most famously the finger-wagging, voices-rising “kitchen debate” in July 1959 with Soviet strongman Nikita Khrushchev.

Biden, Cheney and Nixon, though, were the exceptions to the rule. Most vice presidents have become the butt of late-night comedians’ jokes.