The insanity of Kamala Harris mounting a comeback - Ismail Mulla

Nothing really surprises anymore but I have to say that I did raise an eyebrow when Kamala Harris said she was not ruling out another run for the White House.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Harris said she expects a woman will be president in the coming years, and it could “possibly” be her, declaring “I am not done”.

It’s admirable that anyone would still strive to serve the public after such a bruising during the previous US presidential election. But is Harris really trying to serve the public or just about to make the same mistakes that handed Donald Trump a resounding win.

Like it or not, personality plays a big part in politics. Especially US politics. Americans voted for the anti-hero at the last election because they wanted change and Harris was not it. What makes her think that she’s going to be the best option to take on the next Trumpian candidate remains a mystery.

That is something the Democrats need to square. The next Republican choice is going to be the Trump continuity candidate. The rules of engagement have changed.

Harris said she expects a woman will be president in the coming years. That’s a noble expectation. And there should be no reason for a female to be tasked with taking on Trumpism. But it needs someone with fire and brimstone. Harris proved that she doesn’t have what it takes to go into a gloves off contest with Trumpism, even accounting for her truncated campaign.

Harris dismissed polls that put her as an outsider for the White House in 2028 behind former professional wrestler turned actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

The insanity of American politics means that Harris is foolish to dismiss such polling, as ridiculous as that may sound.

It needs someone who is out of the Washington bubble. Someone who is capable of speaking the languages of many common men and women of the US. Not that this is an endorsement for a wrestler turned actor.

The best that Harris can do is to offer support to the next candidate. She plays well with some constituents but not all.

The Republicans have a very potent weapon in the name of JD Vance. And if, as expected, he is the continuity Trump candidate then the Democrats will have an uphill fight on their hands.

There are parallels between the mistakes that the Democrats made and would be making if they roll out the playbook from last year and where Labour finds itself here in the UK.

The Prime Minister is increasingly looking out of touch. He isn’t speaking the languages of the common man and woman. By that I mean the concerns of a voter in the South East are going to differ to those of one in a former mining community.

All of this is in the face of the rising tide of populism offered by Nigel Farage’s Reform.

The worrying thing for Labour is that Farage hasn’t even begun throwing haymakers and has already inflicted damage on Sir Keir Starmer. It has got to the point where he is able to dictate the pace of the contest.

Labour promised to be proactive but instead they’ve found themselves reacting too often. We’re now at a point when even genuine successes of this Government are barely making a ripple with the electorate - the Hillsborough Law springs to mind as an obvious example.

After Farage got a foothold in Westminster, Starmer’s team should have changed tact immediately and turned the Government’s attention to immigration with laser-like precision. Detailed in black and white exactly what and how the Government intends to achieve to take control of the situation.

The fact that a committee of MPs has had to to call on Ministers to set out a clear strategy on reducing the use of asylum hotels and ending the “current failed, chaotic and expensive” system that has wasted taxpayers’ money shows how Labour has lost control of the narrative.

And if it isn’t careful then it will end up the same way the Democrats did in the US.