Kamala Harris is sticking to her own timeline on a 2028 decision

Angelina Katsanis/AP/File

Kamala Harris knows other potential 2028 Democratic candidates are waiting on her decision about running for president again. She’s going to keep them waiting.

The former vice president is running her own Malibu-based version of a Rose Garden strategy, keeping to occasional social media videos boosting Democrats generally or taking shots at President Donald Trump. Staying mostly in her recently purchased Southern California home, Harris is making calls to supporters and planning fall campaign stops but not giving a clear indication as to whether she will make a third presidential run.

Harris tends to stick closely to her public line that she’s “thinking about it.” Her allies think she has the authority among Democrats — and the right — to decide on her own timeline, even as other contenders and many voters are convinced that Democrats need a contested primary whether or not she runs.

“She is likely to keep her focus on the midterms and then analyze next steps after that. She is not in the same kind of hurry as other folks who seem to want to announce before 2027 even hits,” one person who has spoken to Harris in recent weeks told CNN. “She is not going to rush her deliberation to fit anyone else’s schedule.”

Harris spokesperson Eduardo Negrón declined comment when asked about her decision-making process. But in a podcast interview with Megan Rapinoe posted last week, Harris said, “I don’t know how to live and not serve. I just don’t know a life without figuring out how I can help move the needle.”

“Right now, midterms, midterms, midterms, full-time occupying my thoughts, my mind and my work,” she added.

Aides are finalizing a campaign schedule that will include at least two early state stops: first next week in Michigan for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and then in Nevada for an appearance with Aaron Ford, the attorney general running for governor, who is a longtime supporter. And she’ll end her midterm push in general-election presidential battleground Georgia on the last weekend before the midterms, including an appearance with Sen. Jon Ossoff .

But Harris has not made, nor are there plans for her to make, any major policy speeches. Former campaign aides haven’t been given any hint, including whether to hold off on talking about positions with others who are starting to think about campaign teams. Several major Democrats also looking at running haven’t heard from her, either.

Meanwhile, at an event earlier this month featuring California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the first presidential primary state, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain answered a question from the crowd about wanting to see Harris by saying she hasn’t heard from the 2024 nominee in some time. And Harris hasn’t been making the kinds of introductory stops with major donors that others are.

“Nobody’s who a serious donor looking for their presidential candidate is waiting to get a phone call from Kamala saying ‘I’m running.’ She’s just not in the conversation at all,” said one major donor who met with several potential candidates this summer.

Harris’s last big public appearance was keynoting the Louisiana Democratic Party’s inaugural Masquerade Sneaker Ball in August, though she has popped up at points since, including Monday night on a video organizing call convened by 1 Million Black Voters Rising to mark National Voter Registration Day Rally, though her brief remarks were audio only, without a camera on.

What Harris has been doing is working the phones, including calls to a wide array of activists and candidates, according to several familiar with the conversations. Some she calls just for chats. Some she calls to go over decisions from 2024, saying she’s trying to keep up with where the politics are moving. Some she offers advice.

Each call sets off more chattering, more insisting from those on the other end who then insist at dinners and cocktail parties that she must be running, because why else would she call?

Others who’ve talked to her who tell CNN that the undirected nature of her conversations and fall plans makes them doubt she’s on a trajectory to be launching another presidential campaign.

The reality: She hasn’t landed on either yes or no.

So when Newsom, who has been taking more definitive steps toward a presidential campaign, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he wouldn’t run if Harris did, the only real effect was among Newsom backers who worried that he’s now talked himself into needing to wait to launch until whenever she does decide, even if that drags into the spring.

In other camps, the idea of waiting on Harris, or deferring to her at all even if she does get into the race, prompted chuckles and laughing-to-tears emojis from several people close to a range of potential presidential candidates.

“That’s not a consideration whatsoever,” a person working with one potential candidate told CNN.

Asked if he would wait on Harris or defer to her if she decides to run, Rep. Ro Khanna — a fellow Californian who’s made no secret of being eager to launch his 2028 run — avoided answering directly rather than saying no.

“I believe I have a vision for how to build the future economy to work not just for the AI billionaires, but for the people I grew up with in PA. We need the biggest economic mission in generations and the question for me will be whether my vision meets the moment,” Khanna told CNN in a text message.

Asked whether he will defer to Harris either in waiting for her to decide or not running if she does, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego said his answer about running is mostly bound up in thinking about what’s good for his three children.

“Everyone’s going to make their own decisions for their own personal reasons,” Gallego told CNN.

Donna Brazile, the former Democratic National Committee chair and an informal adviser, said she’s fine to keep waiting.

“With no immediate filing deadlines, what’s the rush in deciding if she will run in 2028?” Brazile told CNN in an email. “For now, the former vice president is spending her time helping candidates on the 2026 ballot by raising money and helping to motivate voters to check their registration status and make a plan to vote. There’s plenty of time to talk about 2028. Let’s try the week after the Nov 3rd general election.”

安吉丽娜·卡特萨尼斯/美联社/档案照片

卡玛拉·哈里斯知道其他潜在的2028年民主党总统候选人都在等待她是否再次参选的决定。她打算让他们继续等下去。

这位前副总统正在马里布推行她自己的“白宫玫瑰园”式竞选策略，偶尔会在社交媒体上发布视频，为民主党整体造势或抨击特朗普总统。哈里斯主要待在她最近购置的南加州住宅中，她会给支持者打电话，并计划秋季的竞选活动，但并未明确表示是否会第三次竞选总统。

哈里斯倾向于坚持她公开的说法，即她“正在考虑”。她的盟友认为，她在民主党内拥有权威——以及权利——来决定自己的参选时间表，尽管其他竞争者和许多选民都确信，无论她是否参选，民主党都需要一场竞争激烈的党内初选。

一位最近几周与哈里斯交谈过的人士告诉CNN：“她可能会继续专注于中期选举，然后再分析下一步的计划。她不像其他人那样急于在2027年到来之前宣布参选。” “她不会为了迁就任何人的日程安排而仓促做出决定。”

哈里斯的发言人爱德华多·内格隆在被问及她的决策过程时拒绝置评。但在上周发布的一段与梅根·拉皮诺的播客访谈中，哈里斯表示：“我不知道不为他人服务该如何生活。我无法想象如果不思考如何才能有所作为，我的生活会是什么样子。”

“现在，期中考试、期中考试、期中考试，占据了我全部的思绪、我的大脑和我的工作，”她补充道。

助手们正在敲定竞选日程，其中至少包括两场早期州的竞选活动：下周首先前往密歇根州，为参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德助选；随后前往内华达州，与长期支持者、现任州长候选人、总检察长亚伦·福特一同亮相。在中期选举前的最后一个周末，她将在总统大选的关键州佐治亚州结束中期选举的冲刺，届时她将与参议员乔恩·奥索夫一同露面。

但哈里斯既没有发表过任何重要的政策演讲，也没有发表过任何相关计划。她的前竞选助手们也没有收到任何暗示，包括是否应该暂停与那些开始考虑组建竞选团队的人讨论立场问题。几位同样有意参选的民主党重要人物也都没有收到她的任何消息。

与此同时，在本月初加州州长加文·纽森出席的一场活动中，南卡罗来纳州民主党主席克里斯塔尔·斯佩恩在回答现场观众关于是否想见到哈里斯的问题时表示，她已经有一段时间没有收到这位2024年总统候选人的消息了。而且，哈里斯也没有像其他候选人那样，频繁地与主要捐款人进行会面。

一位今年夏天会见了几位潜在候选人的主要捐款人表示：“任何认真的捐款人，在寻找自己心仪的总统候选人时，都不会等着接到卡玛拉的电话说‘我要参选’。她根本不在他们的考虑范围之内。”

哈里斯上一次公开露面是在 8 月份为路易斯安那州民主党的首届化装舞会发表主题演讲，不过此后她也偶尔露面，包括周一晚上在“百万黑人选民崛起”组织召开的视频会议中，以纪念全国选民登记日集会，但她的简短讲话只有音频，没有摄像头。

据几位知情人士透露，哈里斯一直在忙于打电话，包括给各种各样的活动人士和候选人打电话。她有时会和一些人闲聊，有时会和一些人讨论2024年的决策，她说她想了解政治局势的发展方向，有时还会提供一些建议。

每次通话都会引发对方更多的喋喋不休和坚持，然后在晚宴和鸡尾酒会上，对方会坚持认为她一定是在竞选，否则她为什么要打电话呢？

其他与她交谈过的人告诉 CNN，她漫无目的的谈话和秋季计划让他们怀疑她是否会再次发起总统竞选。

事实是：她还没有决定是或否。

因此，当纽森（他一直在采取更明确的步骤朝着总统竞选迈进）告诉 CNN 的杰克·塔珀，如果哈里斯参选，他也不会参选时，唯一真正的影响是纽森的支持者们担心，他现在已经说服自己需要等到哈里斯做出决定后再启动竞选，即使这会拖到春天。

在其他阵营中，等待哈里斯，或者即使她真的参选也要听从她的安排，这种想法让一些与多位潜在总统候选人关系密切的人士发出轻笑和笑出泪的表情符号。

一位与潜在候选人共事的人士告诉 CNN：“这根本不在我们的考虑范围之内。”

当被问及如果哈里斯决定参选，他是否会等待她或听从她的安排时，众议员罗·卡纳（Ro Khanna）——这位同样来自加利福尼亚州的议员毫不掩饰自己渴望在 2028 年参选——没有直接回答“不”，而是回避了这个问题。

“我相信我对如何构建未来经济有一个愿景，这个未来经济不仅服务于人工智能亿万富翁，也服务于我在宾夕法尼亚州一起长大的人们。我们需要几代人以来规模最大的经济使命，而对我来说，问题在于我的愿景是否契合当下，”卡纳在给CNN的短信中说道。

当被问及是否会听从哈里斯的决定，或者如果她决定参选自己也不参选时，亚利桑那州参议员鲁本·加列戈表示，他是否参选的答案主要取决于对他的三个孩子有什么好处。

“每个人都会出于自己的个人原因做出自己的决定，”加列戈告诉 CNN。

前民主党全国委员会主席兼非正式顾问唐娜·布拉齐尔表示，她可以继续等待。

“既然没有迫在眉睫的报名截止日期，何必急着决定她是否参加2028年大选呢？”布拉泽尔在给CNN的邮件中写道。“目前，这位前副总统正忙于帮助2026年大选的候选人筹款，并积极动员选民核查自己的选民登记状态，制定投票计划。2028年的事情以后有的是时间讨论。我们不妨等到11月3日大选后的一周再说。”