If Joe Biden steps aside for the Democratic presidential nomination — still a very big if — the favorite to replace him is Vice President Kamala Harris. In recently leaked postdebate polling from Open Labs (https://puck.news/bidenplungesinsw...) , Harris polled better than Biden in matchups against Trump.


In 2019, Dana Goodyear wrote in The New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...) , “As a Black, female lawandorder Democrat, Harris creates a kind of cognitive dissonance.” The profile Harris inhabited then would be welcome in an election year where disorder is on voters’ minds and the Republicans are nominating a convicted felon. But Harris hasn’t inhabited that political profile for years. And since becoming Biden’s vice president the conventional wisdom on her has shifted: She’s gone from rising star — many thought her “the next Obama” — to political underachiever.


So I’ve had a few questions about Harris. What accounted for the fast fall from grace after she took the vice presidency? What happened to the smartoncrime prosecutor we once saw? What has the White House done — or not done — to build her profile? And are critics of Harris fair, or is she underrated now?


I’m joined by Elaina Plott Calabro, a staff writer at The Atlantic who traveled with Harris extensively for a major profile (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...) last year. I left this conversation with a very different theory of who Harris is, what her politics are and what led to the confusions of her vice presidency.


Mentioned:


“The Kamala Harris Problem (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...) ” by Elaina Plott Calabro


“Biden Plunges in Swing States in Leaked PostDebate Poll (https://puck.news/bidenplungesinsw...) ” by Peter Hamby


Smart on Crime (https://www.google.com/books/edition/...) by Kamala D. Harris, with Joan O'C. Hamilton ·


Book Recommendations:


Southerners (  / 483186.southerners  ) by Marshall Frady


The Sheltering Sky (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/55501...) by Paul Bowles


The Company She Keeps (https://www.harpercollins.com/product...) by Mary McCarthy


Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].


You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezrakleinpodcast (https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezrak...) . Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra... (https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra...) .


This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Elias Isquith. Factchecking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is AnnieRose Strasser. Special thanks to Carole Sabouraud.