Will the socialist revolution come for Kamala Harris?

According to W. James Antle III writing in Washington Examiner, Harris has reached out to key socialist figures as the progressive wing racks up primary victories across the country. The move raises questions about whether the revolutionary fervor sweeping through Democratic ranks will eventually consume her candidacy.

Despite a progressive record and willingness to align with party trends, Harris appears an awkward match for the new socialist wave reshaping Democratic politics. Nevertheless, she maintains a commanding lead in early polling for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

Harris currently holds a 10.3-point advantage according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. She has led most surveys since May, frequently by double-digit margins. Her dominance may stem largely from name recognition following her role as the 2024 nominee and her vice presidential term, as well as declining support for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who previously appeared positioned to overtake her.

The former vice president has thus far remained immune to anti-establishment sentiment within her party and is taking deliberate steps to maintain that status. She has made contact with prominent socialist power broker Zohran Mamdani, the New York City Mayor, who confirmed the conversation occurred.

Harris embraced progressive activism during her first unsuccessful presidential campaign before being selected as vice president. She distanced herself from those positions in 2024 after finding herself unexpectedly atop the Democratic ticket. Her recent adoption of a “no bad ideas” slogan signals she may be preparing another political transformation, though Newsom has demonstrated similar flexibility.

Mamdani faces constitutional barriers to a presidential run due to his foreign birth. Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who turns 85 in September, has acknowledged he is likely too old for a third Democratic presidential bid.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, age 36, faces neither obstacle. She ranks fourth in the RealClearPolitics national polling average at 11 percent, trailing just behind former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. An early May AtlasIntel survey placed her in first position.

Ocasio-Cortez could alternatively mount a primary challenge against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who faces reelection in 2028. Given recent socialist victories in New York, she would enter as the favorite. Ocasio-Cortez first won office in 2018 after defeating a 10-term incumbent who held a position in House Democratic leadership.

The 2028 Democratic presidential race will not crystallize until after this year’s midterm elections conclude.

Harris faces a significant vulnerability regardless of timing. The socialist movement draws much of its energy from anger directed at establishment Democrats who lost to President Donald Trump.

Unlike Hillary Clinton in 2016, Harris failed to win even the popular vote. She received approximately 6.8 million fewer votes than former President Joe Biden secured in 2020, when she served as his running mate.

Off-message developments such as the reemergence of Hunter Biden or the Jill Biden book tour that down-ballot Democrats may weather during midterm elections could pose greater problems for Harris. Democrats may resist relitigating the Biden-Harris years, and progressives harbor no particular fondness for that period.

As the losing nominee of the 2024 election, Harris would struggle to make electability arguments against a socialist opponent, though Democrats will have data from battleground state socialist candidates like Maine’s Graham Platner by then.

Harris represents precisely the type of Democrat that her party’s left-wing insurgents target with their harshest criticism, while political momentum resides firmly with the progressive faction.

Democratic racial coalition politics remain Harris’s primary advantage. Black voters continue supporting her at the top of primary polls. This same demographic bloc prevented Sanders from securing the nomination in both 2016 and 2020, proving especially crucial to Biden’s South Carolina victory after his slow start.

Unlike Sanders, many emerging socialists are candidates of color. Ocasio-Cortez may perform better with Black voters than her political mentor achieved.

Harris has demonstrated a pattern in previous presidential campaigns of starting strong before collapsing. A left-wing challenger will certainly test whether her early polling advantage represents genuine support or illusion.

Harris may be attempting to position herself as the leader of the ascendant socialist wing through her current outreach efforts. But revolutionary movements typically devour their elders rather than their children, leaving her political future uncertain at best.

With information from Washington Examiner