Harris Calls for Democrats to Embrace ‘Ruthlessness’ in Politics

Speaking to hundreds of attendees at the Louisiana Democratic Party’s annual fundraising gala, Harris outlined her vision for a more aggressive Democratic Party willing to abandon traditional norms, according to Carter Schroppe writing in Washington Examiner.

As I travel the country, people are saying ‘we want our leaders to fight,’ Harris told the crowd, adding that Democrats must get comfortable with having a certain kind of ruthlessness in their approach.

The former 2024 presidential nominee, who lost decisively to President Donald Trump after replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic standard-bearer, has indicated she is considering another White House run in 2028. Recent polling shows her as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination despite her association with Biden, whose presidency ended with historically low approval ratings and inflation that reached levels not seen in decades.

Harris was careful to distinguish her call for ruthlessness from what she characterized as Republican cruelty. She described the attitude she envisions as one that is uncompromising in its impatience with injustice, shows no mercy for corruption, and fights back hard when Republicans threaten what she called the power of the people.

The bulk of her remarks focused on attacking Republicans and criticizing what she termed a broken status quo, while attempting to capitalize on price increases that have occurred under the Trump administration amid the conflict with Iran.

Harris described the cost of living as a crisis in America today, suggesting that those at the top of the economic ladder cannot see the struggles of ordinary Americans from their elevated positions. She went on to criticize the concentration of power in both the economy and politics, targeting the campaign finance system and dark money in politics.

The former vice president also attacked the Supreme Court for its Citizens United decision, which she claimed allowed anonymous wealthy donors to dominate elections. She further criticized the recent Louisiana vs. Callais ruling, which found that the state’s creation of a second majority-minority congressional district constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, describing the decision as resurrecting Jim Crow.

Her Louisiana visit follows a pattern of increased engagement in Southern states following the Callais decision. Harris mentioned recent meetings with middle-class workers from Mississippi, North Carolina, and Georgia during her speech.

Since leaving office in January 2025, Harris has maintained a relatively low public profile with intermittent appearances. She published a book titled 107 Days last September and generated controversy earlier this summer when she appeared with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, aligning herself with the Democratic Party’s growing socialist faction.

In recent weeks and months, Harris has repeatedly called for what she describes as reforms to American democratic institutions, including taking a hard look at the Electoral College, what she characterizes as a corrupted Supreme Court, and granting statehood to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

With information from Washington Examiner