Why You Should Hire Your Harshest Critic
Joe Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate is a true lesson in leadership
I don’t know about you, but last week I was depressed about the Veepstakes. It felt like a redux of the bruising gender politics of ugly elections past. And then, suddenly, there was a pick: Kamala Harris! And my weltschmerz vanished — not just because Harris is a soul-liftingly historic choice (or because as a former lawyer myself, I’m in awe of her prosecutorial chops). My heart also swelled because Joe Biden, despite a clown-show VP selection process, had chosen an amazing and qualified woman — despite, and perhaps because of, the fact that she had been his harshest critic.
Remember how she struck a brutal blow against Biden in last year’s Democratic debates? Remember how, up until just a few days ago, there were rumblings from the Biden camp about how unforgivable that was? Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate is, to borrow a phrase from Biden himself, a big fuckin’ deal. There are many reasons why choosing Kamala Harris — a former prosecutor, a senator, and a Black woman with the ability to connect to a youthful demographic — was a smart move at this moment in 2020.
But hiring his former rival — an outspoken opponent who has criticized him harshly — as his…
