When President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Kamala Harris appeared to hold the pole position to challenge him in 2020.
And yet, three short years later, she has already conceded New Hampshire, is polling even worse in Iowa, and is at 4.5% nationally. Even in her home state of California, she is back from the front pack.
This has been the biggest surprise of the Democrat primary, since she started from such an apparent position of strength. On paper, she is an intersectional Democrat dream candidate with her mixed Indian and black heritage. She is also brutally liberal at a time when the Democrat base is pining for liberal purity. While she may not identify as a pure socialist in the way Bernie Sanders does, she is cut from similar cloth. That's why the leftist media loved her. They recognized one of their own.
She is from the nation's most populous state of California and appeared positioned to grab many of its delegates. She had, at least on paper, what looked like a good presidential résumé, as opposed to what Pete Buttigieg brings to the table. Yet Buttigieg is the rising candidate, while Harris is finished.
The collapse of Harris's candidacy offers a key insight into the Democratic Party.