"This isn’t simply about being fair to [Kamala] Harris or elevating her like some other vice presidents have been elevated..."

"... Americans deserve to know and see that they have a vice president who is trusted by White House and administration officials to take over, should anything happen to the president. Instead, we have mostly seen the opposite. She is hampered by Mr. Biden’s unpopularity, to be sure, but she has also not become the successful public face on any major issue.... Mr. Biden’s declarations that he will run again seem only to encourage his opponents.... Democrats, if not other Americans, would benefit if Ms. Harris was able to bring a compelling and varied set of experiences and ideas from her time in the White House to a competitive Democratic presidential primary race, giving more solid choices to voters and adding substantively to the debate. The 2024 presidential campaign in any case is likely to be unusually ugly, fought not only over familiar contentious issues, but with many Republicans willing to repeat, without shame or embarrassment, Donald Trump’s lies about the validity of the 2020 election — and thus the legitimacy of American democracy. ... Mr. Biden must not only find a way to infuse his party with enthusiasm and fresh purpose, but fulfill an urgent obligation... to hasten, and advance, the education, and authority, of his vice president."

Writes Jeffrey Frank, author of "Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage," in "Kamala Harris Is Stuck" (NYT).