Kamala’s long history of lousy leadership is revealed in a 2002 evaluation
The President of the United States is a leader. He leads the nation as the nation’s chief executive officer, he leads the military as the constitutional Commander-in-Chief, and he leads the world because America is the de facto world leader. Kamala Harris, though, has consistently failed as a leader, according to those who work most closely with her. Put simply, her management style is awful, and it always has been, as a 2002 performance review reveals.
In 1990, after taking two tries to pass the bar exam, Kamala got a job as a deputy DA in Alameda County. In 1994, once she’d started dating William Brown, the Speaker of the California Assembly, Kamala was suddenly on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and on the California Medical Assistance Commission. By 1998, when Brown had left the Assembly and became San Francisco’s mayor, Kamala got a gig working as an assistant DA for then-San Francisco DA Terrance Hallinan.
Image: Kamala Harris. X screen grab.
Kamala had a falling out with Hallinan when she tried to overthrow him because she disliked his second-in-command. According to Kamala, working in the San Francisco DA office exposed her to a “top leadership [that is] dysfunctional.” That meant, she said, “There is a very low level of morale, especially among the experienced prosecutors in the office.” Intriguingly, the same article has glowing praise for Kamala from defense attorneys. When defense attorneys like a prosecutor, that’s not a good thing.
Kamala ended up working for Louise Renne, who was the City Attorney. Renne assigned to Kamala the responsibility for the city’s Family and Children’s Services Division. It’s in that role that we get to Kamala’s report card from the city’s Department of Human Services. Apparently, despite her problems with Terence Hallinan’s leadership style, she had learned nothing. Per the Daily Mail:
Although Harris and her team got favorable ratings for her quality of work, creativity in her advice, and understanding of problems, they got less favorable marks for other important metrics.
On a scale of one to five, Harris only got a ‘2’ on whether she was ‘thorough, helpful, and proactive and only a three on whether she showed good judgement.
Harris also got a ‘2’ rating for recognizing deadlines, fast turnaround, and anticipating their needs. Even more embarrassing was her failure to return phone calls and emails promptly.
In other words, on every management attribute a leader needs—say, for example, the leader of the most powerful nation in the world—Kamala was a failing student.
One might say that this was 22 years ago. People grow and change. But the thing with Kamala is that, based on more recent performance reviews, she hasn’t grown or changed at all. Instead, she’s added arrogance to incompetence.
In 2019, Terry McAteer recounted his son’s humiliating and demoralizing experience working as an intern for Kamala Harris when she was California’s attorney general, a role she held from 2011-2017. According to McAteer’s son, Kamala was profane, abusive, unfriendly, and demanded that she be treated like royalty:
Senator Harris vocally throws around “F-bombs” and other profanity constantly in her berating of staff and others. The staff is in complete fear of her and she uses her profanity throughout the day.
As Attorney General, Senator Harris instructed her entire staff to stand every morning as she entered the office and say, “Good Morning General.”
Never once during the month-long internship did Harris introduce herself to our son (as he was only in an office with 20 paid employees) and staff was too intimidated by her to introduce him. The only acknowledgment was a form letter of “thanks” signed by Harris given to him on his last day of service.
Gregory was also given instructions to never address Harris nor look her in the eye as that privilege was only allowed to senior staff members.
Poor Gregory was not alone. Lawyers who worked in the AG’s office described her as not only unpleasant but also lazy:
Gil Duran, who worked for Harris when she was California attorney general in 2013, quit after only five months, and now writes for the San Francisco Examiner, went on the record with harsh criticism.
“One of the things we’ve said in our little text groups among each other is what is the common denominator through all this and it’s her,” he said. “Who are the next talented people you’re going to bring in and burn through and then have (them) pretend they’re retiring for positive reasons.”
The Washington Post reported that “one consistent problem” staffers referenced was the fact that “Harris would refuse to wade into briefing materials prepared by staff members, then berate employees when she appeared unprepared.” It was this phenomenon that prompted a particularly biting quote by an anonymous former staffer.
“It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work,” the staffer said. “With Kamala you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence. So you’re constantly sort of propping up a bully and it’s not really clear why.”
Employee reviews about Kamala’s leadership style in the Vice-President’s office have been equally awful. In 2021, the media tried to blame Kamala’s second in command for the problems that instantly emerged, but you’ll notice that the charges are identical to those levied at Kamala herself in her other leadership roles. Remember, too, that a fish always rots from the head:
Harris’ team is experiencing low morale, porous lines of communication and diminished trust among aides and senior officials. Much of the frustration internally is directed at Tina Flournoy, Harris’ chief of staff, a veteran of Democratic politics who began working for her earlier this year.
In interviews, 22 current and former vice presidential aides, administration officials and associates of Harris and Biden described a tense and at times dour office atmosphere. Aides and allies said Flournoy, in an apparent effort to protect Harris, has instead created an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out. Often, they said, she refuses to take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.
Things hadn’t changed three years later:
Vice President Kamala Harris has churned through her office staff, raising questions about her management style and leadership abilities as she advances unchallenged toward the Democratic presidential nomination.
Researchers who analyzed payroll data found an “extraordinarily high” exodus rate from Ms. Harris’ vice presidential office. Those who have worked for her over the past decade report that she was a tyrannical boss who terrified her employees, cursed, discouraged direct eye contact and made employees stand at attention when she entered a room.
[snip]
In a new report by the watchdog group Open the Books, researchers quantified her human resources problem. They discovered a 92% staff turnover through payroll records.
[snip]
High turnover in the White House isn’t new, but Ms. Harris’ numbers are higher than others.
In the same time span, President Trump experienced a 72% turnover and President Biden had a 77% turnover.
Vice President Mike Pence hired 29 employees during his first year in the Trump administration, and five remained on staff after three years, indicating an 83% turnover rate.
Ms. Harris hired 49 staffers and retained only four three years later.
All these reports reveal someone who is lazy and who covers for her failures by abusing the people who work for her. We’ve all had the misfortune at one time or another to work for someone like this. That’s why we all know that this kind of boss cannot be trusted to lead the most powerful nation in the world.
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