There is also hubris and condescension in assuming we can force certain politicians or former politicians to bend to our will the way the action figures of our childhood did. And while most politicians encounter some form of this wishful thinking, it is particularly directed at politicians who are women or people of color or openly queer.
Even while in office, certain politicians are denied the political agency afforded to their white, often male counterparts. They are already working within tight parameters that narrow and narrow as they ascend in power and visibility. When Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas ran for the U.S. Senate, her detractors were many. She was too ambitious. She was abandoning her constituents. She wanted too much, too soon. Her opponent, James Talarico, received little such criticism.
Before Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest, Kamala Harris, then the vice president, was urged both to run and to step aside so other Democratic leaders with better prospects (whiteness, masculinity) could ascend. After Mr. Trump won a second term, she was encouraged to retire from public life, run for governor of California and run, again, for president in 2028 — as if she could clone herself and embark on several adventures of the electorate’s choosing.
She recently bought a home in Malibu, Calif., and people are reading the tea leaves of that purchase, believing she is stepping away from holding office even though she herself said at an April event: “I might, I might. I’m thinking about it.” Though she hasn’t squashed each and every hope of her supporters, all of this prophesying puts Ms. Harris in an impossible position. And worse, it gives the impression that she is incapable of making these important decisions for herself, when she absolutely is.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also been deemed a potential presidential candidate in 2028. A very early (and as such, deeply unreliable) primary poll shows her in the lead against a projected field including Ms. Harris, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg (onto whom people also wildly project their desires) and Josh Shapiro. Over the years, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has also been encouraged to run for the U.S. Senate, and to vie for the vice presidency.
