Kamala was right: Timing matters
In Kamala Harris's book “107 Days,” she recalls the moment President Biden told her he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. He assured her of his complete support but suggested waiting a day or two to make his endorsement public. Harris pushed back. "Joe, I’m honored, but we live in a twenty-four-hour news cycle, and if you wait that long, the airwaves will be full of nothing but questions," she told him.
Harris was right.
Setting aside whether Biden should have endorsed Harris at all, the timing really did matter once he had chosen to do so. And three factors made it especially urgent in her case: time pressure, the lack of public succession planning, and the presence of ambitious rivals ready to pounce.
Long gone are the days when news arrived with the morning paper. We live in a 24-hour news cycle, amplified by social media, where every hour of silence becomes its own story, every delay spawns a thousand hot takes, and every vacuum gets filled.
The 1980 Democratic Convention offers an example. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) had challenged sitting President Jimmy Carter in the primaries and lost. At the convention, Kennedy's speech was eloquent and powerful, but it was hardly an endorsement of Carter. Kennedy focused more on his own legacy and platform, and when it came time for the traditional unity moment with Carter, Kennedy avoided the crucial "hands-raised" photo op with the candidate. The toxic atmosphere poisoned Carter's general election campaign against Ronald Reagan — and it took Democrats 12 years to recover.
Yes, Kennedy was a defeated rival, not a sitting partner. But the communications lesson still stands: A weak or delayed endorsement creates space for dissent to gain momentum.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) understood this in 2020. When he endorsed Biden just three days before the pivotal South Carolina primary, with Biden's campaign on life support, the timing was surgical. Clyburn didn't wait until after the primary, when it wouldn't matter. He moved when his endorsement would have maximum impact, cutting off an emerging narrative of Biden's inevitable collapse. Biden won South Carolina decisively, then went on to sweep Super Tuesday.
The business world tells a similar story. When Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO in 2011, the company announced Tim Cook as his successor the same day, with Jobs's strong recommendation in the resignation letter itself. The clarity was needed; Jobs died just six weeks later. Critically, Cook had also been publicly positioned as the successor long before the announcement, serving as acting CEO during Jobs's medical leaves. This gave the market and the company time to see him in the role. When the formal transition came, it was definitive, but not shocking.
Although corporate transitions are different, the same communications principle applies: Clarity prevents confusion.
Harris faced a perfect storm. With just 107 days until the election, there was no time for a prolonged contest or even a hint of ambiguity. Yet despite being vice president, she hadn’t been clearly positioned as Biden’s heir apparent.
This lack of clarity gave rise to speculation. Governors like Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom were already being floated as alternatives. Every hour of silence gave that chatter more room to grow.
In that environment, delay was dangerous, and it ultimately cost Harris the election.
Candice Bryant is a strategic communications leader with 20 years of experience at the CIA and Google.