Patricia Lopez, Tribune News Service

The casting about by some Democrats for another — seemingly any other — candidate who might replace embattled President Joe Biden has taken on unsavory notes, particularly since the most prominent names raised are White governors. Whether or not Biden stays in the race, Vice President Kamala Harris may be one of the ticket’s best assets. But she is being underutilized, and that’s a mistake. Take a look at Harris’ public campaign schedule this last week, as a race where “democracy is on the line” enters its final leg. As the chief surrogate for President Joe Biden — busy with the NATO summit much of the week — Harris’ calendar should have been packed from morning until night.

Instead she made two stops in Las Vegas on Tuesday, including one to launch a special outreach to Asian American, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters (Harris is part-South Asian). Wednesday afternoon she spoke at the annual convention of the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. in Dallas, followed by two events Thursday in North Carolina. On Saturday, Harris was scheduled to do more Asian American outreach at a town hall in Philadelphia. Compare that with the human whirlwind that has been First Lady Jill Biden lately. The more embattled her husband is, the busier she gets.

Bent on convincing voters her husband is “all in,” she squeezed in events in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia — all on Monday — before heading off to help the president host the NATO summit. The first lady will be in Pennsylvania, too, on Saturday. But, in a bit of a brawler move, she will travel to Pittsburgh for an event that starts just as Donald Trump is kicking off his rally nearby, in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Team Biden understandably sees its priority as promoting and protecting the president’s public image, even to the point of stage-managing his appearances. Having a far younger, more dynamic running mate barnstorming the country could easily show up an octogenarian president who recently told a group of Democratic governors that he intended to stop scheduling events after 8pm to get more sleep. (Asked about the comment during his Thursday night press conference, Biden denied he had said it.)

But decisions have consequences. As Biden’s support in the party fractures, one party insider connected to the Democratic National Committee expressed concern that Harris has been held back to ensure the spotlight remained firmly on the president in his fight to remain the presumptive nominee. “They haven’t built up Harris as much as they should have,” the party insider said, “and now they may need her.” After a rocky start as vice president, Harris has proven adroit at both advancing the Democratic message and vigorously defending Biden. She talks about abortion rights and reproductive freedom — Democrats’ most advantageous issue — straight from her gut in a way that connects with women.

In a 2023 New York Times profile of Harris, LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said some in the party and the White House “are worried about the age contrast” between Harris, 59, and Biden, 81. “And they are worried about Kamala outshining Biden,” she said. In that same profile, California Senator Laphonza Butler, who previously worked as an adviser to Harris, said some critics in the party were so harsh as to be disrespectful. “And the thing that makes it more disrespectful is that we’re talking about a historic V.P. who has been a high-quality partner and asset to the country,” Butler said.

There have always been those in the party who quietly fret that a Black woman might present too much of an electoral challenge as president, especially against Trump, who considers white supremacists part of his base. And yet it was Biden himself who insisted on picking a Black woman as a running mate, settling on Harris.