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When Kamala Harris<\/strong> ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, she tapped her sister, Maya,<\/strong> to run the campaign. Harris\u2019s bid collapsed early; she quit before a single primary vote was cast, and the friction between Maya and the campaign\u2019s paid consultants was frequently cited as a reason for its failure.<\/p>\n Four years later, Maya hasn\u2019t commented publicly about Harris\u2019s stunning new adventure (and could not be reached for comment for this story). But when Harris flew to Wisconsin for her first rally as the putative Democratic nominee, she was accompanied by Maya\u2019s husband, Tony West,<\/strong> a former Department of Justice official, who is helping vet<\/a> possible running mates.<\/p>\n Every sign suggests that the sisters remain close. Yet Maya\u2019s lower profile underscores the complex, high-stakes grafting of the vice president\u2019s small political operation onto President Joe Biden<\/strong>\u2019s 1,300-person campaign infrastructure. One concern is whether Harris will get fresh, independent advice; another is whether the legacy campaign operation can reorient itself fast enough to best serve the new, very different top of the ticket. \u201cShe basically has Biden\u2019s team right now,\u201d a Democratic strategist who knows and likes Harris says. \u201cAnd the conversation among people who care about her is, she needs some people in that room who are her<\/em> people, who are there for her 100%. The problem is, she hasn\u2019t cultivated those people outside of California.\u201d<\/p>\n All of this maneuvering had begun well before Biden made his exit official. As pressure piled onto the president and the endgame looked increasingly inevitable, insider conversation turned to how Harris, his most likely replacement, would assemble the strategic inner circle necessary to run against Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2014especially in light of her recently bumpy political history. Harris\u2019s 2020 run for the Democratic nomination flamed out for multiple reasons; one was disagreement between<\/a> campaign chair Maya and the campaign\u2019s paid consultants about the campaign\u2019s messaging and tactics. The candidate often oscillated between themes, never gaining traction with voters. Then, in her first year as vice president, Harris reportedly had to contend with hostility from some members of Biden\u2019s inner circle. She also fumbled an interview<\/a> with NBC\u2019s Lester Holt<\/strong> and was beset by staff turnover.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons Kamala has struggled at times is because she doesn\u2019t have a cohesive or sort of long-standing team of advisers around her,\u201d a top Democratic strategist told me in advance of Biden\u2019s withdrawal, adding that \u201cshe doesn\u2019t have a core team or a David Axelrod.<\/strong>\u201d Barack Obama<\/strong>\u2019s former guru is highly unlikely to leave his gig as a CNN commentator and join Team Harris. But two other Obama campaign alumni are being aggressively pushed as possible additions to her brain trust: David Plouffe<\/strong> and Jim Messina,<\/strong> Obama\u2019s campaign managers in 2008 and 2012, respectively.<\/p>\n While Plouffe and Messina might add some big picture vision to the effort, they carry baggage, given their close association with Obama, whom some Biden veterans view as a cold-blooded accomplice in Biden\u2019s downfall. (The Obamas endorsed<\/a> Harris on Friday.) There\u2019s also something condescending about the notion that a Black female candidate\u2014one who has inherited Biden\u2019s female campaign chair, Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon,<\/strong> and Biden\u2019s Latina campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez<\/strong>\u2014is in need of guidance from a wise white man. Then again, the campaign run by O\u2019Malley Dillon and Chavez Rodriguez had been losing ground to Trump in the polls. One thing the next three months may clarify is whether Biden\u2019s trouble was chiefly a result of the man himself\u2014and especially his disastrous debate performance\u2014or of his broader campaign apparatus.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as Harris arrives on Biden\u2019s literal home turf\u2014the campaign headquarters is staying in Wilmington, Delaware\u2014she can look to some recent allies. \u201cThis isn\u2019t 2020,\u201d a senior Democratic consultant says. \u201cShe has real people, real talent around her. She has Lorraine Voles, Brian Fallon, Megan Jones,<\/strong> Sheila Nix.<\/strong>\u201d Voles came up through Al Gore<\/strong>\u2019s ranks and has been the vice president\u2019s chief of staff for a little over two years. Fallon was a top aide to Hillary Clinton<\/strong> in 2016 and the executive director of Demand Justice. Jones, Harris\u2019s senior political adviser, was an operative in Harry Reid\u2019s potent Nevada organization. Nix previously worked for Joe Biden, Jill Biden,<\/strong> and Bono<\/strong> before becoming chief of staff for Harris\u2019s vice presidential campaign. \u201cI don\u2019t know how this is going to work, putting these two groups together,\u201d the consultant says. \u201cBut a lot depends on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n