Staff Reports
Ken Salazar, author and former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, just gave Democrats one of those awkward “what were we thinking?” moments. A Politico-obtained excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, Borderlands: My Fight for an Inclusive America, says he privately considered a 2024 presidential run out of frustration with the Biden administration’s handling of the border. The passage is short, sharp, and exactly the kind of insider criticism Democrats hate — and Republicans should savor.
Salazar’s memoir delivers an insider indictment
The excerpt reports that Salazar thought, “I should run for president,” after watching a pivotal debate performance by then-President Joe Biden. He says he repeatedly warned the White House that the southern border was both an operational problem and a political crisis, urging creation of a “border czar.” If true, the admission that top aides privately called it a crisis while publicly pretending otherwise is telling. Voters saw the chaos; now we’re hearing inside the tent that many did, too.
What Salazar actually accuses Kamala Harris of
Salazar singles out former Vice President Kamala Harris and writes that her role in addressing “root causes” of migration “was having no effect on migration flows.” That’s a blunt charge from someone who stood in Mexico City watching migrants and policy up close. He says he drafted a platform and even assembled a team to be ready if the president stepped aside — which shows how high the alarm was among some Democrats, even if it never turned into a candidacy.
Private panic, public theater
The bigger picture here is political accountability. If administration officials privately labeled the situation a crisis but publicly downplayed it, that gap explains a lot of the voter anger on immigration. Messaging matters. Reality matters more. Salazar’s book doesn’t just score political points — it helps explain why the border became a campaign-winning issue for President Donald J. Trump and why Democrats lost credibility on an issue voters care about.
Bottom line: Democrats need a reality check
Democrats can dismiss Salazar’s memoir as sour grapes or insider angst, but the details are embarrassing enough to deserve attention. They point to a party that misread the politics and bungled the policy. For Republicans, the memoir is useful evidence that the border was mishandled from the inside out. For voters who want secure borders and honest answers, Salazar’s excerpt is a reminder that talk and action are not the same thing — and that voters remember which was missing.
