The Democratic Party has found itself in a precarious position as its long-running internal civil war continues to spill out into the open.

For all the talk of GOP troubles regarding its presidential primary, Democrats find themselves stuck between a senile old man who may not be able to physically run, and the heir apparent, who just so happens to be one of the most unlikable, untalented politicians in history. That’s left party power brokers with basically one option: Continue to play “Weekend at Bernie’s” with Joe Biden no matter what the cost.

They can’t let Harris be the nominee, and they know it. That’s led to a lot of consternation being shared in the press about the vice president’s trouble. Now, some are trying to clean up that mess, and it’s not going well at all.

According to CNN, Harris is not even returning Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s calls at this point.

“Elizabeth Warren has called twice to apologize. Over a month later, Kamala Harris hasn’t called back,” report @IsaacDovere and @JasJWright https://t.co/SRzr1bzyF6

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 12, 2023

Elizabeth Warren has called twice to apologize. Over a month later, Kamala Harris hasn’t called back.

In a local Boston radio interview in late January, Warren was enthusiastic about President Joe Biden running for reelection but, asked if Biden should keep Harris as his running mate, she said, “I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team.”

The incident and its aftermath, different details of which were described to CNN by multiple people close to the Massachusetts senator and people close to the vice president, has fed an ongoing breakdown of accusations and purported misunderstandings.

“Pretty insulting,” is how one person close to Harris described the feelings of many in the vice president’s office and in her wider orbit

(…)

But the Warren moment is infuriating many in Harris’s circle: To them, it’s the latest in a long string of snubs to a vice president whom they say has never gotten the respect or support she deserves. Warren’s words sting even more, they say, because they came from a former rival who in 2020 hoped to be picked as Biden’s running mate instead.

This latest dust-up occurred when Warren went on the radio and left open the possibility that Harris could be replaced on Biden’s presumed 2024 ticket. That has upset the famously thin-skinned vice president, who is known for blaming everyone but herself for her woes (she goes through speechwriters like toilet paper). It’s no great mystery why Warren would leave that door open, demuring to Biden instead of just saying, “yes, I think Harris is great.”

She did it because Harris isn’t great, and that’s a big problem for Democrats who are already staring at a laughably bad bench of up-and-comers. Pete Buttigieg has basically nuked himself over the East Palestine disaster, never mind the many other crises and scandals he dealt with prior to that. Who is left? There’s Michele Obama, who would almost certainly never run given she’s living the high life as the new Oprah. Then there’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has no broad appeal outside of the bluest areas of the country. Perhaps Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania would make a play, and he’s probably their best bet in 2028 if Biden runs again.

But that leaves Harris on the outside looking in, and she’s not going to go quietly into that good night. She’s as ambitious as she is terrible at politics. There is no scenario where Democrats don’t utterly destroy themselves with accusations of racism and sexism if anyone steps up to seriously challenge her. That means Harris is not only the second-in-line for 2024, but even if Biden loses, she’s going to be a problem in 2028 as well.

The Democrats deserve this. They picked a vice president with essentially zero relevant experience for the job who was so bad of a presidential candidate that she didn’t even make it to the first primary. And that was with mountains of unearned media coverage trying to push her across the finish line. Harris is their problem, and it’s a self-inflicted one. They better hope Biden doesn’t get any worse than he is because if he can’t run, Democrats are staring at oblivion.