Kamala's coda: What's next for defeated U.S. VP Harris?

For months U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was laser-focused on one potentially career-defining, history-making goal -- becoming the first woman entrusted with the keys to the White House.

But defeat to Donald Trump in November's election stripped the Democrat of a place in the pantheon of US presidents, and left America wondering what's next for a politician whose meteoric rise has come crashing to an abrupt halt.

After spending a few days in Hawaii following the disappointment of November 5, the 60-year-old former prosecutor has begun lifting the veil on her future ambitions.

"I am staying in the fight," she declared during a call with party donors, without elaborating on how that might look.

Washington is abuzz with speculation over Harris's next move, with some commentators predicting a bid for the governor's mansion in her home state of California when Gavin Newsom vacates the premises in 2026.

In the United States, governorships are prestige positions, since many states are the size of countries -- California's economy would be the world's fifth largest -- and the men and women who run them act as quasi-presidents.

A full term or two governing California -- which has only ever been led by white men -- would be a fitting culmination to a trailblazing career in which Harris has shattered multiple glass ceilings.

She has longstanding relationships with local officialdom and much of the infrastructure already in place, as it was only seven years ago that she left the California attorney general's office to become a US senator.

But leading the country's most populous state would also give Harris "an enormous platform" to reassert herself as a political heavyweight on the national stage, notes political scientist Julian Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University.

- 'Lost faith' -

If Harris used statewide office as a springboard back to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, she would be embarking on a well-worn route.

Sixteen presidents have been governors before entering the White House, including Republican Ronald Reagan, one of the most popular, who ran California in the late 1960s and early 70s.

But Democrats were faced with a painful reckoning after Harris lost every swing state and Trump made advances with practically every section of the electorate -- and she is far from an automatic choice to lead her party into the next election.

"The challenge is that once you lose, and are part of a loss this big, many in the party (lose) faith that you can win again in a big matchup," Zelizer told AFP.

Two years as California governor would be considered an unusually short tenure in any case and some analysts believe that if Harris intends to run in the Golden State she would have to put off her presidential ambitions until at least 2032.

Newsom, who has been California's governor since 2019, has been identified as a potential Harris rival in four years, along with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Another possible option for Harris would be to continue in politics without necessarily holding office.

Democrat Bill Clinton's vice-president Al Gore provides the exemplar, after losing to George W. Bush but remaining in public life anyway as an environmental crusader.

In 2006, Gore's documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" played a major role in raising awareness of the rapid pace of global warming.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, the veteran Democrat is now training climate ambassadors around the world.