SHE NAILS FEMALE AND BLACK...:

In October, Harris visited Iowa, South Carolina and Wisconsin, but it was to campaign for Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm elections. This week's soft launch enables her to reveal -- on her own terms and at length -- more about her backstory as the child of immigrants who were civil rights activists.

The senator's book is not a traditional memoir, but according to her publisher, "a book about the core truths that unite us, and the long struggle to discern what those truths are and how best to act upon them, in her own life and across the life of our country."

Those truths guide her thinking "on issues ranging from health care and the new economy to immigration, national security, the opioid crisis, and accelerating inequality" -- all elements of Harris' speeches since ascending to the Senate.

The intent is to draw a contrast with Donald Trump by presenting her credentials as a tough, fact-based prosecutor against a factually challenged president who has been under a legal cloud for much of his presidency.

Harris isn't likely to follow the book tour with the creation of a presidential exploratory committee, according to three people familiar with Harris' thinking. Their expectation, if she runs, is that the senator would simply launch the formal campaign, which would be led by key staffers from her 2016 Senate run.

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