Two things:
1) Pelosi did not pick Kamala. Word on the well-informed street is that she wanted some competition, and was surprised at how fast Kamala shored up her support. What Pelosi did want--and got--was Biden dropping out.
2) Speaking as a left-leaning, but not "progressive" Democrat, I would have much preferred a normal primary to this. I don't think Harris would have won the nomination that way (and I wouldn't have voted for her). That said, her role is literally to take over when the President can't do something, so it's not a crazy outcome for her to take over for him in the election when all of the influencers in the party are telling him to back out. On the plus side, it's very possible that the Democrats came up with a more centrist Democrat because they didn't use the primary process. This is how Schwarzenneger became the last Republican to win statewide office in California--he didn't have to run in a primary, he ran as the replacement for a recall vote. He never would have made it through a Republican primary; he was too centrist. I know people here claim that Harris is far to the left; she isn't. Did she move left in the primary in 2020? Yes, but even then she wasn't nearly as far to the left as several other mainstream Democrats. And that's what candidates do in primaries--emphasize their credentials for the base; then in the general they move back to the center. I can't think of a politician--Trump included--who hasn't done this. This idea that she's a progressive is flat wrong. It's a good narrative for the right, but they would say that about any Democrat--like Walz, for instance.
I'll vote for her now, and it's not even a remotely close question. Honestly (and I recognize I live in a bubble out here on the left coast), it is very hard for me to understand how this election is close. But I suppose people on the other side think the same thing. And no, you don't need to try to convince me why I'm seeing this wrong. :-)