Harris campaign faces crossroads

[left-of-center2012]

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) energized Democratic fundraisers over the weekend with her enthusiasm and prescription for defeating President Trump, according to donors who attended her events. But her campaign has lost steam nearly two months after an electric performance at the first Democratic debates, strategists and political observers say.

Five polls taken after the second round of Democratic debates put her in the single digits, consistently behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Harris also has some weakness, some of which strategists say have been exacerbated by her campaign to date. She’s positioned herself as both a progressive and a moderate, causing her to be viewed as “inauthentic,” said one Democratic strategist. “I still don’t think anyone really understands why she’s running,” the strategist said. “And if you’re running for president and you don’t know why you're running, no one else will either.”

Earlier this month, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver said Harris “seems to be stuck in between Joe Biden, on the one hand, and Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on her other more left-leaning hand. And that’s starting to show up in the numbers,” Silver said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/458003-harris-campaign-faces-crossroads

[cilla4progress]

1. I love her strength and smarts

but I feel right now Warren has the clarity.

[Andy823]

2. From your link

But Smikle said there’s time for Harris to recover.

“She’s well-established in the top tier of candidates and benefits from any slippage in Biden’s black voters and redistribution of support when others drop out of the race,” he said, adding that as of now, “Harris has the money to stay competitive through the early states and perhaps until super Tuesday when her home state of California gets to vote.”

Another factor that could work in Harris’s favor: Biden’s recent verbal gaffes.

“His lead is a bit tenuous,” Jillson said. “And once you get below him there are negatives with Sanders and Warren with some people who think they’re too far left.

“What that means for Kamala Harris is be as solid as you can be to always be there for a second look,” he added. “Some people that look beyond Biden and see Bernie and Elizabeth Warren, will keep looking.”

[Demsrule86]

12. Joe has strong polls ...more wishful thinking on their part.

[Andy823]

13. Well with

6 months to go, I think anyone trying to say Biden has this all sowed up is the one with the "wishful thinking"!

[Demsrule86]

14. I never said it was 'sowed' up...I said that predicting Biden's demise is a favorite pastime of the

media...no evidence...just more bullshit. I do believe that Biden will be the nominee.

[brush]

3. IMO being positioned between moderate Biden and more left Warren and Sanders could be advantageous.

I mean Biden's stance is too centrist for many younger Dems and the repugs are attempting to paint Warren and Sanders as far-left socialists so if she could play her cards right as a not-too-centrist-not-too-left candidate, a "Goldilocks" positioning if you will, she could play up her stance as the most appealing for the entire party—not too left, not too right.

[Skya Rhen]

4. Not too left, not too right. and not too sure... Voters want someone that has strong convictions...

[brush]

6. Maybe, but being a centrist is by definition is not taking a strong position and far left may be...

too strong. I know one thing, playing up being a socialist is a one-way ticket to loserville, after all, this is America, capitalism and all.

[madville]

5. People want to hear what SHE believes

They don't want her to tell them what they want to hear and then tell a different group something different that they want to hear. You can't get away with changing your message at fundraisers for wealthy donors these days like she did over the weekend.

[comradebillyboy]

7. I love Harris but what she's doing isn't working.

I don't know what she can do to fix her campaign.

[cwydro]

9. She's doing better than those in the single digits.

Why they’re still in is just weird.

[comradebillyboy]

10. Harris has been my favorite all along but her

campaign doesn't appear to be up to the task. Your candidate however is running the best campaign by far of all the Democratic contenders.

[cwydro]

11. Warren, Buttigieg, Biden, and Harris have stayed at the top of my list.

I didn’t like Harris with the whole busing thing, but that didn’t change my mind about her.

Warren just seems sharp as a tack. Really like her.

[Princetonian]

8. "Harris plummets in new 2020 poll... out of the first and even second tier..." (CNN Frontpage News)

There are more reasons why Harris is tanking: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287246549

[xxqqqzme]

15. When Harris jumped on

the bus Gillibrand drove over Al Franken, I said "Oh, she's running for president." I sent emails that day to everyone who joined the frenzy. Harris was the second one I sent.