Did the "Kamala is a cop" thing hurt her?

[RhodeIslandOne]

It was unfair, but I'm asking.

[ret5hd]

1. No

[samnsara]

2. not for me..my grandpa and my mom were cops..

[samir.g]

3. Yes

[judeling]

4. Probably just a bit

But I actually think what hurt her and hurt her right at the start was the Iowa doesn't matter idea out there when CA moved to Super Tuesday.

The one thing good about Iowa and New Hampshire is that those early small group interactions really help you tune your message.

[IronLionZion]

5. Vox has a good explainer

Kamala Harris’s controversial record on criminal justice, explained

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/23/18184192/kamala-harris-president-campaign-criminal-justice-record

She had weak support from black males who didn't like her mixed record as a prosecutor. Like many politicians, her views have evolved over time to be more woke and progressive on some important issues.

[Wellstone ruled]

17. As some one who

has worked with and for Kamala,this story kept popping up via the Social Media . Just learned of this about three days ago even though I had heard rumors about some of her decisions as a AG.

Apparently the Millennial support waned once this story made the Social Media rounds,especially in the Midwest.

[The Valley Below]

6. I think so, but maybe not in the way others do.

I think she's have done better "owning" her prosecutorial background emphasizing that people of color are more likely to be victims of crime and that her job as to protect her community from criminals and crime.

She could have leaned into it, while at the same time taking on the need to confront institutional racism in the judicial system.

Had she taken this approach, it would have matched her actual record. She was a tough prosecutor and she worked against institutional racism. But she didn't "own" her record. She shied away from the "tough cop" part of it too much IMO, which put her in a bind.

One of a long list of mistakes.

[spicysista]

7. Lots of things hurt Senator Harris..

Double standards being among the most destructive of forces against her. For example, no one questions President Obama's racial identity (the exception being racists casting him as "hyper"black). In this clip, you'll see some of the craziness Sen. Harris had to deal with it concerning her identity.

As far as the her "being a cop" thing.....It's much like Sec. Clinton and the crime bill. Another double standard where the man who took to the house floor to vote for the bill (Senator Sanders) carried no penalty for it. Sen. Harris, like all prosecutors, was tasked with enforcing the laws on the books. She didn't believe in the death penalty, so she didn't pursue it in any cases. Really, if anyone was actually interested in her record, they could have seen that she was just a regular prosecutor.

[RhodeIslandOne]

8. I mean, people questioned if Obama was American...

....including the asshole occupying 1600.

I get that point, but it was relentless the birther shit....I just don’t think it can be downplayed as not worse than what she dealt with.

[spicysista]

9. Yup

That's why I have the exception about the racists. You know hyper black (whatever that means) and unable to love America as...? I guess white people like them?!? "Isn't his daddy African?"
These sentiments were not strong within the black community concerning President Obama. Michelle helped a lot, too. There was something different going on with Senator Harris in the community. I couldn't tell what's trolling and what was real. She graduated from an HBCU and pledged AKA. ..not sure where this weirdness came from. It is was especially bizarre, to me.

[TidalWave46]

10. Yes and no. It's individual in nature.

Where it becomes less individualistic is when we look at who might have pushed it and did they target it for a specific audience.

I don't have the answer for either of those questions.

[honest.abe]

11. Yes of course.

I get the feeling that no state Attorney General could ever be the Democratic nominee. Just doing her day to day job as AG just carried too much negative baggage. There were a number of controversial cases but I dont think you could possibly have a long career as an AG and not have some controversial cases. I think it was very unfair for many on the left to keep dragging up old cases and slamming her for not be "progressive" enough. Meanwhile Liz Warren who was a Republican at one time got a free pass on that. Very much a double standard with Kamala which finally drove her out of the race.

[LakeArenal]

12. She lost me with Franken.

[ismnotwasm]

13. Yes

[Dopers_Greed]

14. Yes

I know it's just anecdotal, but I saw multiple people I personally know complaining about her on social media for this reason.

They were probably parroting talking points they got from Russian trolls though.

[wellst0nev0ter]

15. It was her fuzzy messaging that killed her

She couldn't decide whether she wanted to run from the left or the center.

[Aaron Pereira]

16. I think it probably set her up for the attack from Gabbard.

It wasn't fair but neither was Harris's own attack on Biden. That didn't go over very well with quite a few Democrats.

[Bucky]

18. I agree. There were a number of bullshit attacks on candidates

Biden is a predator, Kobuchar is a verbal abuser, Booker is in Big Pharma's back pocket, Gabbard is a Russian asset, Buttagieg is uncomfortable around black people.

Every one of these is ridiculously off-mark. It's spaghetti thrown against the wall. I don't think any of these really last beyond the moment's need to tear the other down. But they frame the personality type debates that the shallow news consumer uses for first impressions.

I'm not a big fan of Bernie Sanders, but I have to give him props for running the kind of campaign that puts ideas out front.